History of Teaching Program
On July 1, 2006, the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural
Engineering and the Department of Bio-based Products merged
to form the new Department of Bioproducts and Biosytems
Engineering. Below is a short synopsis of the teaching
program through the years.
In 1851, seven years before the Minnesota Territory became
a state, the University of Minnesota was chartered as a preparatory
school. After a promising beginning, it was beset by financial
crises and forced to close during the Civil War. In 1869, after
years of dedicated service by Minnesota industrialist John
Sargent Pillsbury, the University reopened with nine faculty
members and 18 students. Two students graduated at the first
commencement in 1873.
The first master's and doctoral degrees were awarded to a
handful of students in the 1870s and 1880s. Under the leadership
of Dean Guy Stanton Ford, the Graduate School grew rapidly
in the early part of this century, becoming the University's
center for research. Between 1912 and 1917, Graduate School
enrollment rose from 159 to 464, and the quality of the faculty
and student body improved dramatically.
The Department of Agricultural Engineering traces its roots to the late 1870s, when training in agriculture
and
mechanical
arts at the University was just beginning. Much of its early
development was guided by Professor William Boss, one of the
17 men from agricultural schools nationwide who organized the
American Society of Agricultural Engineers in 1907.
Official recognition of agricultural engineering as a separate
unit began with the formation of the Division of Agricultural
Engineering in 1909 and completion of the Agricultural Engineering
Building in 1913. A professional engineering school was approved
in 1925, and by 1929 a graduate program was in place. The University's
first Master of Science degree in agricultural engineering
was granted in 1934, followed by the first doctoral degree
in 1959. Early research in the department generated landmark
studies in the areas of agricultural drainage, rural electrification,
and machinery development.
In 1995, the department's graduate and undergraduate program
names were changed to Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering to
better reflect the expanded scope of education and research
activities.
The Department of Bio-based Products traces its origins to
the work on biological deterioration and preservation of wood
by Dr. Frank Kaufert, one of the founding fathers of the Department
and the college, in the 1930s. The Wood Technology Program
began in the School of Forestry about 1938. The forest products
effort grew considerably during the 1960s. In 1971 the College
of Forestry and Department of Forest Products were created.
The Kaufert Laboratory of Wood Science and Forest Products
became the new department’s home.
More Biosystems
and Agricultural Engineering department history
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