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The Edmund T. Pratt School of Engineering is one of two undergraduate schools at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The other is the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. It is also one of seven graduate and professional schools at Duke. The school is best known for its Biomedical Engineering Department.
Pratt awards degrees in biomedical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering and materials science, and engineering management. A Master of Engineering Management Program is also offered.
Kristina M. Johnson is the current dean of Pratt, becoming the first woman to hold the position in 1999. The majority of its faculty, labs, and courses can be found in Hudson Hall, the Nello L. Teer Library Building, the Fitzpatrick Center (also known as CIEMAS), and the LSRC.
History
The precursor to the school of engineering dates back to 1851, when Duke was known as Normal College and located in Randolph County, North Carolina. At that time, engineering was included in a Classical course for seniors. A course in engineering was later introduced in 1887, eventually becoming a regular course offering in 1903. At that time, engineering courses were limited to such fields as architecture and surveying, until 1924 when Trinity College was renamed to Duke University. Engineering then underwent a major change becoming separate departments of civil and electrical engineering. Seven years later, in 1931, a mechanical engineering department was created. Duke's Board of Trustees then decided to create the College of Engineering in 1939, with William H. Hall becoming its first dean.
The College of Engineering graduated its first class of women in 1946. The next year, the three departments moved from East Campus to their current location on West Campus. The college was then named the School of Engineering in 1966. Two years later, in 1968, the school's first black students graduated. The Division of Biomedical Engineering was created in 1967, becoming the first accredited biomedical engineering department of a U.S. university in 1971.
Later, in 1997, the Master of Engineering Management was established. The Duke University School of Engineering was renamed the Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School of Engineering in 1999, in honor of Edmund T. Pratt, Jr., a 1947 graduate of the school and former CEO of Pfizer.
Buildings
Hudson Hall is the oldest engineering building at Duke University, serving as the main hub for the School of Engineering. Constructed in 1948, Hudson Hall was renamed to honor Fitzgerald S. "Jerry" Hudson (E'46) in 1992.About Pratt Facilities
The Nello L. Teer Library Building opened in 1984. Located directly next to Hudson Hall, the Teer Building houses a library for engineering, mathematics, and physics, the Dean's office, a computing lab as well as circuits labs, an auditorium, and several more rooms.About Pratt Facilities
The Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences - often referred to as CIEMAS - opened in August 2004. Research facilities focus on the fields of photonics, bioengineering, communications, and materials science and materials engineering. The aim of the building was to emphasize interdisciplinary activities and encourage cross-departmental interactions. The building houses numerous wet bench laboratories (highlighted by a world-class nanotechnology research wing), offices, teaching spaces, and a café.About Pratt Facilities The construction of CIEMAS took more than three years and cost more than *] million.
The Levine Science Research Center (LSRC) is a 341,000-square-foot facility. When it was opened in 1994, the LSRC was the largest single-site interdisciplinary research facilty in the U.S.. Its classrooms are shared by several departments, but the majority of its offices and laboratories are utilized by the Nicholas School of the Environment, the Pratt School of Engineering, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Developmental and the departments of Computer Science, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and Cell and Molecular Biology.Levine Science Research Center The building was named for Leon Levine, the CEO of Family Dollar Stores.About Pratt Facilities
External links
"Edmund T. Pratt School of Engineering"