History
1885 October 13, Georgia Gov. Henry D. McDaniel signs a bill appropriating $65,000 to create a technical school.
1888 Four professors are hired and 84 students begin classes at the Georgia School of Technology. First academic program is in mechanical engineering and the only degree offered is a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.
1890 The first two students graduate.
1896 The Schools of Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering are established.
1899 The School of Textile Engineering is established.
1901 The School of Chemical Engineering is established.
1930 The Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics is created with a $300,000 grant from the Guggenheim Foundation.
1934 The Engineering Experiment Station (the forerunner of the Georgia Tech Research Institute) begins operation with $5,000 of state support.
1945 The School of Industrial Engineering is established.
1948 The Board of Regents authorizes Tech to change its name to the Georgia Institute of Technology.
1952 The Board of Regents votes to make Tech co-educational. The first two female students enroll in the fall quarter.
1961 Tech admits its first African-American students.
1985 The School of Materials Science and Engineering is created.
1990 Students enroll in classes at Georgia Tech-Lorraine which offers graduate programs for European students.
1994 G. Wayne Clough (CE '64, MS CE `65) is the first alumnus to become president of Tech.
1997 Department of Biomedical Engineering established as a joint venture between Georgia Tech College of Engineering and Emory University School of Medicine. First joint venture of its kind between a public and private academic institution.
1998 Georgia Tech-Savannah regional engineering program established expanding Tech's service to the state.
2002 • Georgia Tech celebrates 50 years of women in engineering.
• Chemical Engineering is renamed to Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
• Textile and Fiber Engineering renamed to Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering.
2004 Georgia Tech is designated the number one producer of African-American engineers at the Bachelor's and Master's degree levels by Black Issues in Higher Education.
2006 Two new centers created including a Health Systems Institute at Georgia Tech and Emory University and a Nanotechnology Research Center.