History
Purdue University created the School of Engineering Education (ENE), the world's first such academic unit, in 2004, incorporating First-Year Engineering and Multidisciplinary Engineering/Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies and, in 2005, launching a doctoral program.
Below, milestones in the life of the School of Engineering Education, in the context of Purdue's longstanding advances in educational innovation.
| 1953 | The Department of Freshman Engineering, the first program of its kind in the country, is established to prepare entering Purdue engineering students for their discipline of choice. |
| 1958 | The Department of Freshman Engineering creates Purdue's first honors program, for academically advanced engineering students. |
| 1969 | The nation's first Women in Engineering Program is founded in the Department of Freshman Engineering. |
| 1969 | The Interdisciplinary Engineering Program is created. |
| 1974 | The Minority Engineering Program is founded in the Department of Freshman Engineering. |
| 1975 | The National Society of Black Engineers is founded at Purdue. |
| 2004 | The School of Engineering Education is established, the first of its kind in the nation. The school brings together the First-Year Engineering Program (formerly the Department of Freshman Engineering), Multidisciplinary Engineering/Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies (formerly Interdisciplinary Engineering), and a new graduate program in engineering education. |
| 2006-09 | ENE faculty leads in ASEE's Year of Dialogue (2006-07), in the 2006 National Engineering Education Research Colloquies, in the 2008 Research in Engineering Education Symposium, and in the 2009 NSF-sponsored symposium "Creating Engineering Education Opportunities: Why and How"?, making fundamental and comprehensive contributions ot the development of the national research agenda and its advancement. |
| 2006 | The first PhD is granted in the field of engineering education. |
| 2006 | INSPIRE (Institute for P-12 Engineering Research and Learning) is founded in the School of Engineering Education. |
| 2008 | The Ideas to Innovation Learning Laboratory opens, engaging first-year students in the engineering design process. |
| 2009 | The Kamyar Haghighi Headship of Engineering Education is endowed. |
| 2010 | The Dale and Suzi Gallagher Professorship in Engineering Education is endowed. |
| 2012 | The Crowley Family Professorship in Engineering Education is endowed. |
Heads of the Former Department of Freshman Engineering
| Albert Spalding (Founding Head) |
1953-1967 |
| Clifford Gerde |
1967-1973 |
| Harold Amrine |
1973-1981 |
| Richard Grace |
1981-1987 |
| Phillip Wankat |
1987-1995 |
| Victor Goldschmidt |
1996-2000 |
| Jennifer Sinclair Curtis |
2000-2003 |
| Kamyar Haghighi |
2003-2004 |
Heads of Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary Engineering
| Richard Grace (Founding Head) |
1969-1982 |
| David Kessler |
1982-2000 |
| Phillip Wankat |
2000-2014 |
| Mary Pilotte |
2014- |
The Division of Interdisciplinary Engineering joined the School of Engineering Education in 2004, at which time Dr. Wankat's title changed from Head to Director of the program.
Heads of the School of Engineering Education
| Kamyar Haghighi (Founding Head) |
2004-2009 |
| David Radcliffe (Interim Head) |
2009-2010 |
| David Radcliffe (Kamyar Haghighi Head) |
2010-2016 |
| Audeen Fentiman (Interim Head> |
2016-2017 |
| Donna Riley (Kamyar Haghighi Head) |
2017- |
