Professor Emeritus Willard H. Reed

CSULB History of Engineering
by Professor Emeritus Willard H. Reed

CSU Offers Engineering Programs
The College of Engineering Buildings

CSU Offers Engineering Programs

 California State University, Long Beach was first organized as Los Angeles-Orange County State College in fall 1949. It was renamed Long Beach State College on June 7th, 1950. The institution became California State College, Long Beach in 1964 and it changed again to California State University, Long Beach in 1972.

The California State Board of Education and the University of California offered undergraduate engineering programs in 1955. Engineering started at Long Beach in fall 1957. Before 1955, it was impossible to apply for accreditation by the National Engineering Council for Professional Development (ECPD).

In 1958, San Jose State was the first institution to seek ECPD accreditation, to offer a master of science program and do research. Even though Fresno State offered engineering courses during the 1930s, it was not until 1940 that engineering programs were approved in the State College System.

The following universities were among the first to have engineering schools and colleges: 

The following universities were among the first to have engineering schools and colleges: 

California State Polytechnic College, San Luis Obispo, 1940; 
San Diego State College, 1942; 
Fresno State College, 1945; 
San Jose State College, 1945; 
Chico State College, 1954; 
Los Angeles State College, 1954; 
Sacramento State College, 1955; 
California State Polytechnic College, Pomona, 1957; 
Long Beach State College, 1957; 
Humbolt State, 1959; San Francisco State College, 1959; 
San Fernando State College, 1960 and Fullerton State College, 1964.

The College of Engineering Buildings:

Engineering began in temporary buildings located on lower campus at the north-east corner of Anaheim Road and Campus Road East. These 26 one-story wooden barracks type buildings were believed to have been from World War II. Engineering shared these facilities with industrial arts, home economics, health services and maintenance.

As other areas of campus became available, engineering took advantage of the open space. Temporary laboratories were installed in the bungalows. Some of the more sophisticated laboratory work was done off campus. Soil mechanics, for example, was taught for two semesters at Twining Laboratories.

The few faculty members shared offices. Only associate and full professors were allowed full sized desks, swivel chairs and one file cabinet. Engineers, however, are crafty people and soon most offices were well equipped.

Professors Lewis, Neidengard and Nielsen immediately began to put together the "B-2s," preliminary plans, for the first three engineering buildings now known as Engineering 2, 3, 4. Their dreams regarding new facilities came to fruition in three years and the buildings were occupied in the 1961/1962 school year. Engineering grew rapidly in both faculty and students. It wasn't until 1974 that engineering finally abandoned all of the temporary facilities.

Engr 2 was a three-story building with only three faculty offices on the ground floor: the dean's office, two classrooms and one small meeting room. The two upper floors each contained one small faculty office and two large graphic/drawing rooms. One of the drafting rooms was soon converted into a lecture room and an electrical laboratory.

Engr 3 and 4 were essentially laboratory wings with three small offices and two adequate laboratory briefing rooms. Electrical and mechanical engineering converted one briefing room in Engr 3 and Engr 4, respectively. Civil engineering utilized the two adjacent faculty offices in the southeast corner of the ground floor of Engr 2. Some of the temporary buildings were utilized for faculty offices until their demolition in preparation for Engr 1, later renamed Vivian Engineering Center, (VEC).

Last modification: 02/23/01 - 10:25am PST