Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...
, with an additional campus in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. A third campus in
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...
closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by
Stephen Van Rensselaer and
Amos Eaton
Amos Eaton (May 17, 1776 – May 10, 1842) was an American botanist, geologist, and educator who is considered the founder of the modern scientific prospectus in education, which was a radical departure from the American liberal arts tradition of ...
for the "application of science to the common purposes of life" and is the oldest
technological university
An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
in the
English-speaking world
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...
and the Western Hemisphere.
Built on a hillside, RPI's campus overlooks the city of Troy and the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
, and is a blend of traditional and modern architecture. The institute operates an on‑campus
business incubator
Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture c ...
and the
Rensselaer Technology Park
The Rensselaer Technology Park is a technology park in North Greenbush, New York, USA (though with a mailing address in Troy) operated by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As of 2009 the park has over 70 tenants representing a diverse range of te ...
.
RPI is organized into six main schools which contain 37 departments, with emphasis on science and technology. It is
classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity" and many of its engineering programs are highly ranked.
As of 2017, RPI's faculty and alumni included 6 members of the
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...
, 6
National Medal of Technology
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...
winners, 5
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...
winners, 8
Fulbright Scholarship recipients, and a
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
winner in Physics; in addition, 86 faculty or alumni are members of the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
, 17 of the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
, 25 of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
, 8 of the
National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...
, 1 of the
National Academy of Public Administration, and 9 of the National Academy of Inventors.
History
1824–1900
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on 5 November 1824 with a letter to the Reverend Dr.
Samuel Blatchford
Samuel M. Blatchford (March 9, 1820 – July 7, 1893) was an American attorney and judge. He was most notable for his service as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from April 3, 1882 until his death in 1893.
Early ...
, in which Van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed
Amos Eaton
Amos Eaton (May 17, 1776 – May 10, 1842) was an American botanist, geologist, and educator who is considered the founder of the modern scientific prospectus in education, which was a radical departure from the American liberal arts tradition of ...
as the school's first senior professor and appointed the first board of trustees.
The school opened on Monday, 3 January 1825 at the Old Bank Place, a building at the north end of Troy.
Tuition was around $40 per semester (equivalent to $800 in 2012).
The fact that the school attracted students from as far as
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
is attributed to the reputation of Eaton. Fourteen months of successful trial led to the incorporation of the school on 21 March 1826 by the state of
New York. In its early years, the Rensselaer School strongly resembled a graduate school more than it did a college, drawing graduates from many older institutions.
Under Eaton, the Rensselaer School, renamed the Rensselaer Institute in 1832, was a small but vibrant center for technological research. The first civil engineering degrees in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
were granted by the school in 1835, and many of the best remembered civil engineers of that time graduated from the school. Important visiting scholars included
Joseph Henry, who had previously studied under Amos Eaton, and
Thomas Davenport, who sold the world's first working
electric motor
An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...
to the institute.
In 1847 alumnus
Benjamin Franklin Greene became the new senior professor. Earlier he had done a thorough study of European technical schools to see how Rensselaer could be improved. In 1850 he reorganized the school into a three-year polytechnic institute with six technical schools.
In 1861 the name was changed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. A severe conflagration of 10 May 1862, known as "
The Great Fire", destroyed more than 507 buildings in Troy and gutted in the heart of the city.
The "Infant School" building that housed the Institute at the time was destroyed in this fire.
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
proposed that Rensselaer leave Troy altogether and merge with its New York City campus. Ultimately, the proposal was rejected and the campus left the crowded downtown for the hillside. Classes were temporarily held at the Vail House and in the
Troy University building until 1864, when the Institute moved to a building on Broadway on 8th Street, now the site of the Approach.
One of the first Latino student organizations in the United States was founded at RPI in 1890. The
Club Hispano Americano was established by the international Latin American students that attended the institute at this time.
Since 1900
In 1904 the institute was for the fourth time devastated by fire, when its main building was completely destroyed. However, RPI underwent a period of academic and resource expansion under the leadership of President
Palmer Ricketts. Named president in 1901, Ricketts liberalized the curriculum by adding the Department of Arts, Science, and Business Administration, in addition to the Graduate School. He also expanded the university's resources and developed RPI into a true polytechnic institute by increasing the number of degrees offered from two to twelve; these included electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, biology, chemistry, and physics. During Rickett's tenure, enrollment increased from approximately 200 in 1900 to a high of 1,700 in 1930.
Another period of expansion occurred following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
as returning veterans used their GI Bill education benefits to attend college. The "Freshman Hill" residence complex was opened in 1953 followed by the completion of the Commons Dining Hall in 1954, two more halls in 1958, and three more in 1968. In this same time frame (1966)
Herta Regina Leng was appointed as RPI's first female full professor. She is now honored there with an annual lecture series. In 1961, there was major progress in academics at the institute with the construction of the Gaerttner Linear Accelerator, then the most powerful in the world, and the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center. The current Student Union building was opened in 1967.
The next three decades brought continued growth with many new buildings (see '
Campus' below), and growing ties to industry. The "H-building", previously used for storage, became the home for the RPI incubator program, the first such program sponsored solely by a university.
Shortly after this, RPI decided to invest $3 million in pavement, water and power on around of land it owned south of campus to create the
Rensselaer Technology Park
The Rensselaer Technology Park is a technology park in North Greenbush, New York, USA (though with a mailing address in Troy) operated by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As of 2009 the park has over 70 tenants representing a diverse range of te ...
.
In 1982 the New York State legislature granted RPI $30 million to build the
George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation The George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation, otherwise known as the Low Center or CII, is an industry-funded research center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, US.
History
The center is named after George M. Low, who w ...
, a center for industry-sponsored research and development.
In 1999, RPI gained attention when it was one of the first universities to implement a mandatory
laptop computer
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
program. This was also the year of the arrival of
Shirley Ann Jackson
Shirley Ann Jackson, (born August 5, 1946) is an American physicist, and was the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African-American woman to have earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...
, a former chairperson of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the NRC began operat ...
under U.S.
President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again f ...
, as the eighteenth president of RPI. She instituted "
The Rensselaer Plan" (discussed below), an ambitious plan to revitalize the institute. Many advances have been made under the plan, and Jackson has enjoyed the ongoing support of the RPI Board of Trustees. However, her leadership style did not sit well with many faculty;
on 26 April 2006, RPI faculty voted 149 to 155 in a failed vote of no-confidence in Jackson. In September 2007, RPI's Faculty Senate was suspended for over four years over conflict with the administration.
On 3 October 2008, RPI celebrated the opening of the $220 million
Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center
The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) is a multi-venue arts center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, which opened on October 3, 2008. The building is named after Curtis Priem, co-founder ...
. That same year the national economic downturn resulted in the elimination of 98 staff positions across the institute, about five percent of the workforce. Campus construction expansion continued, however, with the completion of the $92 million East Campus Athletic Village and opening of the new Blitman Commons residence hall in 2009. As of 2015, all staff positions had been reinstated at the institute, experiencing significant growth from pre-recession levels and contributing over $1 billion annually to the economy of the
Capital District
A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...
. That same year, renovation of the North Hall, E-Complex, and Quadrangle dormitories began and was later completed in 2016 to house the largest incoming class in Rensselaer's history.
In July 2022,
Martin A. Schmidt, formerly provost of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, became RPI's nineteenth president.
Campus
RPI's
campus sits upon a hill overlooking Troy and the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
. The surrounding area is mostly residential neighborhoods, with the city of Troy lying at the base of the hill. The campus is bisected by 15th Street, with most of the athletic and housing facilities to the east, and the academic buildings to the west. A footbridge spans the street, linking the two halves. Much of the campus features a series of
Colonial Revival style
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
structures built in the first three decades of the 20th century. Overall, the campus has enjoyed four periods of expansion.
1824–1905
RPI was originally located in downtown Troy, but gradually moved to the hilltop that overlooks the city. Buildings that remain from this time include
Winslow Chemical Laboratory
The Winslow Chemical Laboratory was a laboratory of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus in Troy, New York, United States, which finished construction in 1866. It is named in honor of the 5th President of RPI, John F. Winslow, who donated ...
, a building on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. Located at the base of the hill on the western edge of campus, it currently houses the Social and Behavioral Research Laboratory.
Ricketts Campus, 1906–1935
![RusselSageLabs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/RusselSageLabs.JPG)
President Palmer Ricketts supervised the construction of the school's "Green Rooftop" Colonial Revival buildings that give much of the campus a distinct architectural style. Buildings constructed during this period include the
Carnegie Building Carnegie Building may refer to:
*Carnegie Building (Atlanta)
*Carnegie Building (Troy, New York)
*Carnegie Building (Pittsburgh)
See also
*Lists of Carnegie libraries {{short description, None
This is a list of Carnegie libraries.
* List of Carn ...
(1906), Walker Laboratory (1907), Russell Sage Laboratory (1909),
Pittsburgh Building (1912), Quadrangle Dormitories (1916–1927), Troy Building (1925),
Amos Eaton Hall (1928),
Greene Building (1931) and
Ricketts Building (1935). Also built during this period was "The Approach" (1907), a massive ornate granite staircase found on the west end of campus. Originally linking RPI to the Troy Union Railroad station, it again serves as an important link between the city and the university. In 1906 the '86 Field, home field of the football team until 2008, was completed with support of the Class of 1886.
Post-war expansion, 1946–1960
![VorheesComputingCenter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/VorheesComputingCenter.JPG)
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the campus again underwent major expansion. Nine dormitories were built at the east edge of campus bordering Burdett Avenue, a location that came to be called "Freshman Hill". The
Houston Field House
Houston Field House is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York.
It is the nation's third-oldest college hockey rink, behind Northeastern University's Matthews Arena and Princeton ...
(1949) was reassembled, after being moved in pieces from its original
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
location.
West Hall, which was originally built in 1869 as a hospital, was acquired by the Institute in 1953. The ornate building is an example of
French Second Empire
The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France.
Historians in the 1930s a ...
architecture. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1973.
Another unique building is the Voorhees Computing Center (VCC). Originally the St. Joseph's Seminary chapel, it was built in 1933 and acquired by Rensselaer in 1958, and after renovation served as the institute's library from 1960 until the completion of the new
Folsom Library
The Richard G. Folsom Library ("Folsom Library") is a research library in the Rensselaer Libraries system constructed in the Brutalist style located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. It is named after Richard Gilman ...
, in 1976. The Folsom Library, located adjacent to the computing center, has a concrete exterior that was designed to harmonize with the light gray brick of the chapel; architecturally, it is an example of the modern
brutalist style. Subsequently, the university was unsure of what to do with the chapel, or whether to keep it at all, but in 1979 decided to preserve it and renovate it to house computer labs and facilities to support the institute's computing initiatives. Today the VCC serves as the backbone for the institute's data and telephony infrastructure.
Modern campus, since 1961
![EMPACTwilight](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/EMPACTwilight.JPG)
The modern campus features the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center (J-ROWL) (1961), Materials Research Center (MRC) (1965), Rensselaer Union (1967), Cogswell Laboratory (1971), Darrin Communications Center (DCC) (1973),
Jonsson Engineering Center
The Jonsson Engineering Center (often simply referred to as the JEC), is home to the School of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. It is named for J. Erik Jonsson and was dedicated on 7 October 1977.
Background ...
(JEC) (1977),
Low Center for Industrial Innovation The George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation, otherwise known as the Low Center or CII, is an industry-funded research center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, US.
History
The center is named after George M. Low, who wa ...
(CII) (1987), a public school building which was converted into Academy Hall (1990), and the
Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (2004).
Tunnels connect the Low Center, DCC, JEC and Science Center. A tenth dormitory named Barton Hall was added to Freshman Hill in August 2000, featuring the largest rooms available for freshmen.
On 3 October 2008, the university celebrated the grand opening of the
Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center
The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) is a multi-venue arts center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, which opened on October 3, 2008. The building is named after Curtis Priem, co-founder ...
(EMPAC) situated on the west edge of campus. The building was constructed on the precipice of the hill, with the main entrance on top. Upon entering, elevated walkways lead into a 1,200-seat concert hall. Most of the building is encased in a glass exoskeleton, with an atrium-like space between it and the "inner building". Adjacent to and underneath the main auditorium there is a 400-seat theater, offices, and two black-box studios with to ceilings. Originally budgeted for $50 million, the EMPAC construction costs ballooned to over $200 million due to difficulty of anchoring the foundation in the soft clay of the hill.
In 2008, RPI announced the purchase of the former Rensselaer
Best Western
Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...
Inn, located at the base of the hill, along with plans to transform it into a new residence hall. After extensive renovations, the residence hall was dedicated on 15 May 2009, as the Howard N. Blitman, P.E. '50 Residence Commons.
It houses about 300 students in 148 rooms and includes a fitness center, dining hall, and conference area.
The new residence hall is part of a growing initiative to involve students in the Troy community and help revitalize the downtown. RPI owns and operates three office buildings in downtown Troy, the Rice and Heley buildings and the historic
W. & L.E. Gurley Building. RPI also owns the
Proctor's Theater building in Troy which was purchased in 2004, with the intention of converting it into office space.
As of 2011, Rensselaer had signed an agreement with Columbia Development Companies to acquire both Proctor's Theatre and Chasan Building in Troy and launch a redevelopment.
Other campuses
The Institute runs a campus in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, and a distance learning center in
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...
. These centers are used by graduates and working professionals and are managed by the Hartford branch of RPI,
Rensselaer at Hartford
Rensselaer at Work is the online division of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, operating administratively from facilities in Hartford, Connecticut, since 1955. Until 1997, it was known as the Hartford Graduate Center. The primary focus of the divi ...
. At Hartford, graduate degrees are offered in
business administration
Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
,
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
,
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
,
computer and systems engineering,
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
, engineering science,
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
and
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
. There are also a number of certificate programs and skills training programs for working professionals.
Academics
![RPIAcademyHall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/RPIAcademyHall.JPG)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has five schools: the School of Architecture, the School of Engineering, the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, the
Lally School of Management & Technology
The Lally School of Management was founded in 1963 as part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Its current mission statement is "To bridge management and technology to create sophisticated global business leaders who are prepared to guide th ...
, and the School of Science. The School of Engineering is the largest by enrollment, followed by the School of Science, the School of Management, the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and the School of Architecture. There also exists an interdisciplinary program in
Information Technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
that began in the late 1990s, programs in prehealth and prelaw,
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
Overview
While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...
(ROTC) for students desiring commissions as officers in the armed forces, a program in
cooperative education
Cooperative education (or co-operative education) is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for struct ...
(Co-Op), and domestic and international exchange programs. All together, the university offers over 145 degree programs in nearly 60 fields that lead to bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. In addition to traditional majors, RPI has around a dozen special interdisciplinary programs, such as Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS), Design, Innovation, and Society (DIS), Minds & Machines, and Product Design and Innovation (PDI). RPI is a technology-oriented university; all buildings and residence hall rooms have hard-wired and wireless high speed internet access, and all incoming freshmen have been required to have a laptop computer since 1999.
Nationally, RPI is a member of the
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and the NAICU's
University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN).
Rensselaer Plan
With the arrival of President
Shirley Ann Jackson
Shirley Ann Jackson, (born August 5, 1946) is an American physicist, and was the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African-American woman to have earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...
came the "Rensselaer Plan", announced in 1999. Its goal is to achieve greater prominence for Rensselaer as a technological research university. Various aspects of the plan include bringing in a larger
graduate student
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
The organization and s ...
population and new research faculty, and increasing participation in undergraduate research, international exchange programs, and "living and learning communities". So far, there have been a number of changes under the plan: new infrastructure such as the
Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies,
Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center
The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) is a multi-venue arts center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, which opened on October 3, 2008. The building is named after Curtis Priem, co-founder ...
, and
Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI) have been built to support new programs, and application numbers have increased.
In 2018, Rensselaer received a record number of applications: 20,337. According to
Jared Cohon
Jared Leigh Cohon (born October 7, 1947) served as the eighth president of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. he is a University Professor in the Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering.
He holds a BS in Civ ...
in 2006, then president of
Carnegie Mellon University, "Change at Rensselaer in the last five years has occurred with a scope and swiftness that may be without precedent in the recent history of American higher education."
The ability to attract greater research funds is needed to meet the goals of the plan, and the university has set a goal of $100 million annually. Fourteen years later, in FY2013, research expenditures reached this goal. To help raise money the university mounted a $1 billion capital campaign, of which the public phase began in September 2004 and was expected to finish by 2008. In 2001, a major milestone of the campaign was the pledging of an unrestricted gift of $360 million by an anonymous donor, believed to be the largest such gift to a U.S. university at the time. The university had been a relative stranger to such generosity as the prior largest single gift was $15 million. By September 2006, the $1 billion goal has been exceeded much in part to an in-kind contribution of software commercially valued at $513.95 million by the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE).
In light of this, the board of trustees increased the goal of the $1 billion capital campaign to $1.4 billion by 30 June 2009. The new goal was met by 1 October 2008.
In anticipation of RPI's 200th anniversary, an updated version called the "Rensselaer Plan 2024" was announced in 2012.
In 2016, Jackson announced during the Fall Town Hall Meeting that the institute was in the final stages of organizing a new capital campaign which it would launch in 2017 to meet the goals of the Rensselaer Plan 2024. The goal of the campaign was cited as being primarily for the support of financial aid for undergraduate students and the expansion of on-campus research facilities to accommodate planned increases in doctoral and graduate enrollment. The fundraising goal of the capital campaign was $1 billion, with over $400 million raised prior to the campaign going public.
Ambitious spending on the Rensselaer Plan has led the university into financial difficulties, with its credit rating lowered by several agencies.
Faculty
Rankings
For 2021, ''
U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Rensselaer tied for 53rd among national universities in the U.S., 40th out of 180 for "Best Value" in undergraduate education, and tied for 68th out of the top 83 in "Most Innovative Schools".
The same rankings placed Rensselaer's undergraduate engineering program tied at 32nd among schools whose highest degree is a doctorate,
and its graduate program is ranked tied for 43rd out of 218 engineering schools.
The Leiden Ranking (2016) placed RPI at 127 among the top 900 world universities and research institutions according to the proportion of the top 1% most frequently cited publications of a university. In 2016, ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' ranked Rensselaer No. 18 among four-year non-vocational colleges and universities and
Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings
The term Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings refers to rankings published jointly between 2004 and 2009 by ''Times Higher Education'' and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). After QS and ''Times Higher Education'' had ended their collabora ...
placed Rensselaer among the top 50 universities for technology in the world.
In 2016, Rensselaer was listed among the top ten universities for highest median earnings.
Civil liberties organization
FIRE
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
gave RPI its 2020 "Lifetime Censorship Award" "For its unashamed, years-long record of censoring its critics and utter disinterest in protecting students’ rights".
Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at RPI
One of the major departments at RPI is the ECSE department, or Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering department. The department offers students the ability to gain bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in Electrical Engineering, or Computer Systems Engineering. While the school itself was founded in 1824, Electrical Engineering was first introduced to Rensselaer Polytechnic in 1907 with the class of 1911, long before the invention of the first computers but twenty eight years after the invention of the lightbulb. The department was listed as Physics and Electrical Engineering in 1924 while under President Palmer Ricketts. Computer system engineering was added later. Today Computer Systems Engineering and Electrical Engineering are in many ways similar, with many of the core classes being shared between the two. Electrical Engineering, however tends to focus more on hardware, while computer systems engineering tends to focus on algorithms and systems. Many students take dual majors, the common ones being Electrical Engineering and Computer Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanic Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, and Computer Systems Engineering and Computer Science. Many students in the ECSE department often do minors in other fields such as economics or psychology. The ECSE department currently does research in the areas of information science and systems, communication and network, control and autonomy, energy and power systems, electronics and photonics, and computer systems design. Notable alumni from the ECSE department include James A. Parsons, B. Jayant Baliga, Alan Borck, founder of RLC Electronics, Bruce Carlson, Mukesh Chatter, Allen B. Du Mont, Nariman Farvardin, Peter HArt, inventor of the A* search algorithm Herman A. Haus, Marcian E. Hoff, creator of the microprocessor, Doug Mercer, who was influential in the field of analog to digital converters, Sean O’Sullivan, Curtis P. Priem, founder of NVIDIA, George Saridis, Steven J. Sassoon, inventor of digital camera, Chauncey Starr, Raymond S. Tomlinson, inventor of e-mail, and Eitan Yudilevich.
Research and development
![LowCenterRPI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/LowCenterRPI.JPG)
Rensselaer is
classified among "
R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". Rensselaer has established six areas of research as institute priorities:
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
,
energy and the environment
The environmental impact of the energy industry is significant, as energy and natural resource consumption are closely related. Producing, transporting, or consuming energy all have an environmental impact. Energy has been harnessed by human bei ...
,
nanotechnology,
computation and information technology, and
media and the arts. Research is organized under the Office of the Vice President for Research,
Jonathan Dordick. In 2018, Rensselaer operated 34 research centers and maintained annual sponsored research expenditures of $100.8 million.
![Biotech Center RPI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Biotech_Center_RPI.jpg)
One of the most recent of Rensselaer's research centers is the
Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, a 218,000 square-foot research facility and a national pacesetter for fundamental and applied research in biotechnology. The primary target of the research center is biologics, a research priority based on data-driven understanding of proteomics, protein regulation, and gene regulation. It involves using biocatalysis and synthetic biology tools to block or supplement the actions of specific cells or proteins in the immune system. Over the past decade, CBIS has produced over 2,000 peer-reviewed publications with over 30,000 citations and currently employs over 200 scientists and engineers. The center is also used primarily to train undergraduate and graduate students, with over 1,000 undergraduates and 200 doctoral students trained. The center also has numerous academic and industry partners including the
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eig ...
. These partnerships have resulted in numerous advances over the last decade through new commercial developments in diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices, and regenerative medicine which are a direct result of research at the center. Examples of advancements include the creation of synthetic heparin, antimicrobial coatings, detoxification chemotherapy, on-demand bio-medicine, implantable sensors, and 3D cellular array chips.
Rensselaer also hosts the
Tetherless World Constellation
The Tetherless World Constellation (TWC) is a multidisciplinary research institution at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The institution focuses on the study of theories, methods and applications of the World Wide Web. Research is carried o ...
, a multidisciplinary research institution focused on theories, methods, and applications of the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
. Research is carried out in three inter-connected themes: Future Web, Semantic Foundations and Xinformatics. At Rensselaer, a constellation is a multidisciplinary team composed of senior and junior faculty members, research scientists, and postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students. The faculty experts for the TWC constellation are
James Hendler
James Alexander Hendler (born April 2, 1957) is an artificial intelligence researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States, and one of the originators of the Semantic Web. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administr ...
,
Deborah McGuinness
Deborah Louise McGuinness (born ca. 1960) is an American computer scientist and researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). She is a professor of Computer, Cognitive and Web Sciences, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and an endowed ...
and
Peter Fox. Faculty alumni of TWC includes
Heng Ji (
Natural Language Processing
Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human language, in particular how to program computers to pro ...
). In 2016, the Constellation received a one million dollar grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for continuing work on a novel data visualization platform that will harness and accelerate the analysis of vast amounts of data for the foundation's Healthy Birth, Growth, and Development Knowledge Integration initiative.
In conjunction with the constellation, Rensselaer operates the
Center for Computational Innovations The Center for Computational Innovations (CCI), (formerly the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations) is a supercomputing center located at the Rensselaer Technology Park in Troy, New York, Troy, New York (state), New York.
Motivation
...
which is the result of a $100 million collaboration between Rensselaer,
IBM, and
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
to further
nanotechnology innovations. The center is currently home to the most powerful private-university based supercomputer in the world and its supercomputer is consistently ranked among the most powerful in the world, capable of performing over 1.1
peta-
A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit. All metric prefixes used today are decadic. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The pre ...
FLOPS. The center's main focus is on reducing the cost associated with the development of nanoscale materials and devices, such as used in the
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...
industry. The university also utilizes the center for interdisciplinary research in
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
,
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
,
energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
, and other fields. Rensselaer additionally operates a nuclear reactor and testing facility – the only university-run reactor in New York State – as well as the Gaerttner
Linear Accelerator
A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear ...
, which is currently being upgraded under a $9.44 million grant from the
US Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United State ...
.
Students
![RPIQuad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/RPIQuad.jpg)
In 2018, Rensselaer's enrollment was 7,442 total resident students, including 6,590 undergraduate and 1,329 graduate.
Over 71% of Rensselaer's students are from out of state. More than 20% of students are international. Rensselaer students represent all 50 U.S. states and over 60 countries. The undergraduate student to faculty ratio is 13:1. Among the class of 2020, 66% are in the top 5 percent of their high school class, 93% in the top quarter, and 99% in the top half. The average unweighted high school GPA for enrolled students was 3.88 on a 4.0 scale, with 65% having a 3.75 GPA or higher and 99% having at least a 3.0.
Rensselaer's yield rate for the Class of 2021 surpassed 20 percent in the year 2018 with over 20,000 applications received by Rensselaer's Office of Admissions.
The average SAT score range was 1330-1500 for the mid-50% range with a median SAT score of 1420 on a scale of 1600. The average ACT score range was 29-33 for the mid-50% range with a median ACT score of 31.
In 2016, Rensselaer's freshman retention rate was 94% and admissions selectivity rating was 35th in the nation according to ''
U.S. News & World Report''. Since 2000, undergraduate enrollment grew by over 1,700 students, from 4,867 to 6,590 during calendar year 2018, and the full-time graduate enrollment declined from 1500 to 1,188.
Roughly 12% of students received the Rensselaer medal, a merit scholarship with a cumulative value of $100,000 for exceptional high school students in science and mathematics.
95% of full-time domestic undergraduate students receive either need-based or merit-based financial aid, averaging 85% of total financial need met per student.
In 2018, Rensselaer invested over $140 million in financial aid and scholarships for students.
Gender ratio
RPI became coeducational in 1942. In 1966, the male-to-female ratio was 19:1, in the 1980s it reached as low as 8:1, and in the early 1990s the ratio was around 5:1. In 2009, RPI had a ratio of 2.5:1 (72% male / 28% female),
In 2016, the ratio for the incoming freshman class had fallen to 2.1:1 (68% male / 32% female), the lowest in the history of the institute.
In the fall of 2016, more than 1,000 women enrolled in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's undergraduate engineering programs for the first time in its history. These women represented 30 percent of the student body in engineering at the university, and 32 percent of the university's total gender composition. Shekhar Garde, Rensselaer's dean of engineering, claims he wants to increase the female composition of the institute to 50 percent before 2030.
Grand Marshal and President of the Union
The positions of Grand Marshal and President of the Union at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are typically awarded (by student vote) to the students who are respected by the student body and are represented by a top hat and a derby hat respectively. While Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has had the position of Grand Marshal (GM) since 1865, the position of President of the Union did not come about until 1890 when the union was developed. However, between 1890 and 1894, there was only a President of the Union, no Grand Marshal. Starting with the 1894–1895 school year, the President of the Union and Grand Marshal ran side by side. The week of voting for said positions is called GM Week, and typically has events on campus for students to do to promote the voting.
Grand Marshal (GM)
The Grand Marshal position is elected by the student body (typically in the spring) and is the highest position a student can hold at RPI. The GM plays a big role in the student government by doing projects, appointing officers, and aiding the general campus community. The first GM was Albert M. Harper, and the current GM as of 2021-2022 is Cait Bennet (156th).
President of the Union (PU)
The President of the Union is elected by the student body (typically in the spring). Their main responsibility is to appoint an Executive Board of 15–20 students (responsible for the Rensselaer Union's budget). The Executive Board is the chief financial body of the Rensselaer Union. They are responsible for preparing and approving the budget for the following fiscal year, keeping track of and distributing union funds, and managing the business affairs with other facilities. In addition to appointing the Executive Board, they also work closely with the union's staff, athletics staff, and student clubs. The first PU was W.C.H. Slagle, and the current as of 2021-2022 is Colleen Corrigan (133th).
Greek life
![Theta Chi Phi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Theta_Chi_Phi.jpg)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has an extensive history of Greek community involvement on campus, including past presidents, honorary academic building dedications, and philanthropic achievements. The overall Greek system at Rensselaer stresses Leadership, Fortitude, Innovation, and Evolution. RPI currently has 29 active fraternities as well as 6 sororities, with 32 percent involvement of all males and 18 percent involvement of all females, organized under the
Interfraternal Council and
Panhellenic Council
The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alum ...
. Of those Greek organizations, three were founded at Rensselaer including the
Theta Xi
Theta Xi () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on April 29, 1864. Of all the social fraternities today, Theta Xi was the only one founded during the Civil War. Its ...
national engineering fraternity, the
Sigma Delta
Sigma Delta () is a collegiate sorority at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered be ...
Hispanic-interest local sorority, and the
Rensselaer Society of Engineers local engineering fraternity. Theta Xi fraternity was established by RPI students on 29 April 1864, the only national fraternity founded during the Civil War. The
Theta Xi Fraternity Chapter House
Theta Xi Fraternity Chapter House, also known as the Alpha of Theta Xi Fraternity Chapter House, or less formally as The Zoo, is a historic fraternity house associated with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and located at Troy, New York, Troy, Renss ...
is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, Rensselaer is home to the Epsilon Zeta chapter of the
Alpha Phi Omega, or "APO," national service fraternity, which operates a test-bank and office at the top floor of the Student Union. The organization also hosts a campus lost & found, universal can tab collection, and a public 3D printing service.
In 2017,
Chi Phi
Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest of these organizations was for ...
and
Theta Chi
Theta Chi () is an international Fraternities and sororities, college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 c ...
at Rensselaer co-hosted an event called "Brave A Shave For Kids With Cancer," along with several other Greek organizations - raising over $22,000 for pediatric cancer research with dozens of participants shaving their heads to spread awareness of pediatric cancers. Many fraternities and sororities also engage in
Adopt-a-Highway and host events in the local community. Since its inception, all members of Greek Life have also participated in Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond - RPI's official continuation of student orientation through hosting annual events open to all students such as Beach Day/Hike with Greek Life, a day of hiking and team building activities for incoming freshmen, and Saratoga Therapeutic Equine Program, a day of service focused on horse rehabilitation programs.
Greek Life organizations also operate Greek-affiliated groups including the Alumni Inter-Greek Council, Greek Greeks - a student-run venture which aims to promote sustainability and safe environmental practices in Greek chapter houses, Greek Spectrum - an LGBTQIA support and advocacy group, and the undergraduate Greek leadership society
Order of Omega
The Order of Omega is an undergraduate Greek society recognizing "fraternity men and women who have attained a high standard of leadership in inter-fraternity activities." It functions as an adjunct to traditional fraternal organizations, rather ...
.
Athletics
![RPI Engineers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/RPI_Engineers.svg)
The RPI Engineers are the athletic teams for the university. RPI currently sponsors 23 sports, 21 of which compete at the
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...
level in the
Liberty League
The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member schools are top institutions that are all located in the state of New York.
History
It was founde ...
; men's and women's ice hockey compete at the
Division I level in
ECAC Hockey
ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...
. The official nickname of some of the school's Division III teams was changed in 1995 from the Engineers to the Red Hawks. However, the hockey, football, cross-country, tennis and track and field teams all chose to retain the Engineers name. The Red Hawks name was, at the time, very unpopular among the student body; a Red Hawk mascot was frequently taunted with thrown concessions and chants of "kill the chicken!". In 2009 the nickname for all teams has since been changed back to Engineers. In contrast, the official ice hockey mascot, known as Puckman, has always been very popular. Puckman is an anthropomorphic hockey puck with an engineer's helmet.
During the 1970s and 1980s, one RPI cheer was:
:''E to the x, dy/dx, E to the x, dx''
:''Cosine, secant, tangent, sine''
:''3.14159''
:''Square root, cube root, log of pi''
:''Disintegrate them, RPI!''
Ice hockey (men's)
RPI has a competitive Division I
hockey team who won
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
national titles in 1954 and 1985. Depending on how the rules are interpreted, the RPI men's ice hockey team may have the longest winning streak on record for a Division I team; in the 1984–85 season it was undefeated for 30 games, but one game was against the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, a non-NCAA team. Continuing into the 1985–86 season, RPI continued undefeated over 38 games, including two wins over Toronto. The streak ended at Boston University against the Terriers.
Adam Oates
Adam Robert Oates (born August 27, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, former co-head coach for the New Jersey Devils and former head coach for the Washington Capitals. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League ...
and
Daren Puppa
Daren James Puppa (born March 23, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender in the NHL. During his career, he played for the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won the 1985 NCAA Championship ...
, two players during that time, both went on to become stars in the NHL.
Joé Juneau
Joseph Juneau () (born January 5, 1968) is a Canadian former professional hockey player and engineer, born in Pont-Rouge, Quebec. He played in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators ...
, who played from 1987 to 1991, and
Brian Pothier
Brian Pothier (born April 15, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. Pothier played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2000 until 2010.
Playing career
As a youth, Pothier played in the 1991 Quebec International Pee ...
, who played from 1996 to 2000, also spent many years in the NHL.
Graeme Townshend
Graeme Scott Townshend (born October 23, 1965) is a Jamaican-born Canadian retired ice hockey right winger. He was the first Jamaican-born player to play in the National Hockey League (NHL), and played 45 games in the NHL between 1990 and 1993. T ...
, who also played in the late 1980s, had a brief NHL career. He is the first man of
Jamaican ancestry to play in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
.
The ice hockey team plays a significant role in the campus's culture, drawing thousands of fans each week to the
Houston Field House
Houston Field House is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York.
It is the nation's third-oldest college hockey rink, behind Northeastern University's Matthews Arena and Princeton ...
during the season. The team's popularity even sparked the tradition of the hockey line, where students lined up for season tickets months in advance of the on-sale date. Today, the line generally begins a week or more before ticket sales. Another tradition since 1978 has been the "Big Red Freakout!" game held close to the first weekend of February. Fans usually dress in the schools colors red (cherry) and white, and gifts such as T-shirts are distributed en masse. In ice hockey, the RPI's biggest rival has always been the upstate engineering school
Clarkson University
Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an enr ...
. In recent years RPI has also developed a spirited rivalry with their conference travel partner
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
, with whom they annually play a nonconference game in Albany for the Mayor's Cup.
Ice hockey (women's)
The women's ice hockey team moved to the NCAA Division I level in 2005. During the 2008–09 season the team set the record for most wins in one season (19-14-4). On 28 February 2010, Rensselaer made NCAA history. The Engineers beat Quinnipiac, 2–1, but it took five overtimes. It is now the longest game in NCAA Women's Ice Hockey history. Senior defenseman Laura Gersten had the game-winning goal. She registered it at 4:32 of the fifth overtime session to not only clinch the win, but the series victory.
Lacrosse (men's)
The
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...
team represented the United States in the
1948 Olympics in London. It won the
Wingate Memorial Trophy
The Wingate Memorial Trophy was the award given to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national champion in men's college lacrosse from 1936 to 1970, and the NCAA Men's Champion in 1971-1972.
The first intercollegiate ...
as national collegiate champions in 1952. Future
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
head coach
Ned Harkness
Nevin Donald Harkness (September 19, 1919 – September 19, 2008) was an NCAA head coach of ice hockey and lacrosse at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cornell University and of ice hockey at Union College. Harkness was also head coach ...
coached the lacrosse and ice hockey teams, winning national championships in both sports.
Baseball
The Engineers baseball squad is perennially atop the Liberty League standings, and has seen 8 players move on to the professional ranks, including 4 players selected in the MLB draft. The team is coached by Keith Glasser. The Engineers play their home games at the historic Robison Field.
American football
American rugby was played on campus in the late 1870s. Intercollegiate football begin as late as 1886 when an RPI team first played a Union College team on a leased field in West Troy (Watervliet). Since 1903, RPI and nearby Union have been rivals in football, making it the oldest such rivalry in the state. The teams have played for the
Dutchman's Shoes
The Dutchman's Shoes is a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual college football game between the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers and the Union College Dutchmen since 1950. As of the end of 2019, these two schools have played ea ...
since 1950. RPI Football had their most successful season in 2003, when they finished 11-2 and lost to St. Johns (Minn.) in the NCAA Division III semi final game.
Athletic facilities
![RPIAthleticVillage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/RPIAthleticVillage.jpg)
The Houston Field House is a 4,780‑seat multi-purpose arena located on the RPI campus. It opened in 1949 and is home to the RPI Engineers men's and women's ice hockey teams. The Field House was renovated starting in 2007 as part of the major campus improvement project to build the East Campus Athletic Village. The renovations included locker rooms upgrades, addition of a new weight room, and a new special reception room dedicated to Ned Harkness. Additionally, as part of the renovations through a government grant, solar panels were installed on the roof to supply power to the building.
As part of the Rensselaer Plan, the Institute recently completed a major project to improve its athletic facilities with the East Campus Athletic Village. The plan included construction of a new and much larger 4,842‑seat football stadium, a basketball arena with seating for 1,200, a new 50-meter pool, an indoor track and field complex, new tennis courts, new weight rooms and a new sports medicine center. The Institute broke ground on 26 August 2007, and construction of the first phase is expected to last two years. The estimated cost of the project is $78 million for phase one and $35–$45 million for phase two. Since the completion of the new stadium, the bleachers on the Class of '86 football field on the central campus have been removed and the field has become an open space. In the future the new space could be used for expansions of the academic buildings, but for now members of the campus planning team foresee a "historic landscape with different paths and access ways for students and vehicles alike".
Student life
![RPIStudentUnion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/RPIStudentUnion.jpg)
The students of RPI have created and participate in a variety of clubs and organizations funded by the Student Union. About 170 of these organizations are funded by the Student Union, while another thirty, which consist mostly of political and religious organizations, are self-supporting. In 2006 the ''Princeton Review'' ranked RPI second for "more to do on campus." The Union was the last entirely student-run union at a private university in the United States until September 2017.
Phalanx is RPI's Senior Honor Society. It was founded in 1912, when Edward Dion and the Student Council organized a society to recognize those RPI students who had distinguished themselves among their peers in the areas of leadership, service and devotion to the ''alma mater''. It is a fellowship of the most active in student activities and has inducted more than 1,500 members since its founding.
RPI has around twenty intramural sports organizations, many of which are broken down into different divisions based on level of play. Greek organizations compete in them as well as independent athletes. There are also thirty-nine club sports.
Given the university's proximity to the Berkshires, Green Mountains and Adirondacks, the Ski Club and the Outing Club are some of the largest groups on campus. The Ski Club offers weekly trips to local ski areas during the winter months, while the Outing Club offers trips on a weekly basis for a variety of activities.
''
The Rensselaer Polytechnic
''The Rensselaer Polytechnic'' is the student-run news organization of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Prior to 2018, it was published in print every Wednesday during the Institute's fall and spring academic calendars (except during holiday and ...
'' is the student-run weekly newspaper. ''The Poly'' printed about 7,000 copies each week and distributed them around campus until 2018 when the newspaper switched to online-only distribution due to budget concerns. Although it is the Union club with the largest budget, ''The Poly'' receives no subsidy from the Union, and obtains all funding through the sale of advertisements. There is also a popular student-run magazine called ''Statler & Waldorf'' which prints on a semesterly basis.
RPI has an improvisational comedy group, Sheer Idiocy, which performs several shows a semester. There are also several music groups ranging from ''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'' groups such as the Rusty Pipes, Partial Credit, the Rensselyrics and Duly Noted, to several instrumental groups such as the orchestra, the jazz band and a classical choral group, the Rensselaer Concert Choir.
Another notable organization on campus is
WRPI
WRPI (91.5 FM) is a non-commercial free-format college radio station run entirely by students attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and staffed by community members and students. WRPI broadcasts 365 days a year with an effective radiated pow ...
, the campus radio station. WRPI differs from most
college radio in that it serves a radius including the greater
Albany area. With 10 kW of broadcasting power, WRPI maintains a stronger signal than nearly all college radio stations and some commercial stations. WRPI currently broadcasts on 91.5 FM in the Albany area.
![RPIPlayhouse2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/RPIPlayhouse2.jpg)
The RPI Players is an on‑campus theater group that was formed in 1929. The Players resided in the Old Gym until 1965 when they moved to their present location at the 15th Street Lounge. This distinctive red shingled building had been a USO hall for the U.S. Army before being purchased by RPI. The Players have staged over 275 productions in its history.
RPI songs
There are a number of songs commonly played and sung at RPI events.
Notable among them are:
* "The Alma Mater (Here's to Old RPI)" – sung at formal events such as
commencement and
convocation, also played and sung by the
Pep Band
A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchi ...
at hockey and football games, and played daily at noon by the quadrangle bell tower. It was published in the first book of ''Songs of Rensselaer'' printed in 1913.
* "Hail, Dear Old Rensselaer" – used to be the
fight song
A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...
during the 1960s. It is still played today by the Pep Band at athletic events.
* "All We've Learned at Rensselaer" – sung at the RPI commencement ceremonies by the Rensselyrics. Although the Rensselyrics are an ''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'' group, this song is accompanied by piano. Each verse or section has a different musical style, several of which are closely based on
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
songs or other popular songs.
First Year Experience and CLASS programs
Another notable aspect of student life at RPI is the "
First-Year Experience The First-Year Experience (FYE) (also known as the Freshman-Year Experience or the Freshman Seminar Program) is a program at many American colleges and universities designed to help students prepare for the transition from high school to college. FY ...
" (FYE) program. Freshman begin their stay at RPI with a week called "Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond" or NRB week. The Office of the First-Year Experience provides several programs that extend to not only freshman, but to all students. These include family weekend, community service days, the Information and Personal Assistance Center (IPAC), and the Community Advocate Program. The FYE program was awarded the 2006
NASPA Excellence Gold Award, in the category of "Enrollment Management, Orientation, Parents, First-Year, Other-Year and related".
Starting in 2008, the Division of Student Life updated the structure of its residential college model based upon the concept of "Clustered Learning Advocacy and Support for Students" (CLASS), which included a planned requirement for all sophomores to
live on campus and to live with special "residence cluster deans".
The transition to this program began in early 2010 among some resistance from some fraternities and students who had planned to live off campus.
NROTC
RPI
NROTC
The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.
Origins
A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 19 ...
is an officer accession program hosted at RPI with the goal of developing
Midshipmen into commissioned officers into the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The unit consists of students from RPI as well as
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
. The program was officially started at RPI in September 1941, just a few months before the US involvement in WWII.
RPI NROTC was part of the
V-12 training program that was aimed at increasing the number of total commissioned officers during WWII. It focused on developing officers for the military specializing in technical degrees such as engineering, medicine, and foreign languages. The RPI class of 1945 had a large majority of its student body in the NROTC program with around 70% of the 932 students.
Since 1926, over 75 Naval Officers have attained flag officer rank with a degree from RPI. Besides the US Naval Academy, this is the largest number of flag officers produced from one single institute. RPI NROTC is home to several notable alumni including NASA Astronaut
CDR Reid Wiseman and
RDML Lewis Combs.
RDML Combs is the founder of the Navy Construction Battalion, commonly referred to as the “
Seabee
, colors =
, mascot = Bumblebee
, battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...
s”, which plays a crucial role in creating forward deployed bases as well as humanitarian efforts to bring fresh water to underdeveloped communities.
Religious clubs
One of the religious clubs that can be found at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is RPI-Sage Hillel. This is a Jewish club that incorporates both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and
Russell Sage College
Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduate ...
. Hillel club is a club that is part of a much larger international organization called Hillel International. Hillel's purpose is “Enriching the lives of Jewish students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world”, and their vision is for “a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.”
Hillel meets on Fridays at 6:30 for services and has several other activities throughout the week as decided on by the board of Hillel.
Another religious club at RPI is Cru, which is a non-denominational Christian club that holds worship on Fridays from 7pm. There are other events throughout the week, such as a men's small group, a women's small group, a Saturday morning small group, and a book club. Cru club is part of an also much larger organization, and there are many such programs in schools across the country. Cru was originally founded in 1951 by Bill and Vonette Bright at Fuller Theological Seminary. Its values are faith, growth, and fruitfulness. Cru holds retreats several times a year and has many resources dedicated to helping people who are curious in the Christian faith.
History of women
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute historically has always been a male dominated institute. The first woman to apply to RPI applied in 1873, and her name was Elizabeth R. Bruswell. However, she did not attend as she was the only female to apply and it was suggested that she would not be accepted as it would not be comfortable for her as the only woman on campus. For many years afterwards, the school continued to only allow admission to men. It wasn't until 1942 that women were welcome to enroll in classes at Rensselaer.
First women
Students
Camilla (Trent) Cluett (Architecture), Elizabeth English (Biology), Helen Ketchum (Architecture), Lois Graham (Mechanical Engineering), and Mary Ellen Rathbun (Metallurgical Engineering) were the first women to enroll in 1942. Lois Graham and Mary Ellen Rathbun became the first to graduate on April 22, 1945.
In addition, Antoinette A. Patti was the first woman to receive a master's degree from RPI in February 1947, in Chemistry. The first Doctoral Degree received by a woman at RPI was Reva R. G. Servoss in June 1954, in Chemistry as well.
Faculty
Miss Hazel Brennan was the first woman assistant instructor in chemistry in 1918. She officially was the first woman to teach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The following year, 1919, Marie De Pierpont was hired as an instructor in French and was later named professor as well as being named head of the language department in 1928. She was the first woman to hold a full professorship at the institute, and ended her position in 1932. It wasn't for another 11 years (1943) that another woman was hired as an instructor. Herta Leng, who worked in the Physics Department, was given the title of assistant professor in 1945, and became a full professor in 1966, the second woman to be a full professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
To this day, the percentage of women enrolled at RPI is still significantly lower. The ratio as of 2020 was about 32% women and 68% men.
Notable alumni
According to the Rensselaer Alumni Association, there are nearly 100,000 RPI graduates currently living in the United States, and another 4,378 living abroad. In 1995, the Alumni Association created the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame.
Several notable 19th century civil engineers graduated from RPI. These include the visionary of the transcontinental railroad,
Theodore Judah
Theodore Dehone Judah (March 4, 1826 – November 2, 1863) was an American civil engineer who was a central figure in the original promotion, establishment, and design of the First transcontinental railroad. He found investors for what became t ...
,
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
engineer
Washington Roebling
Washington Augustus Roebling (May 26, 1837 – July 21, 1926) was an American civil engineer who supervised the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, designed by his father John A. Roebling. He served in the Union Army during the American Civ ...
,
George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. (who designed and built the original
Ferris Wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
) and
Leffert L. Buck, the chief engineer of the
Williamsburg Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressw ...
in New York City.
Many RPI graduates have made important inventions, including
Allen B. DuMont
Allen Balcom DuMont, also spelled Du Mont, (January 29, 1901 – November 14, 1965) was an American electronics engineer, scientist and invention, inventor best known for improvements to the cathode ray tube in 1931 for use in television receive ...
('24), creator of the first commercial television and radar;
Keith D. Millis ('38), inventor of
ductile iron
Ductile iron, also known as ductile cast iron, nodular cast iron, spheroidal graphite iron, spheroidal graphite cast iron and SG iron, is a type of graphite-rich cast iron discovered in 1943 by Keith Millis. While most varieties of cast iron are ...
;
Ted Hoff
Marcian Edward "Ted" Hoff Jr. (born October 28, 1937 in Rochester, New York) is one of the inventors of the microprocessor.
Education and work history
Hoff received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst ...
('58), father of the microprocessor;
Raymond Tomlinson
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson (April 23, 1941 – March 5, 2016) was an American computer programmer who implemented the first email program on the ARPANET system, the precursor to the Internet, in 1971; It was the first system able to send mail be ...
('63), often credited with the invention of e-mail; inventor of the digital camera
Steven Sasson and
Curtis Priem
Curtis R. Priem is an American computer scientist.
He received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1982. He designed the first graphics processor for the PC, the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter.
F ...
('82), designer of the first graphics processor for the PC, and co-founder of
NVIDIA
Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
. RPI Prof.
Matthew Hunter invented a process to refine
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
in 1910.
H. Joseph Gerber
H is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet.
H may also refer to:
Musical symbols
* H number, Harry Halbreich reference mechanism for music by Honegger and Martinů
* H, B (musical note)
* H, B major
People
* H. (noble) (died after 127 ...
pioneered computer-automated manufacturing systems for industry.
In addition to NVIDIA, RPI graduates have also gone on to found or co-found major companies such as
John Wiley and Sons,
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globall ...
,
Fairchild Semiconductor,
PSINet
PSINet, based in Northern Virginia, was one of the first commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) and was involved in the commercialization of the Internet until the company's bankruptcy in 2001 during the dot-com bubble and acquisition by Coge ...
,
MapInfo,
Adelphia Communications
Adelphia Communications Corporation was an American cable television company with headquarters in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1952 by brothers Gus and John Rigas after the pair purchased a cable television franchise for US$300. C ...
,
Level 3 Communications,
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...
,
Bugle Boy
Bugle Boy Industries, Inc. was a clothing company founded by William Mow in 1977. It is perhaps best known for its namesake brand of denim jeans that were popular in the 1980s. The company declared bankruptcy in 2001.
William C. W. Mow (Traditio ...
and
Vacasa
Vacasa is an international vacation rental management company based in Portland, Oregon. It provides property management services for over 35,000 vacation rentals in North America, Belize, and Costa Rica. Vacasa manages properties in 34 U.S. stat ...
. Several RPI graduates have played a part in the
U.S. space program:
George Low
George Michael Low (born Georg Michael Löw, June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was an administrator at NASA and the 14th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Low was one of the senior NASA officials who made numerous decisions as m ...
(B.Eng. 1948, M.S. 1950) was manager of the
Apollo 11 project and served as president of RPI, and astronauts
John L. Swigert, Jr.,
Richard Mastracchio
Richard Alan "Rick" Mastracchio (born February 11, 1960) is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He has flown on three NASA Space Shuttle missions as a mission specialist in addition to serving as a Flight Engineer on the Soyuz TMA-1 ...
,
Gregory R. Wiseman
Gregory Reid Wiseman (born November 11, 1975) is an American astronaut, engineer, and naval aviator. He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office until November 14, 2022.
Wiseman was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 2 ...
, and space tourist
Dennis Tito
Dennis Anthony Tito (born August 8, 1940) is an American engineer and entrepreneur. In mid-2001, he became the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space, when he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visitin ...
are alumni. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) was founded by Dr. Chauncey Starr who graduated from RPI with a PhD in physics in 1935.
Political figures who graduated from RPI included
federal judge Arthur J. Gajarsa (B.S. 1962), and Major General
Thomas Farrell of the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
.
Edward Burton Hughes
Edward Burton Hughes (1905 – 6 June 1987) was Acting Commissioner of New York State Department of Transportation in 1969, Executive Deputy Commissioner of New York State Department of Transportation from 1967 to 1970, and Deputy Superintenden ...
, the Acting Commissioner of
New York State Department of Transportation
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...
in 1969, Executive Deputy Commissioner of
New York State Department of Transportation
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...
from 1967 to 1970, and Deputy Superintendent of
New York State Department of Public Works The office of Superintendent of Public Works was created by an 1876 amendment to the New York State Constitution. It abolished the canal commissioners and established that the Department of Public Works execute all laws relating to canal maintenan ...
from 1952 to 1967.
Bertram Dalley Tallamy
Bertram Dalley Tallamy (December 1, 1901 – September 14, 1989) was superintendent of the New York State Department of Public Works from 1948 to 1955. On October 12, 1956, he was named by Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Federal Highway Administrat ...
, seventh Federal Highway Administrator under the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, in office from February 5, 1957 – January 20, 1961.
DARPA
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.
Originally known as the Adv ...
director
Tony Tether, Representative
John Olver
John Walter Olver (born September 3, 1936) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district from 1991 to 2013. Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, Olver graduated from college at the age ...
of
Massachusetts's 1st congressional district
Massachusetts's 1st congressional district is a United States congressional district located in the western and central part of Massachusetts. The state's largest congressional district in area, it covers about one-third of the state and is more ...
, and Senators
John Barrasso
John Anthony Barrasso III ( ; born July 21, 1952) is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wyoming, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Wyoming State ...
of Wyoming,
Mark Shepard
Mark I. Shepard (born 1960) is a former Vermont State Senator ( R- Bennington) and unsuccessful candidate for the 2006 Republican nomination for Vermont's at-large United States House of Representatives seat.
Biography
Shepard was born on Sept ...
of
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, and
George R. Dennis of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, Prime Minister
Hani Al-Mulki
Hani Fawzi Mulki (also known as Hani Mulki; ar, هاني الملقي; '; born 15 October 1951) is a Jordanian politician that held several ministerial and diplomatic positions, and he was Chief Commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone A ...
of
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
.
Notable ice hockey players include NHL
Hockey Hall of Famer and five-time NHL All Star
Adam Oates
Adam Robert Oates (born August 27, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, former co-head coach for the New Jersey Devils and former head coach for the Washington Capitals. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League ...
(1985),
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
winner and former NHL All Star
Mike McPhee (1982), two-time
Calder Cup
The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars.
The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...
winner
Neil Little (1994), former NHL All Rookie
Joé Juneau
Joseph Juneau () (born January 5, 1968) is a Canadian former professional hockey player and engineer, born in Pont-Rouge, Quebec. He played in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators ...
(1991), and former NHL All Star
Daren Puppa
Daren James Puppa (born March 23, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender in the NHL. During his career, he played for the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won the 1985 NCAA Championship ...
(1985).
Other notable alumni include 1973
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
winner
Ivar Giaever
Ivar Giaever ( no, Giæver, ; born April 5, 1929) is a Norwegian-American engineer and physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 with Leo Esaki and Brian Josephson "for their discoveries regarding tunnelling phenomena in solids". G ...
(Ph.D. 1964); the first African-American woman to become a thoracic surgeon,
Rosalyn Scott
Rosalyn P. Scott (born 1950) is an American thoracic surgeon known for her work in education and for being the first African-American woman to become a thoracic surgeon.
Early life and education
Scott was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey ...
(B.S. 1970); director of Linux International
Jon Hall (M.S. 1977);
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
president
Myles Brand
Myles Neil Brand (May 17, 1942 – September 16, 2009) was a philosopher and university administrator who served as the 14th president of the University of Oregon, the 16th president of Indiana University, and the fourth president of the Natio ...
(B.S. 1964);
Lois Graham (B.S.ME 1946), who was the first woman to receive a degree in engineering from RPI, and went on to become the first woman in the US to receive a PhD in engineering; adult stem cell pioneer
James Fallon;
Michael D. West
Michael D. West (born in Niles, Michigan on 28 April 1953) is an American biogerontologist, and a pioneer in stem cells, cellular aging and telomerase. He is the founder and CEO of AgeX Therapeutics,
a startup focused on the field of experime ...
, gerontologist and stem cell scientist, founder of
Geron, now CEO of
BioTime
Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs. Lineage’s programs are based on its robust proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house devel ...
(1976); director
Bobby Farrelly
Robert Leo Farrelly Jr. (born June 17, 1958) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is one of the Farrelly brothers, alongside his brother Peter, and together are known directing and producing quirky, slightly offensive come ...
(1981),
David Ferrucci, lead researcher on IBM's
Watson/Jeopardy! project; 66th AIA Gold Medal-winning architect Peter Q Bohlin;
Matt Patricia
Matthew Edward Patricia (born September 13, 1974) is an American football coach who is the senior football advisor and offensive line coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He has served 15 non-consecutive sea ...
, former head coach for the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
; Garrettina LTS Brown, founder of Garrett's List, King Breeders and inventor of FreeTV; Luis Acuña-Cedeño, Governor of the Venezuelan Sucre State and former Minister of Universities;
Andrew Franks, former placekicker for the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
;
Sean Conroy
Sean Conroy (born March 18, 1992) is a former American professional baseball pitcher from Clifton Park, New York. He competed for the Sonoma Stompers of the Pacific Association. Conroy is prominently featured in the book ''The Only Rule Is It Ha ...
, the first openly gay professional baseball player;
Prem Jain (Father of Green Buildings in India);
Keith Raniere
Keith Allen Raniere (; born August 26, 1960) is an American criminal convicted for a pattern of racketeering activity including human trafficking, sex offenses, and fraud. He co-founded NXIVM, a purported-self-help multi-level marketing com ...
, an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
felon
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resul ...
and the founder of
NXIVM
NXIVM () is the name commonly used to describe the personality cult of imprisoned racketeer and sex offender Keith Raniere. NXIVM is also the trademarked name of the defunct corporation that Raniere founded, which provided seminars and vide ...
, a multi-level marketing company and
cult.
See also
*
Association of Independent Technological Universities The Association of Independent Technological Universities (AITU) is a group of private American engineering colleges established in 1957. The purpose of the association is to share ideas and practices that promote innovation and entrepreneurship, pr ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
RPI Athletics website*
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Schools in Troy, New York
Private universities and colleges in New York (state)
Engineering universities and colleges in New York (state)
Technological universities in the United States
Schools in Rensselaer County, New York
Education in Capital District (New York)
Educational institutions established in 1824
1824 establishments in New York (state)
Tourist attractions in Rensselaer County, New York