The Brown University School of Engineering is the

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

school of

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, a private

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

research university located in Providence,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. Brown's engineering program is the third oldest civilian engineering program in the United States and the oldest undergraduate program in the Ivy League. The School of Engineering is noted for its historically prominent contributions to continuum and applied mechanics, originally led by European

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

researchers in the 20th century. Brown's Division of Engineering was elevated in 2010 to its current status as a school. The Brown University School of Engineering awards undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. The school additionally offers a 5th-year master program as well as a joint graduate program with the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

. Although undergraduate students may officially declare their concentration in engineering as late as the end of their sophomore year, students with an intention in concentration in engineering typically must begin the engineering curriculum their first semester at Brown. Brown_University_Engineering_Research_Center

Brown_University_Engineering_Research_Center

History

Brown offered its first engineering course in 1847, making the school's program the oldest undergraduate engineering program in the Ivy League and the third-oldest civilian engineering program in the United States. In 1850, the

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

curriculum was inaugurated as a focused one and a half year program. In 1903, engineering moved into its own new building on Lincoln Field. The current program was formed in 1916 from the combination of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering departments. In 2010, the university elevated its Division of Engineering to its current status as the Brown University School of Engineering, making it the only undergraduate department at Brown with such status. In July 2011, Lawrence Larson became the school's inaugural Dean. Prior to his appointment, Larson served as the chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. Between 2014 and 2017, the school undertook a major expansion of its facilities, designing and constructing a new Engineering Research Center.

Undergraduate education

The Brown University School of Engineering offers

ABET ABET (pronounced A-bet), formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and applied ...

-accredited engineering concentrations in

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

, environmental engineering,

materials A material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their ge ...

, and

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

(Sc.B.). Also offered is a program in engineering-physics. In addition, the Brown School of Engineering offer a bachelor of arts degree in engineering.

Master's and Ph.D. programs

The Brown University School of Engineering offers Sc.M. programs in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical sciences and computer engineering,

fluids In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously move and deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot res ...

and thermal sciences, materials science, and mechanics of solids. An integrated five-year Sc.B./Sc.M. degree is also available. The Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME) is also a one-year master's degree in technology entrepreneurship. The Brown University School of Engineering offers Ph.D. programs in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical sciences and computer engineering, fluids and thermal sciences, materials science, and mechanics of solids. In 2020, the school partnered with the

's Division of Architecture and Design to launch a new joint Master of Arts in Design Engineering (MADE) program. The program is designed as an 11-month residential program and began in the summer of 2021.

Rankings

In its 2021 rankings, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Brown as the 37th best undergraduate engineering school in the country. The School of Engineering graduate program ranked 51st. In 2019, Brown awarded the 7th highest percentage of undergraduate engineering bachelor’s degrees to women, at 47%.

Notable alumni

Graduates of the School of Engineering have become prominent scientists, astronauts, athletes, government officials, pioneers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, financiers, and scholars. Among the school's notable graduates in business are Dara Khosrowshahi '91, CEO of

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

and former CEO of

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacation packages. Expedia.com was launched on ...

; Aneel Bhusri '88, co-founder and co-CEO of Workday; Melanie Whelan '99, former CEO of

SoulCycle SoulCycle Inc. is a fitness company owned by Equinox Group which offers indoor cycling and spinning workout classes. It was founded in 2006, and has operations in the United States and the United Kingdom. In early 2020, before the COVID-19 pa ...

; John S. Chen '78, president and CEO of

Sybase Sybase, Inc. was an enterprise software and services company. The company produced software relating to relational databases, with facilities located in California and Massachusetts. Sybase was acquired by SAP in 2010; SAP ceased using the Syba ...

and interim CEO of

Blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

; George M.C. Fisher Sc.M. '64 Ph.D. '66, CEO of Motorola; Theresia Gouw '90, ''Forbes'' Midas List investor; and Mary Lou Jepsen '87 Ph.D. '97. Notable alumni in academia and research include Sangeeta N. Bhatia '90, John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

and HHMI Investigator; Ayanna Howard '93, dean of the Ohio State University College of Engineering; Ka Yee Christina Lee (1985), Provost at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

; and Yang Wei Ph.D. '85, president emeritus of

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University (ZJU) is a public university, public research university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and D ...

. Other graduates in academia include Tejal A. Desai '94, Dean of Engineering at Brown University; Kaliat Ramesh '85 Ph.D. '88, Alonzo G. Decker Jr. Professor of Science and Engineering at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

; Lallit Anand Ph.D. 1975, Warren and Towneley Rohsenow Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT; and Reda R. Mankbadi Ph.D. '79, Founding Dean of the Embry-Riddle College of Engineering. The school's alumni in aeronautics and space research and travel include Thomas O. Paine '42, third administrator of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

(1969–1970); Byron K. Lichtenberg '69 fighter pilot and payload specialist; and Brian Binnie '75 Sc.M. '76, former United States Navy officer and test pilot for

SpaceShipOne SpaceShipOne is an experimental air launch, air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to / using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "Feathering (reentry), feathering" atmosph ...

. Notable athletes to have graduated from the school include racecar driver

Mark Donohue Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victory. Donohue is probably best kno ...

'59; football players Steve Jordan '82 and James Develin '10; and olympic rowers Dick Dreissigacker '69, Jamie Koven '95, Igor Boraska '95, and Nikola Stojić '97. File:Dr. Thomas O. Paine - GPN-2002-000106.jpg, Thomas O. Paine '42 administrator of NASA during

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

File:Byron Lichtenberg.jpg, Byron K. Lichtenberg '69, engineer and astronaut File:Lallit Anand.png, Lallit Anand Ph.D. '75, of

File:Prime Minister Trudeau, John S. Chen.jpg, John S. Chen '78, CEO of

File:Kaliat T. (KT) Ramesh (cropped).jpg, Kaliat Ramesh '85 Ph.D. '88, of

File:Aneel Bhusri (8518025145) (cropped).jpg, Aneel Bhusri '88, co-founder and CEO of Workday File:Sangeeta N. Bhatia-Heritage-Day-2019-115 (cropped).jpg, Sangeeta N. Bhatia '90, bioengineer at

, HHMI Investigator File:Theresia Gouw.jpg, Theresia Gouw '90, ''Forbes'' Midas List investor File:Conférence de Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO d’UBER à l'Ecole polytechnique en date du 24052018 (28529262558) (cropped).jpg, Dara Khosrowshahi '91, CEO of

File:Ayanna M. Howard - SnoMote (cropped).jpg, Ayanna Howard '93, Dean of Ohio State's College of Engineering File:Suzan LeVine, official State Department photo portrait.jpg, Suzan G. LeVine '93, American diplomat File:KQED Science Tejal Desai.jpg, Tejal A. Desai '94, Dean of Engineering at Brown University

References

Notes

{{Authority control Engineering schools and colleges in the United States Engineering universities and colleges in Rhode Island

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...