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Mass
Communications Program
Materials Science and Engineering
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medieval Studies Program
Military Science
Mineral Technology
Molecular and Cell Biology
Music
Mass Communications Program
There is no history currently available
for this program.
Materials Science and Engineering
There is no history currently available
for this department. See Mineral Technology.
Mathematics
In 1869, the Regents of the University completed
its first faculty with the appointment of William T. Welcker, West
Point graduate and Confederate veteran, as professor of mathematics.
West Point tradition, as judged by the texts that were used, seems
to have determined the three years of mathematics instruction. The
mathematics admission requirements, met then by examination, were
approximately the same as the mid-1960s minimum. The first graduates
to serve on the faculty were George C. Edwards and Leander Hawkins
(both Ph.B., 1873), who were appointed instructors in mathematics
in 1874.
Ten years and then trouble! The Regents became enmeshed in some political or personal quarrel and in May, 1881, summarily declared vacant the chair of mathematics and the Presidency of the University, to the dismay of friends, graduates, and newspaper editors. The next year, however, Welcker was elected state superintendent of public instruction, thereby becoming an ex officio Regent. In 1898, shortly before his death, he was reinstated as professor emeritus.
In May, 1882, after an interregnum of one year, W. Irving Stringham (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins) was appointed professor of mathematics. In 1885, the University awarded its first Ph.D. degree, but the candidates were allowed to designate several fields of candidacy. For example, Louis G. Hengstler, instructor in mathematics in 1893, was a candidate in political science, mathematics, and German literature, and received the degree in 1894 with the thesis, "The Antecedents of English Individualism." Stringham made notable contributions to mathematics and to the University.
There was no other full professorial appointment in the department until 1907, when Mellen W. Haskell (Ph.D. Goettingen), who came as assistant professor in 1890, was so appointed and became, on Stringham's death in 1909, essentially the chairman of a rapidly growing department. The title, however, was not used until 1920. When Haskell retired in 1933, the department contained a notable group--Benjamin A. Bernstein, Thomas Buck, Derrick N. Lehmer, John H. McDonald, Charles A. Noble, Thomas M. Putnam, Bing C. Wong, Sophia Levy and others.
Griffith C. Evans (Ph.D. Harvard) was the last of the long-term chairmen, coming from Rice Institute in 1934, serving until 1949, and becoming emeritus in 1954. By the mid-1960s, the office rotated in the department with service of three to five years--past incumbents were, in order, Charles B. Morrey, D. H. Lehmer, John L. Kelley, Bernard Friedman, and Murray H. Protter. Professor Henry Helson was the incumbent in the mid-1960s. The Statistics Laboratory, which later became a separate department, was started by Professor Jerzy Neyman in 1939. As early as 1936 Alfred Tarski wrote, "There are few domains of scientific research which are passing through a phase of such rapid development as Mathematics"; and this self-motivating property, as well as the rapid advance of the natural sciences and the later demands of national security, led to an extraordinary growth of the department. By the mid-1960s, it numbered 75 members with 35 professors, five of them members of the National Academy of Sciences. The above list of younger chairmen and the names of Hans Lewy, Alfred Tarski, and Frantisek Wolf are only a sample of the mathematicians who made the department an internationally outstanding one.
During World War II, members of the department were in armed services, engaged in war research in Washington and Aberdeen, or doing extra work otherwise.
The "Year of the Oath" served again as a reminder that even universities have their troubles. Several members of the department left the University rather than sign the loyalty oath, while others believed the problem to be temporary, and one or more served on committees which labored to protect the University and bring the wanderers home again. The 1964 Free Speech Movement found the department again divided, and what was said of the graduates of another famous university might be said of this University's mathematicians, that "it is a poor quarrel that does not find some of them on each side." source
Mechanical Engineering
The Morrill Land Grant Act, passed by Congress
in 1862, stipulated in part the establishment "...of at least one
college where the leading object shall be...to teach such branches of
learning as are related to agriculture and mechanic arts...." Of
the four technical colleges established by the organic act of the
University (1868), those of mechanics and agriculture were first
organized. The Biennial report to the Regents of the University
for 1873-75 states that the object of the College of Mechanics
is to "educate mechanical engineers, machinists (as far as they
are constructors of machinery) and others who wish to devote their
energies to such technical and industrial pursuits as involve a
knowledge of machinery."
Instruction in electrical engineering was offered in 1892, and in 1903 the dean of the College of Mechanics served also as the chairman of the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
By 1913, the curriculum in mechanical engineering had eliminated, through matriculation requirement or by deletion, socio-humanistic courses, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, freehand and mechanical drawing, and in their place added more f engineering. Electrical and mechanical engineering were identical except for one course, in each of the junior and senior years. With the industrial growth of California, attention was focused on hydraulics, electrical power, and hydroelectrical installations with course offerings in these fields. During World War I interest in aviation grew and shipyards were established on the Pacific coast. These developments created a demand for training for the war effort and establishing courses in aerodynamics, marine engineering and naval architecture.
The change in classroom instruction during the 20 years between World Wars I and II was a gradual withdrawal from emphasis on machine design, construction and performance evaluation to the application of the laws of nature to the evaluation of systems and their components. An extension of this approach expanded the number of courses and the fields of study offered to such an area that several fields of study split from the department to form other departments, while those remaining were established as divisions of the department. Chronologically, the Department of Mechanical Engineering was established in 1931, designated as the Division of Mechanical Engineering in the Department of Engineering in 1946, and again returned to the status of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1958. The Division of Engineering Design separated from the Division of Mechanical Engineering in 1947. The Division of Industrial Engineering separated from mechanical engineering in 1956. The Departments of Nuclear Engineering and Naval Architecture became separate in 1958. The divisions organized in 1958 and constituting the Department of Mechanical Engineering were aeronautical sciences, applied mechanics, heat power systems (changed to thermal systems, 1965), and mechanical design.
The enrollment in the College of Mechanics grew steadily from the beginning of the University until it reached a maximum of 10.85 per cent (293 students) of the University undergraduate enrollment in 1908. In 1964, the enrollment was less than two per cent (299 students) of the University undergraduate enrollment.
The development of the laboratories paralleled the classroom instruction. The initial object was to demonstrate construction, maintenance, and operation of machinery. The second step reduced the vocational aspect somewhat and stressed the performance characteristics of the machine. In 1929, the woodshop and machine shop instruction was eliminated from the curriculum. The junior and senior laboratories stressed a broad concept of system analysis and developed a pattern to introduce the student to the critical approach desired in graduate research.
In December, 1940, a department-instituted survey in the San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco areas confirmed the desire of industry for assistance in training and up-grading employees in their engineering departments. With the sponsorship of the U.S. Office of Education, instruction was begun in February, 1941, under the Engineering Defense Training program (EDT); however, it was soon apparent that its utility would be greatly increased by inclusion of science and management courses in production and supervision, hence instruction was given under Engineering Science Management Defense Training (ESMDT). From 1942 to 1945, the word "defense" was changed to "war," and during this period a total of 151,202 men and women were trained for industrial occupations by the University. In addition, courses were also given for the Armed Forces. source
Medieval Studies Program
There is no history currently available
for this program.
Military Science
See Army (Reserve Officer Training
Corps).
Mineral Technology
When the College of Mining merged with the
College of Engineering in 1942, the Department of Mining and Metallurgy
was created with Walter S. Weeks as chairman. The industrial growth
of California was reflected in the addition of new curricular options:
physical metallurgy (1942), ceramic engineering (1948), and geological
engineering (1956) were added to the existing programs in mining,
economic geology, metallurgy (extractive), and petroleum engineering.
The name of the department was changed to the Department of Mineral
Technology in 1948 to more accurately describe the curricular options.
After the immediate post-World War II years, there was a steady decrease in the undergraduate enrollment and a constant increase in graduate enrollment. Correspondingly, the curricular content became less technical and more scientific in approach.
In the early 1950s, faculty and graduate student research activities were greatly expanded as a result of cooperation of the Institute of Engineering Research. In 1957, plans were made to modernize the laboratories and other facilities to accommodate these activities and the increased graduate enrollment. These plans materialized into an alteration and rehabilitation program for the Hearst Mining Building and the construction of specialized laboratories for geophysics, geochemistry, geological engineering, electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, mass spectrography, and other activities related to mineral technology.
In 1960, the Department of Mineral Technology, in cooperation with the chemistry department and sponsored by the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, formed the Inorganic Materials Research Laboratory. A new laboratory building in Strawberry Canyon was completed and occupied in the spring of 1965. Other research activities of the department were in space science, marine mining, and the Mohole project. source
Most of the programs of the Department of Mineral Technology are now incorporated into the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Molecular and Cell
Biology
The history of the Department of Molecular
Biology begins with the earlier establishment of two other departments:
biochemistry and virology. In 1948, Wendell M. Stanley came to Berkeley
from the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research to organize
and to be director of a new research organization, the Virus Laboratory.
He and two associates, C. Arthur Knight and Howard K. Schachman,
were at the same time appointed to faculty positions in the existing
Department of Biochemistry, a department closely affiliated with
the medical school in San Francisco (although located on the Berkeley
campus). Stanley assumed the additional task of recruiting staff
for a new Department of Biochemistry to be attached to the College
of Letters and Science. In 1952, this department, as well as the
Virus Laboratory, moved from its temporary quarters in the Forestry
Building into a new Biochemistry and Virus Laboratory Building near
the East Gate. Six years later, the medical school Department of
Biochemistry moved to the San Francisco campus.
The Department of Virology was established July 1, 1958, in recognition of the prominent role that graduate and postdoctorate training had assumed in the activities of the Virus Laboratory staff. This department was housed in the Biochemistry and Virus Laboratory Building. The staff, under the chairmanship of Stanley, organized a course of study and research leading to the master of arts and the doctor of philosophy degrees in virology. The department emphasized in its teaching and research the biochemical, biophysical, and biological aspects of animal, plant, and bacterial viruses. It was the first Department of Virology in a major university.
In April, 1962, Chancellor Edward W. Strong appointed a committee to "plan a department of instruction and research concerned with relating biology and the physical sciences." Although this objective generally described the traditional approach of the Department of Virology and the Virus Laboratory, the program proposed by the chancellor was broader in scope and its acceptance culminated in the creation of a Department of Molecular Biology. Its initial staff numbered 16: all ten members of the Department of Virology, with the other six drawn in full- or part-time from the Departments of Bacteriology, Chemistry, and Physics. Among the members of the new department were three Nobel Prize winners and five members of the National Academy of Sciences. Formal operations under the chairmanship of Robley C. Williams started in July, 1964; at the same time the Department of Virology was disestablished. In the fall of 1964, the Department of Biochemistry moved into a new building and the former Biochemistry and Virus Laboratory Building became the Molecular Biology and Virus Laboratory Building. In 1965, the department offered three undergraduate courses and eight graduate courses, and the enrollment of graduate students working for advanced degrees was 46.
The nature of molecular biology, requiring a substantial background in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, made it a proper field of study at the graduate level, but did not preclude its eventual enlargement into an undergraduate major program as well. The teaching and research staffs of the department and the Virus Laboratory (some with joint appointments) worked in diverse areas of molecular biology ranging from the origins of life on earth to the mechanisms of growth and development, the reproduction of viruses, the genetic code, and the nature of cancer. source
Music
The music department at Berkeley, one of
the oldest in the United States, was founded in 1905 by an act of
the legislature, which appropriated $6,000 "to provide for two years
(sic!) the salary of a Professor of Music." The establishment of
a formal department resulted from musical interest already existing
on the campus. A contemporary account (1906) mentions the symphony
concerts at Berkeley with 10,000 people attending "the Wagner Concert."
At first, the only member of the faculty was John Frederick Wolle, who conducted a professional orchestra for University concerts and taught harmony, counterpoint, choral music, and orchestral music. Charles L. Seeger, Jr., who succeeded Wolle (1912-19), amplified the curriculum to include (among other courses) composition, orchestration, introduction to musicology (1916; probably the first "musicology" course in the United States), and music appreciation. The last mentioned was given by Edward G. Stricklen (d. 1950), who joined the faculty in 1913 and later served as chairman (1919-29; 1931-37). During the 1920s two other notable teachers joined the staff: Glen Haydon (chairman, 1929-31) and Modeste Alloo, (1923-34), who brought the University orchestra to a high point of achievement.
During the 1930s some of the senior members of the faculty joined the department (Charles Cushing, Marjorie Petray, Edward Lawton, David Boyden) and the long and productive tenure of Albert Elkus as chairman began (1937-51; d. 1962). The main divisions of the curriculum, discernible under Seeger, were clarified and systematized along these lines: 1) ear training, harmony, counterpoint, and composition; 2) performing groups such as chorus and orchestra (individual instruction in instruments or the voice has never been a part of the department's curriculum); 3) the history and literature of music; and 4) courses in musical literature for the non-music major. The faculty was strengthened by new and notable appointments (Randall Thompson, Arthur Bliss, Manfred F. Bukofzer, Roger Sessions, William D. Denny, Ernest Bloch, Winifred B. Howe, the Griller Quartet), one effect being a marked increase and upgrading of graduate instruction in historical research and composition. The department began to offer the Ph.D. in musicology (1942) and more and more graduate students sought the M.A., offered at least since 1921 either in composition or the history of music.
The early 1950s were difficult times with the retirement of Elkus, the resignation of Sessions (1953), and the tragic death of Bukofzer (1955). However, the scope and activity of the department expanded after 1951 under the successive chairmanships of Joaquin Nin-Culmell (1951-54), Bukofzer (1954-55), Boyden (1955-61), and Joseph Kerman (1961-64). The number of courses for the non-music major was augmented. This expansion and some additions to the performing organizations (e.g., chamber band, collegium musicum) were important factors in raising the total enrollments of the department by 60 per cent between 1954 and 1964. During these years, too, the faculty strengthened the teacher training program and reorganized the graduate programs in composition and research to meet the needs of increasing numbers (53 graduate students, fall 1964). The size and excellence of the music library in both teaching and research areas continued to grow under the guidance of librarian Vincent Duckles.
This increased activity could scarcely have occurred without an enlarged faculty and a new music building. From ten regular members in 1950, the faculty increased to 17 in 1964 (appointments between 1950-1965: Andrew W. Imbrie, Edgar H. Sparks, Kerman, Seymour J. Shifrin, Duckles, Arnold Elston, Edward E. Lowinsky, Lawrence H. Moe, Daniel Heartz, Alan S. Curtis, David B. Lewin, Michael C. Senturia, Richard L. Crocker). The opening of Hertz Hall and Morrison Hall in 1958 gave the department a permanent home (after 50 years of migration), comprising a concert hall, office space, practice facilities, and proper housing for classes and the music library. A whole new vista of music was opened by the installation of the O'Neill organ in Hertz Hall (Lawrence Moe, University organist, 1957; chairman, starting in 1964). Hertz Hall also became the home of the weekly noon concerts (begun, 1953), many of which were given by students. The music buildings also became a visible and tangible symbol of the department to students and faculty.
Over the years the music department contributed to the local scene and far beyond. Graduates of the department went forth as future teachers, composers, scholars, librarians, and performers, among others; and the faculty included scholars, composers, and performers of national and international reputation. source
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