Class of 1912 in front of the Troy Music Hall. June 12 is the 100th anniversary of the Class of 1912’s graduation from Rensselaer and we want to mark the occasion by providing some background on what the student experience was like at Rensselaer over a

"The First Engineers: They Changed the World" exhibit, which was created to mark the 175th anniversary of civil engineering at Rensselaer, is now available for view online: The First Civil Engineers Check out my previous posts on some of the First CE grads.

Today we celebrate 175 Years of Civil Engineering at Rensselaer!

Aaron Olmstead earned a B.N.S. and a C.E. degree from RPI in 1837.  He taught at private high schools for a while and then attended Yale Law School.  He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1843.  Aaron practiced law alternately in New York City and Saratoga from then on. 

The Class of 1838 included some rather notable alumni.  Two of them are in the Alumni Hall of Fame and several more are worthy candidates.  When I read over the accomplishments of these alums, I'm amazed at their ambition.  Ezra Carr, for instance, had an astounding resume.  Shortly after obtaining his

The first civil engineering graduates pursued a variety of careers.  In addition to the obvious careers in railroad or bridge engineering, some were lawyers, some doctors, and a couple were even men of the cloth.  Fletcher Hawley was one of those men.  Fletcher was a career student for a while, a

The first civil engineers were travelers.  Many of them went far and wide to engage in their work.  This may not seem like a big deal in modern times, but when you think about the means of travel in the mid-nineteenth century; it's quite amazing.  These men were creating the next best mode of transportation -- railroads.  While much of this work was in progress in the United States, other countries were also investing in this transportation infrastructure.  Some of the first U.S.

This is the first installment in a series of profiles on the first civil engineering graduates at RPI.  The very first civil engineering degree was awarded by the Rensselaer Institute in 1835.  Among the first degree recipients, was a guy named Amos Westcott.  Westcott never practiced civil engineering; he taught chemistry for a few years and then entered medical school.  He obtained an M.D.