Georgia Tech ISyE Georgia Tech ISyE Georgia Tech ISyE

1924 - 1950s

1924: Industrial Engineering first appears as the "Industrial Option" in the mechanical engineering curriculum.

1945: Georgia Tech President Blake Van Leer oversees creation of a Department of Industrial Engineering housing 15 students and three professors working in two borrowed rooms in the Swann Building. Frank Groseclose, who will later become known as the “father of industrial engineering” at Georgia Tech, becomes the first professor.

1946: Groseclose becomes the first director of the Department. The Department awards its first Bachelors of Industrial Engineering.

1947: The department begins its graduate program offering a Master in Industrial Engineering.

1948: The Georgia School of Technology is renamed to the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the department becomes the School of Industrial Engineering. The School establishes a chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and awards its first Master in Industrial Engineering.

1949: The BSIE degree first receives accreditation from ABET. The School relocates to the A. French Building. The School founds the Journal of Industrial Engineering.

1951: The School begins its tradition of offering continuing education courses by hosting short courses to increase industry application.

1956: Diane Michel, one of the first two women to enroll at Georgia Tech in 1952, completes her IE degree and becomes one of Georgia Tech’s first two female graduates.

1958: The School initiates its doctoral program with a class of six students. Harold Smalley joins the School and founds a Health Systems program.

1960s - 1980s

1966: Robert Lehrer becomes the second school chair and leads the School into the era of operations research and systems engineering.

1969: The School adds the word "Systems" to its name, becoming the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

1971: The School begins offering a Master of Science in Operations Research.

1974: The School adds a Senior Design course to its undergraduate curriculum.

1978: Michael Thomas becomes the third school chair and develops the School's research and graduate programs.

1979: John White founds the Material Handling Research Center to expand material handling research and industry outreach. John Jarvis and Don Ratliff create the Production Distribution Research Center to develop logistics optimization systems for the military.

1982: Jane Ammons becomes the School's first female Ph.D. recipient and faculty member.

1983: The School moves into the new Frank Groseclose Building on West Campus.

1984: The School creates the ISyE Alumni Advisory Board.

1985: The School establishes its first endowed chair, the A. Russell Chandler III Chair, and awards it to George Nemhauser.

1989: John Jarvis becomes the fourth school chair and moves the School to a computer-based program.

1990s

1991: The Manufacturing Research Center opens, setting the hallmark for corporate research cooperation.

1992: The School merges several research centers into The Logistics Institute with Don Ratliff as the executive director, Edward Frazelle, Ph.D. IE 1989, directing the professional education activities, and George Nemhauser directing the research activities. The graduate program obtains a No. 1 ranking again by U.S. News & World Report and begins an impressive consecutive run of years in the top spot.

1994: Professor Thiruvenkatasamy “Govind” Govindaraj becomes interested in the new presentation format called the World Wide Web. He develops a Web page that included information for his courses and research starting the initial efforts for the School to have a Web presence.

1995: The faculty is rated the best in the nation according to the National Research Council.

1996: Leon McGinnis founds the Keck Virtual Factory Laboratory to develop detailed models to support system design and operation in the manufacturing domain.

1999: H. Milton Stewart, Jr., IE 1961, and Carolyn J. Stewart, Honorary Alumnae 2008, establish the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair as Georgia Tech’s first endowed School Chair. Georgia Tech adopts the semester system. The School collaborates with the National University of Singapore to open The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific for research and education programs in global logistics. An 18-month Master of Science in International Logistics (known as the Executive Master in International Logistics & Supply Chain Strategy program) is established.

2000s

2001: William Rouse becomes the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair, making him the fifth school chair and leads the School's efforts in enterprise transformation and globalization.

2002: The School initiates a Hong Kong-Singapore undergraduate summer study abroad program that becomes the Beijing- Singapore study abroad in 2004.

2003: The School expands into the old College of Management Building, now the ISyE Main Building, following the opening of Technology Square.

2005: Chelsea “Chip” White III becomes the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair, making him the sixth school chair.

2006: Through the generosity of H. Milton Stewart, Jr., IE 1961, and family, the School becomes endowed as the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. The Logistics Institute is renamed the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute.

2011: Jane Chumley Ammons is named the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair, making her the seventh school chair. She is the first female to be named chair in the College of Engineering. ISyE establishes a one-year Master of Science in Supply Chain Engineering.

2014: ISyE establishes a one-year interdisciplinary Master of Science in Analytics.

2015: H. Edwin Romeijn is named the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair, making him the eighth school chair. George Nemhauser, A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Institute Professor, is awarded the prestigious Georgia Tech Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award. He gave the Georgia Tech graduate commencement address in fall 2015 (https://www2.isye.gatech.edu/docs/Nemhauser.pdf).
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