ChBE History

Chemical Engineering was first introduced as a course of study at Clemson University in the 1917-1918 academic year. At the time, there was no Chemical Engineering department or faculty. But with growing popularity and need within the industry, Clemson faculty found the need to create a curriculum that prepared students to become Chemical Engineering researchers and professionals.

In the 1920-1921 academic year, seven students were able to enroll as Chemical Engineering majors for the first time. Without official faculty or a department, the curriculum was drawn from courses in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Metallurgy, and Economics. The first four Chemical Engineering graduate students crossed the stage in 1923.

Unfortunately, Chemical Engineering did not show up in the University Catalog once the students graduated and enrollment died out after the 1924-1925 academic year.

However, in the 1933-1934 academic year, the curriculum was reintroduced—again with no department, courses, or faculty. But the University Catalog was able to entice students into the curriculum by informing students of the growing competition with engineering industries. The catalog read as follows— “Competition is compelling the industries to abandon rule-of-thumb methods. They are using more and more men trained in the principles of Chemical Engineering - to design their plants and to supervise the operation of various processes."

A total of 27 students enrolled in Chemical Engineering the following academic year. By the 1939-1940 academic year, a total of 81 students were enrolled in the program. That same year, the curriculum no longer appeared under the supervision of Engineering, but under the Chemistry Department with a new name: Chemistry Engineering. The program remained a part of the Chemistry Department until 1946.

The Department of Chemical Engineering was created in 1946, bringing the program back under the supervision of Engineering. This meant that the curriculum earned faculty and courses of its own.

The University Catalog listed two faculty members in the Department of Chemical Engineering for the 1947-1948 academic year: C.E. Stoops, Jr., Professor and Head, and C.E. Littlejohn, Assistant Professor. Prof. Stoops earned a B.S. ChE from Ohio State in 1937 and a Ph.D. from Purdue in 1941. Prof. Littlejohn graduated from Clemson with a B.S. in Chemistry-Engineering and obtained a master's in Chemical Engineering from N.C. State in 1941, and completed one year of graduate work toward a Ph.D. at Virginia Tech from 1946 to 1947

Many Firsts for ChBE

The first Ph.D. in Engineering was awarded to Jerry A. Caskey in 1965, a student under Bill Barlage.
The first female to graduate with a degree in Chemical Engineering from Clemson was Susan Glen Herrington, class of 1970.
Dr. Beth Gainey Stoner was the first female to receive a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1991.
The first female professor to ever be hired into the Department was Sarah Harcum in 2002.

Earle Hall

In 1958, enrollment of Chemical Engineering students had climbed to 184 students. The same year, Clemson University received a grant of $1.175 million from the Olin Foundation to construct a building and purchase chemical engineering equipment. Prof. Littlejohn played a large role in getting Earle Hall built. Prior to 1958, the Olin Foundation limited its building gifts to one per institution; however, Earle Hall was the second building that the Olin Foundation funded at Clemson University.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Samuel Broadus Earle Building was held on September 27, 1958.

Samual B. Earle

Earle Hall is named for Samual B. Earle, who served Clemson University for 40 years as head of the Engineering Department and Experiment Station. He also served as acting president in 1919, as well as from 1924-1925. Sam celebrated his 100th birthday in 1978 before passing away later that year.

Earle Hall is the first building on campus to be named after a living person, dedicated to the chemical engineering building in 1959.