b"that enabled Clemson alumni to enroll would require strengthening the undergraduate cur riculum and courses to prevent knowledge gaps between the two. 2On March 14, 1945, President Poole received the Committees resolution requesting the appointment of a Dean of the Graduate School. It had been ascertained by that time that 19 courses could be offered immediately by the schools of agriculture, chemistry, engineering, textiles, and arts and sciences.On July 27, 1946, the Board of Trustees approved the Committees proposed graduate program of study and, that fall, formally admitted the first class of students into the Gradu-ate School. However, it would not be until June 15, 1951, that Herbert J. Webb, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Toxicology, was appointed as the first Dean of the GraduateSchool.Masterfully stewarded by President Poole himself and modeled initially after several prestigious southern institutions, Clemsons graduate programs grew cautiously butThe officers, trustees and honored guests wear academic, ecclesiastical or military regalia as set forth by their professions. The president of Clemson University wears a purple gown with four velvet bars piped in orange and the University seal embroidered on the panels. Each trustee wears a similar gown with three velvet bars piped in orange for doctorsteadily, intro-ducing the first doctoral degree, in plant pathology, in 1955. Today, the Graduate School proudly enrolls more than 5,800 graduate students and is committed to continued growth at both the masters and doctoral levels.1. Holmes, A. and G. R. Sherrill. Thomas Green Clemson: His Life and Work. 1937, p. 129.2. Clemson University Library System archives. Minutes of the Committee on Graduate Instruction, 1945-1953, p. 7.A Slideshow of Photos Submitted by TodAy's GrAduAtesClick or tap to play.7"