Berks Technical Institute - Wyomissing, PA history

Twelve member of the first class, which completed it course in 1929, were employed by the Textile Machine Works.

School opened in the new, altered facility known as the Classroom Building on September 2, 1930, with a total enrollment of 112 students.

In 1932 the school again extended its services beyond the training of apprentices for Textile Machine Works.

The faculty also grew, with 18 full-time instructors in 1940.

The peak in post-war enrollment came in 1947 when enrollment reached 214 student apprentices.

The year 1957 brought profound change to the Textile Machine Works.

Doctor Harold W. Perkins was named director in 1959, and quickly began establishing connections with the community, forming an advisory board, which was instrumental in helping the new center to achieve its goals.

A local advisory board was formed in 1960 to start planning the physical and financial aspects of the Wyomissing Center .

In 1972, the institution moved to a new 106-acre site in Spring Township, and was renamed Penn State Berks campus.

Doctor Frederick H. Gaige, a Fulbright Fellow and South Asian scholar, succeeded Perkins in 1984.

In 1997 Penn State Berks was granted "college" status and began offering a variety of four-year baccalaureate degree programs.

Gaige retired in 2001, and Doctor Susan Phillips Speece was named dean of the new college.

Although the new college was successful, the University decided to reorganize again in 2005, and two-campus colleges, including Berks-Lehigh Valley, returned to being individual campuses.