Michigan Technological University history

Our first president, Marshman E. Wadsworth (1887-98), oversaw creation of a strong faculty, movement to our present campus location, and a college mission.

Women began to attend classes at Michigan Technological University, then the Michigan College of Mines, around 1890.

Once the university was established in its current home, it slowly expanded until programs were introduced for new majors in the 1920s.

A staple of Michigan Tech’s culture was created in 1922.

The first woman faculty member of the Michigan College of Mines came in 1927, her name was Ella Wood and was hired as an assistant professor for the Humanities department.

She then moved back to Houghton to work on a chemistry degree, which she received in 1933 and two years later received a master's degree in chemistry from this school.

President Grover C. Dillman (1935-56) oversaw dramatic changes in the College, including the establishment of a branch campus 250 miles east in Sault Ste.

The first female to graduate with a degree in Chemical Engineering was Alice Runge in 1942.

Following shortly behind was the first female to graduate with High Honors in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, Lilian (Heikkinen) Beck, in 1947.

Post-war enrollment blossomed and in 1948 was 1,789 in Houghton and 384 at the Sault branch, and temporary housing was established for the influx of veterans.

She was a graduate of Houghton High school and entered MTU in 1952.

In 1956, J. Robert Van Pelt became the new president of the university.

Margaret Holley Chapman was the first woman to complete a degree program from Michigan College of Mining and Technology, which would become Michigan Technological University in 1964.

Michigan Technological University recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of graduation for Patricia Anthony, the first woman to graduate from the ECE Department in 1967.

Dale F. Stein (1979-91) was president when Michigan Tech began to place more focus on the Graduate School and research.

This coincided with renovations to Wadsworth and Fisher buildings. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that the Rozsa Center was finished and the building of Rekhi Hall, Hillside Place, Advanced Technology Development Center and Opie Library was started.

From 2004 to present, Michigan Tech has raised more than $364 million in philanthropic support.

The original bowling alley was in 2017 converted to a MakerSpace, where the campus community has tools and space to work on innovative projects.

Richard J. Koubek has been president since July 1, 2018.