The Tau Beta Pi Bent in its new location at the entrance to Featheringill Hall.

Don’t panic if you walk up to the side door of Jacobs Hall and find something missing. The Tau Beta Pi Bent hasn’t been kidnapped or removed. After 45 years in one spot, the sculpture of a watch key in the shape of a trestle bent has been given a more prominent place in the heart of the engineering complex. As part of recent renovations, The Bent was relocated to the courtyard in front of Featheringill Hall where students, faculty and staff pass by daily. The Bent was installed in 1965 by engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi.

Although the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering was established in 1886, this cornerstone marked construction for the school’s first building, the Mechanical Engineering building (now part of the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management). Yet even 125 years later, it’s evident that the true cornerstone of the School of Engineering is its people, past, present and future. We invite you to memorialize the history of the school by sending us stories of your recollections, personal experiences and historic events relating to the school. We hope to publish them in a future issue or in commemorative articles. We’d also be interested in individual tales of your careers as engineers and accounts of multiple generations or family members sharing a tradition of attending Vanderbilt School of Engineering. Go to 125–Share Your Story for more details.

You can also send a statement by emailing vuse125@vanderbilt.edu
or writing to:
VUSE at 125
Vanderbilt University School of Engineering
VU Station B #351826
Nashville, TN 37240-1826

In April, 1973, Garland at Highland Avenue resounded with the sound of construction as the School of Engineering’s new Olin Hall rose. Designed by Robinson Neil Bass and Associates, the building was built using a $4 million gift from the F.W. Olin Foundation. Announced in 1969, the nine-story classroom and laboratory building was finished in 1975.

According to the late Dillard Jacobs, legendary professor of mechanical engineering, a highlight of the 1974–1975 school year was Olin’s opening and dedication. He also noted, “there were delays in construction, however. First there were building foundation problems due to the eroded limestone under the area. The Olin people insist that their buildings be architecturally unique; they got their wish at Vanderbilt. … In general, forms could not be reused on this monolithic concrete structure and so costs were high and construction slow. However, the building is unique and adequately houses Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering, which boast some of the finest and most modern research equipment on any college campus.”

Fast-forward nearly 40 years and Olin needed updating. Read this issue’s story, “Olin’s Innovative Transformation,” for its latest renovations.

Returning World War II veterans swelled enrollment at Vanderbilt, particularly in the School of Engineering. VUSE’s enrollment went from a wartime low of 158 in 1943-44 to 574 students in 1945-46. It reached a then-record high of 821 undergraduates in 1948-1949.

A report to the Board of Trust stated, “Naturally, classrooms and laboratories have been crowded, and the need for larger quarters has been keenly felt.” The influx prompted the administration to move ahead with construction of a new 72,000 square-foot engineering building (shown right, under construction). Designed by Hart Freeland & Roberts (with two alumni co-founders, F. Eugene Freeland, BE 1906 and Martin Roberts, ME 1905), the building opened in September 1950. For once, all engineering classes were under one roof.

The growth, while challenging, did have other positive results. “There is no doubt the crowded conditions of the last several years have actually enabled us to improve the quality of the students enrolled,” noted Chancellor Harvie Branscomb.