Event Description
Scott Knowles, PhD, associate professor and head of the Department of History
This academic year marks the 125th anniversary of Drexel University. Founded in 1891 as the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry by banker and philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel, the institution has passed through several different phases to arrive in its current form. Originally imagined as an institute of social and cultural uplift, it transformed itself by the 1920s into a professional engineering school with a cooperative education program. By the 1950s, Drexel was a powerhouse as a local provider of technical talent — and it became Drexel University in 1970.
As the local economy went through a brutal transformation in the 1970s-1990s, Drexel had to change or face bankruptcy — the 1990s saw Drexel on the verge, but recovering by the beginning of the of the new century in a period of change marked by the acquisition and founding of the medical, nursing, public health and law schools — as well as programs in humanities and the social sciences.
Today, Drexel is again looking to Philadelphia, engaging with its Mantua and Powelton Village neighbors, while also expanding its reach in globalized research initiatives. This lecture will preview the forthcoming book "Building Drexel: A University and Its City, 1891-2016." This event is free and open to the Drexel community. Light refreshments will be served. |
