Researched and compiled by Gary L. Lindsey, PhD AIA.

1923

On February 10, Texas Governor Pat M. Neff signed Senate Bill 103 establishing Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University).

1925

Carl L. Svenson chaired the Department of Engineering Drawing within the School of Engineering.

1927

The Texas Tech architecture program began as a division of the School of Engineering.

One instructor, Edgar Greer Shelton, taught all architecture courses.

The architecture program enrolled forty majors who pursued either the Bachelor of Science in Architecture or the Bachelor of Science in Architecture Engineering degrees.

1928

University of Minnesota 1920 graduate and Kansas State College faculty member, Florian A. Kleinschmidt, was appointed Chair of the new Department of Architectural Engineering which offered an architectural design specialization.

The architecture program received full accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

1929

First Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering awarded to A.J. Hewitt.

1930

The Carnegie Foundation donated various teaching aids (lantern slides and projectors) to the architecture program to advance its “center of excellence” in the southwestern region of the United States.

1932

Texas Technological College President Bradford A. Knapp suggested that the four-year course in Architecture be reinstated and that an additional four-year course in Commercial Art be added.

Thus, the Department of Architecture and Allied Arts was established and offered Bachelor of Commercial Art and Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering degrees.

Program graduate, Edna N. Houghton, was hired as an Instructor in Architectural Engineering.

1933

The Bachelor of Architecture degree program was first offered.

1934

The Bachelor of Architecture and the Bachelor of Commercial Art programs were expanded from 4-year to 5-year professional degree programs, with special allocations made to provide the possibility of obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering degrees at the end of the first four years.

1940

The classification of Architectural Engineering was discontinued in the college catalogue.

1942

Bachelor of Science in Architecture was discontinued. Bachelor of Architecture with Design or Construction tracks was offered. Both tracks and the Commercial Art degree were five-year programs. The Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree was discontinued.

1947

The Department received the medal of the Beaux Arts Institute of Design for charting the greatest progress in teaching architectural design in 1946-1947.

1948

The Department of Architecture and Allied Arts was admitted to the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), in addition to its longstanding affiliation with the Beaux Arts Institute.

1949

The architecture program began encouraging students to work summers in professional architecture offices.

A Thesis Project was introduced into the curriculum’s final semester.

Elizabeth Skidmore Sasser joined the faculty to develop—with Florian Kleinschmidt—the history of architecture curriculum.

Agatha Turner won the Spearing Prize, thus becoming the first woman to win the prestigious Lebrun Fellowship Award presented by the American Institute of Architects.

1951

The Bachelor of Commercial Art degree name was changed to Bachelor of Advertising Art and Design.

1953

Upon Florian Kleinschmidt’s resignation as Chair, Rice Institute 1935 graduate, Nolan E. Barrick, was appointed Chair of the Department of Architecture and Allied Arts.

1957

The architecture program achieved accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board; such accreditation has never been revoked.

1959

The Advertising Art and Design program curriculum was changed to a four-year and a summer program instead of a full five-year program.

1960

The architecture program moved into the first Architecture building, the three-story plus basement north annex (now Computer Building) of the Electrical Engineering building.

1967

The Bachelor of Advertising, Art, and Design program shifted to the new Department of Art in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Planning and design of a new architecture building was initiated for the selected site at the corner of Flint Avenue and 18th Street.

The Texas Tech chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) was founded.

1967

Texas Technological College renamed Texas Tech University.

1971

During the spring semester, the architecture program moved into the new ten-story Architecture Building at Flint Avenue and 18th Street.

The new Architecture Building was officially dedicated on October 30, and Paolo Soleri presented the dedicatory guest lecture on November 1.

1974

The Bachelor of Architecture in Construction Option was changed to Structures Option.

The Department inaugurated two new degree options; Architectural Design and Architectural Structure, destined to become the Bachelor of Architecture.

1975

The Texas Tech University Board of Regents designated the architecture program as the Division of Architecture as a transition in the separation of architecture from the College of Engineering.

In addition to the degree options in Architectural Design and Architectural Structures, two new options were created; Urban Design and History of Architecture were added to the Bachelor of Architecture program.

1978

Upon Nolan Barrick’s resignation after twenty-five years as Chair to reenter full-time teaching, Lawrence Garvin was named Chair of the Division of Architecture and Associate Dean of the College of Engineering.

1979

Professor Elizabeth Sasser’s proposed program in Architectural History/Historic Preservation for Interdisciplinary Studies in M.A. degree in Arts and Sciences was approved.

1981

The Master of Architecture degree program was approved by the Texas Coordinating Board of College and University System.

1982

Division Chair Lawrence Garvin prepared the “Case for Separation” for approval by the university administration and the Board of Regents as a necessary step toward the creation of the College of Architecture.

1983

Upon Lawrence Garvin’s resignation as Division Chair, Arthur Dudley Thompson was named Interim Chair, then Chair of the Division of Architecture within the College of Engineering.

The Master of Architectural History/Historic Preservation was established.

The Institute for Urban Studies International (IUSI) was created as the first research unit in the Division of Architecture with Professor George T.C. Peng as its Director.

1985

The Texas State Higher Education Coordinating Board approved the Master of Architecture five-year professional degree.

The first Master of Architecture degree was awarded to Sy-Cheng Tsai.

A second research unit, aPRIMER (Applied Planning Research Institute for Municipalities, Environments and regions), was established with Assistant Professor Robert J. Lima as its Director.

1986

Texas Tech’s Division of Architecture was separated from the College of Engineering, and the creation of the College of Architecture was approved by the Texas Coordinating Board, and by the College and University system.

Arthur Dudley Thompson was named Interim Dean of the College.

1987

Wayne Drummond was appointed the first Dean of the College of Architecture.

Willard B. Robinson was promoted to Horn Distinguished Professor, the highest honor that the University confers on a faculty member. He was the first College of Architecture professor (of two) so honored.

Associate Professor Bill Felty was appointed Associate Dean of the College of Architecture.

A series of fall and spring lectures and exhibitions was initiated.

1988

The professional internship program for senior architecture students was established.

The Society of Architectural History was formed for students interested in the history of architecture and historic preservation.

Series of College Newsletters began.

1989

Associate Professor Robert D. Perl was appointed Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research.

The Bachelor of Architecture curriculum was revised to increase design proficiency and incorporate professional experience in degree requirements.

1990

The Ph.D. program in Land Use Planning, Management, and Design was moved from the Graduate School to the College of Architecture under the administrative authority of the Dean of the College of Architecture.

Upon Dean Wayne Drummond’s resignation, Willard B. Robinson was named Interim Deam of the College of Architecture.

The Society of Women in Architecture was formed.

The Knights of Architecture service organization was founded.

1991

Upon Robinson’s death, Michael Jones was selected as Interim Dean of the College of Architecture.

1992

Martin Harms was appointed as Dean of the College of Architecture. The Master of Architecture professional degree program gained the five-year accreditation.

1996

The College of Architecture became the nation’s first architecture program to offer a 173-hour Master of Architecture first professional degree (a 131-hour undergraduate program followed by a 42-hour graduate program). Thus, the program awarded graduates with a Master of Architecture which qualified them to take the professional qualifying exams for professional licensure.

1997

Following Martin Harms’ resignation, James White was appointed as Interim Dean and then was selected as the Dean of the College of Architecture.

2002

John Borrelli, was named Interim Dean of the College of Architecture and in the fall of 2002, Andrew Vernooy was appointed as Dean of the College of Architecture and served in that role until 2016.

2003

F. Marie Hall established the H. Deane Pierce endowed professorship to honor the College of Architecture’s graduate’s contributions to architecture of the Southwest.

2006

James Watkins was promoted to Horn Distinguished Professor, the highest honor that the University confers on a faculty member. He is the second (of two) College of Architecture professors so honored.

2007

Texas Tech alum Curtis Clerkley, Jr. created the Clerkley Architecture Academy in Houston to introduce lower income junior and senior high school students to Architecture, Interior Design, and Construction.

2008

Dean Andrew Vernooy and Associate Dean Michael Peters established the College of Architecture’s El Paso program which initially offered a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.

F. Marie Hall elevated the H. Deane Pierce professorship to an endowed chair, the first for the College of Architecture.

2013

The Master of Science in Digital Design and Fabrication was established.

2015

The College of Architecture’s second endowed chair was established by alum Mark E. Humphreys, specifically for urban and community design. The first recipient was Professor David Driskill.

2016

The College of Architecture earned the National Architecture Accrediting Board’s 8-year maximum accreditation, thus recognizing the College’s academic strength and the growth of its professional program. Upon Andrew Vernooy’s resignation after serving fourteen years as Dean, COA alumnus James P. Williamson was appointed as the Dean of the College of Architecture.

2017

The College of Architecture—with the approval of both the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents--began offering its current Bachelor of Science in Architecture 124-hour pre-professional degree program (four years) and its current Master of Architecture 60-hour professional degree program (two years).

2018

The F. Marie Hall Fabrication Shop which houses the Robotics Lab opened.

2019

The semester-long study abroad program began in Sevilla, Spain.

2021

Upon James P. Williamson’s resignation as Dean, Urs Peter Flueckiger was named as the Interim Dean of the College of Architecture.

2022

Urs Peter Flueckiger was selected as the Dean of the College of Architecture.

The College of Architecture became the Huckabee College of Architecture, honoring Tommie J. Huckabee.

2025

The Huckabee College of Architecture received the full 8-year accreditation for the Masters of Architecture (M. Arch) degree granted by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.