Harvard christens School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

An afternoon of reflection, promise, and a bit of humor marked the official launch of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences on Thursday (Sept. 20), the first new Harvard school since the John F. Kennedy School of Government was created 71 years ago as the Graduate School of Public Administration.

Harvard President Drew Faust officially ushered the former Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences into its new status a little after 2 p.m., unfurling the new School's banners during a luncheon ceremony held on the lawn of Pierce Hall.

"As we dedicate our new School we affirm the vital importance of engineering and the applied sciences as part of the Harvard academic enterprise," Faust said. "And at the same time, we affirm their power to connect, to bridge, and therefore to enliven and strengthen a great many other parts of the University as well. May the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences build bridges elegant, exciting, and new. May it shape our understanding of how the world works and how we can make it better. May our new School be an engine of ingenuity for many years to come."

Faust reflected on the convoluted history of engineering at Harvard and on the intellectual vigor of the field regardless of its administrative status.

Harvard engineers and applied scientists stand apart for discoveries such as the crystal oscillator used in radio and television, the first large-scale automatic digital computer, the Mark I, and the discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, which led to new medical imaging technology. More recently, Harvard engineers and applied scientists solved the riddle of the plant kingdom's fastest movement, the closing of the Venus' flytrap, and have stopped and restarted a beam of light.