Miami University is dedicated to increasing the disciplinary diversity of its students by attracting more young men and women to our School’s engineering, computing and nursing programs. On our Oxford campus, just seven years ago, we offered only four undergraduate programs in engineering and computing:  manufacturing engineering, systems analysis, paper science and engineering, and engineering management. Since then, we have developed and implemented new majors in computer science, and in mechanical, electrical, computer, chemical, software, and general engineering.  We have also made a significant progress in the area graduate education, including our new multidisciplinary Master of Science in Computational Science and Engineering.

While broadening our offerings, we make sure that we do not compromise Miami’s and our School’s focus on high-quality, student-centered education. To the contrary, to an ever-increasing extent, we have worked and will continue to work on making sure that our programs have a unique, Miamian focus on integrating professional education with Miami’s strength in liberal education and emphasize educating the whole person, rather than training narrowly focused technical experts. In our School, over the last several years, we have moved from traditional education, relying on proficiency in specific engineering disciplines and rigid curricula, to a new paradigm of proficiency based on flexible and interdisciplinary curricula. We realize that our graduates should be able to function on multidisciplinary teams, communicate effectively, and engage in lifelong learning. We appreciate that they must understand their professional and ethical responsibilities, as well as the global and societal contexts of their professions.

In our commitment to this kind of broad education we are guided by our mission, which is to serve society by providing high-quality undergraduate and graduate education in the fields of computing and engineering (as well as in the areas of technology and nursing on our regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown). We are committed to creating an environment for teaching, learning, and scholarship that is intellectually-stimulating, interactive, and innovative, and in which our faculty, staff, and students realize their full potential.

For the past few years, construction was taking place on new complex to house the transformed School of Engineering and Applied Science.  The Oxford campus state-of-the art complex is now complete!  This occasion provides an opportunity to celebrate the successes of our first fifty years as we work together to shape the future of SEAS over the next fifty years.

I invite you to visit us in our new complex as we continue on our path of excellence in engineering, computing, and nursing education for the 21st century.