Pratt School of Engineering

2025-06-18T17:03:08Z

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{{Infobox college
| name = Duke University<br>Pratt School of Engineering
| type = [[Private University|Private]]
| image = 2016 Logo Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School of Engineering.jpeg
| image_upright = .7
| former_name = College of Engineering (1939–1999)
| parent = [[Duke University]]
| location = [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]], [[North Carolina]], [[United States]]
| dean = Jerome P. Lynch, PhD, F.EMI
| undergrad = 1,257<ref>{{cite web |title=About Duke Engineering |url=https://pratt.duke.edu/about |website=Duke University Pratt School of Engineering |access-date=October 15, 2019}}</ref>
| postgrad = 1,281
| faculty = 156
| website = {{ofurl}}
| established = 1939
| city =
}}

The '''Duke University Pratt School of Engineering''' is the [[Engineering education|engineering school]] of [[Duke University]], a private research university in [[Durham, North Carolina]], United States.

The school was created by the Board of Trustees at Duke University as the College of Engineering in 1939. It was named in 1999 following a $35 million gift by [[Edmund T. Pratt Jr.]], a 1947 bachelor's degree recipient and former chief executive of [[Pfizer]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Distinguished Alumnus, Edmund Pratt {{!}} Duke magazine |url=http://dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/distinguished-alumnus-edmund-pratt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202013943/dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/distinguished-alumnus-edmund-pratt |archive-date=2017-02-02 |access-date=November 16, 2018 |website=dukemagazine.duke.edu |language=en}}</ref>

The school maintains departments in the fields of biomedical engineering, civil & environmental engineering, electrical & computer engineering, and mechanical engineering & materials science.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 2, 2012 |title=Departments & Centers |url=https://pratt.duke.edu/departments-centers |access-date=October 15, 2020 |website=Duke Pratt School of Engineering |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
The precursor to the school of engineering dates back to 1851, when Duke was known as Normal College and located in [[Randolph County, North Carolina|Randolph County]], [[North Carolina]]. At that time, engineering was included in a classical course for seniors. A course in engineering was introduced in 1887, eventually becoming a regular course offering in 1903. At that time, engineering courses were limited to such fields as architecture and surveying until 1924, when Trinity College was renamed Duke University. Engineering was taught in the new separate departments of civil and electrical engineering. In 1931, a mechanical engineering department was created. Duke's Board of Trustees created the College of Engineering in 1939, with William H. Hall its first dean.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

The College of Engineering graduated its first female graduates in 1946. The next year, the three departments moved from East Campus to West Campus. It became the Duke School of Engineering in 1966. Two years later the school's first black students graduated. The Division of Biomedical Engineering was created in 1967—the first accredited biomedical engineering department at a U.S. university—in September 1972.<ref name="thirtyyears">[http://www.pratt.duke.edu/news/?id=201 Biomedical Engineering Celebrates 30 Years], Pratt School of Engineering, November 2001</ref> In 1997, the Master of Engineering Management was established.{{Cn|date=April 2025}} The school was renamed the [[Edmund T. Pratt Jr.]] School of Engineering in 1999, in honor of the 1947 graduate and former [[CEO]] of [[Pfizer]].

=== List of deans ===
* William H. Hall, 1939–1953
* [[W. J. Seeley|Walter J. Seeley]], 1953–1962
* James L. Meriam, 1962–1969
* George Pearsall, 1969–1974, 1982–1983
* Aleksandar Vesic, 1974–1982
* [[Earl H. Dowell]], 1983–1999
* [[Kristina M. Johnson]], 1999–2007
* Robert L. Clark, 2007–2008
* [[Thomas C. Katsouleas]], 2008–2015
* [[George Truskey]], 2015–2016
* [[Ravi V. Bellamkonda]], 2016–2021
* [[Jeffrey T. Glass]], 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/bellamkonda-named-provost-emory-glass-serve-interim-dean |title=Bellamkonda Named Provost at Emory; Glass to Serve as Interim Dean|date=February 16, 2021 }}</ref>

==Notable alumni==
{{Main|List of Duke University people}}

* [[Katherine Banks|M. Katherine Banks]] – [[Phytoremediation]] of petroleum contamination
* [[Robert Fischell|Robert E. Fischell]] – Leadership and innovation in bringing [[aerospace engineering|aerospace technology]] to implantable [[pacemaker|medical devices]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Citation for Dr. Robert E. Fischell, member, National Academy of Engineering |url=https://www.nae.edu/27685/Dr-Robert-E-Fischell |website=National Academy of Engineering |access-date=May 30, 2019}}</ref>
* [[William A. Hawkins|William A. Hawkins III]] – Leadership in biomedical engineering and [[translational medicine]]
* [[Blake S. Wilson]] – Engineering development of the [[cochlear implant]]
* [[Kathryn R. Nightingale]] – Invention of Ultrasound Acoustic Radiation Force Imaging

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
*{{official|http://pratt.duke.edu/}}

{{Duke University}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Duke University colleges and schools|Pratt School of Engineering]]
[[Category:Engineering schools and colleges in the United States]]
[[Category:Engineering universities and colleges in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges established in 1939]]
[[Category:1939 establishments in North Carolina]]

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Pratt School of Engineering