Harvey Mudd College

Harvey Mudd College, the nation’s top liberal arts college of engineering, science and mathematics, was chartered in December 1955. Two years later, in 1957, when the Space Race made technical education a priority in the United States, the College opened its doors. The founders’ vision—to attract the nation’s brightest students and offer them a rigorous scientific and technological education coupled with a strong curricular emphasis in the humanities and social sciences—has been successfully realized and expanded. In 1963, the College initiated the nationally recognized Clinic Program, which allows student teams to solve problems posed by sponsoring industry, government and nonprofit organizations. The emphasis on undergraduate research for all students has led to Harvey Mudd graduates earning PhD degrees in science and engineering at one of the highest rates in the nation. Harvey Mudd College Opens Harvey Mudd College opened in September 1957, less than a month before Sputnik I ushered in the Space Age. Forty-eight students and seven faculty who shared the dream of starting a technical college that would emphasize the humanistic aspects of technology were on hand when the school opened its doors. Nuclear physicist Joseph B. Platt served the fledgling institution as its first president, and new courses and a new curriculum were formulated under a grant from the Carnegie Corp.