The Sheffield Scientific School, founded in 1852 as the Yale Scientific School, had its roots in the close interaction between engineering education and the worlds of industry and business. Indeed, the School’s initial benefactor was New Haven industrialist Joseph Sheffield, who had built his fortune constructing the nation’s first railroads heading West and recognized the young Republic’s need for skilled technicians. The School awarded the first engineering Ph.D. in 1861 to Josiah Willard Gibbs and became one of the foremost engineering education centers in the United States.
In the years since, Yale’s Engineering graduates, faculty, and students have made significant contributions to technology, especially in transportation, health care and biotechnology, electronics, communications, computer science, and a number of other areas which are vital to the economic life of the nation. Yale’s commitment to the education of engineers has continued to produce a group of alumni among whom are prominent scientists, engineers, and many of the country’s top business and government leaders. The Sheffield Fellowship, established in 1996, honors this renowned school and its benefactor by bringing to the Yale campus leaders and innovators in business, industry, and government who are at the forefront of important developments in their respective fields. During their visit, Sheffield Fellows deliver a public lecture and are presented with a commemorative medal by the Dean of Engineering. The Dean also hosts a reception in the Fellow’s honor. Sheffield Fellows tours laboratories and classrooms and also meet with faculty and students who have a unique opportunity to engage in an informal discussion with major players in the national and global arena. While the Sheffield Fellowship serves to acknowledge the historical links between Yale Engineering and business and industry and to expose students to top policy makers in various technological fields, it also provides the policy makers with a look at the breadth and depth of Yale’s programs in Engineering and the Applied Sciences and the University’s commitment to those programs. The Sheffield Fellowship serves to encourage a heightened level of cooperation and interaction among business, industry, the public sector, and Yale. It also generates discussions about future areas of research and collaboration and encourages continuing modifications of curricula, both undergraduate and graduate, to more effectively prepare new generations of Yale University students for a rapidly changing social and technological environment. Sheffield Fellows
Sheffield Distinguished Teaching Awards
History of Sheffield Scientific School
Palmer models, exquisite working models of railroad engines, bequeathed to the Sheffield School in 1908. | 