The History of Computing at Drexel

8/6/2019 The History of Computing at Drexel

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The history of computing at Drexel dates back to the first general-purpose digital computer, the ENIAC,

which was built at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946. On March 5th, Drexel and Penn electrical

engineers held a joint meeting to learn about the ENIAC and how it worked. Interest in computing

continued in the 1950s among Drexel students and faculty. In 1955, the Mathematics Department

hosted a series of lectures on computing, which were open to all Drexel faculty. Speakers included

Drexel math professors Samuel S. McNeary and Robert J. Bickel, as well as representatives from major

computer companies. The Drexel Ledger, a publication by students in the College of Business, included

articles about the role of computers in business. The earliest was written by Alvin Barnes, a junior

majoring in business administration, in 1957.

On November 20, 1958, Drexel held a dedication ceremony for its new Computing Center, which

featured a single IBM 650 computer. During the ceremony, the computer was pitted against human

competitors in four-dimensional tic-tac-toe as a demonstration of its computing prowess. (The winner of

this contest, unfortunately, has been lost to history.) But the Computing Center also had more practical

uses. It was established to support three functions: education, faculty enrichment, and industrial and

academic research. Drexel administrators foresaw an expanding role for computers in engineering andbusiness, and hoped that all interested students and faculty would take advantage of the Computing

Center for personal use and interesting little studies. The Center was a great source of pride for

Drexel, and it was featured in promotional materials for prospective students.

As early as 1956, before the establishment of the Computing Center, Drexel offered courses related to

computers, such as business electronics, electronic data processing, and programming. The 1956-1957

course description for Math 15 includes description of electronic digital computing machines and an

introduction to computing. The Department of Computer Science, created in 1964, offered courses for

students in the engineering and business programs.

Drexel also incorporated computers into research in the humanities. The January 29, 1965 Triangle

featured a cover story on two English professors who were using computers to study grammatical

structures in Miltons poetry. In 1965, Drexel launched the Humanities and Technology program, which

combined study in the humanities and in the sciences, including computer science. In describing the

goals of the program, its director, Dr. Mary I. Stephens, alluded to the Milton project: Our students will

not only know Milton. They will be able to program Miltons works on a computer.

In October 1982, President W. W. Hagerty announced a plan to require all incoming freshman to

purchase a personal computer. Drexel selected Apple as the manufacturer in February 1983, and a year

later, freshmen received their Macintosh computers. Some members of the Drexel community

questioned the wisdom of requiring computers for all students. In response to alumnus Dr. Harry C.

Gross concerns about the financial burden on students, President Hagerty wrote that the cost of the

computers would be included in Drexels financial aid packages. In promoting the microcomputer

project, Drexel emphasized the importance of computers for students in all disciplines. A 1983

admissions brochure explained that ...in every field of endeavor the successful professional will be

required to use computer technology routinely to understand and deal with the ordinary day-to-day

challenges of professional life.



In September 1983, Drexel began publishing the Drexel Micro News, a newsletter to help familiarize

students with their new Macs. Issue #4 served as a manual for new Mac users. It contained instructions

for creating spreadsheets, using the word processor, and drawing with MacPaint--skills useful for

students in various disciplines. A new student group called DUsers also served as a resource for

students; members were available to help freshmen with their new Macs. As the 1983-1984 academic

year drew to a close, it was still too early to evaluate the success of the Microcomputer Project, but in

the words of the Lexerd, many exciting possibilities exist for this new educational tool.

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Gave the dedicatory address on December 17, 1891: Chauncey M. Depew, A noble recognition of the

needs of the youth of both sexes by placing before them the weapons and the armor for the battle of

life and training them in their uses. It will nurture and instruct a better and broader womanhood, a

braver and more intelligent manhood, and a more patriotic citizenship; and as the years increase and

graduates multiply, the Republic will be enriched in its material prosperity and receive new vigor and

earnestness in its moral and intellectual life.

Anthony J. Drexel, I know that the world is going to change, and, therefore, the Institute must change

with it, and I do not want to tie it up.

James Creese was President from 1945 to 1963. (Post war)the need for education will be greater than

ever before with a growing call for thoroughly trained, alert-minded men and women. It was not only

important to supply technically trained persons but to explore the technical and scientific foundations

of modern civilizations. 1941 In the postwar world, the United States would be a modern

technological society (page 81). (Page 83) Classroom and laboratory space was at a premium. Efficiency

is the use of space, said to be the best of any educational institution by the Educational Facilities

Laboratory Report, was the pride of administrators. (Page 84) In 1949 the school saw thegroundbreaking for the fourth of the buildings along Chestnut Street, Alumni Engineering Laboratories,

designed to house the engineering departments, plus the psychology and testing services. The first

building to be constructed largely through the gifts of the organized alumni, staff, and friends,

Engineering Laboratories opened in 1952. The addition was designed to encourage the research that

had already become a national trend and was soon to become an academic professional imperative.

(Page 85) The westward move was recognized in 1960, when the Main Building was remodeled to create

a doorway on 32nd

Street. But the remodeling took place a full six years after groundbreaking for the BSB

(Basic Sciences Building AKA Stratton) in 1954. While the new building did not fulfill the rising

expectations of the faculty, it was far better than their former facilities. In the old physical chemistrylaboratory in Main, pigeons used to fly in through open windows. The new building was provided with

excellent laboratory and lecture space. (Page 90) Rush Building was required in 1961. The Graduate

School used the first three floors for classes and the old wing was converted to house a neutron

generator and chemistry, physics and biology laboratories. (Page 125) The integration of economics and

business had improved since WWII through econometrics and operations research and through



mathematics such as linear programming, game theory, and modeling with the availability of computers.

(Matheson was instrumental in opening the computer center at Drexel.)

(Page 151-152) The institutionalization and growth of the computer center at Drexel has two aspects.

One is the administrative use of electronic data processing (for example, registration, billing, payroll);

the other is education (classes) and research. When the computer center opened in 1958, thecurriculum was modernized in business and engineering. But it took some time from the first proposal

for a computer to the opening of the centermore to be scanned in.

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The History of Computing at Drexel