Lecture 11: History of the Department of Engineering Science

The lecture inclined to the earlier days of Oxford engineering rather than the more familiar recent history. The University produced engineers, not always so-called, long before 1908 and engineering was taught from 1886 although there was no formal school. Jenkin, the first professor, was elected in 1908 after years of frustrated attempts to found a chair; he combined high mathematical qualifications with years of industrial experience. The department evolved steadily, not without the occasional crisis, but never lost its industrial connections. From the 1950s it expanded dramatically and is now conspicuously successful.