Pennsylvania State University. College of Science

The sciences have been a major part of Penn State's curriculum since it opened its doors in 1859; of the four members of the faculty, Jacob S. Whitman was the professor of natural science. Evan Pugh, the first President of Penn State, held a doctorate in chemistry. The School of Mathematics and Physics was formed in 1895 under I. Thornton Osmond, and in 1896 the School of Natural Sciences was created, with George Pond as its first dean. Following Osmond's resignation in 1907, the School of Mathematics and Physics was dissolved; Mathematics, chemistry, and physics all became departments within the School of Natural Sciences, and mathematics also became a part of the School of History, Mathematics, and Philosophy. The School of Natural Sciences was replaced by the School of Chemistry and Physics in 1924, which was under Dean Gerald R. Wendt. The Petroleum refining Laboratory, which would research high-altitude aircraft lubricant during the Second World War, was created in 1929. The School of Chemistry and Physics became the College of Chemistry and Physics in 1953, and in 1963 the College of Science was established. It was renamed the Eberly College of Science in 1990.