It was more than twenty years after William LeBaron Jenney taught architecture at the University of Michigan from 1876 to 1877 before a chair was officially established within the Department of Engineering. In 1931, a separate and more autonomous College of Architecture was established and Emil Lorch named Director.
The focus of the program expanded throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s to include decorative and landscape design and by the 1950s to include city planning. In 1954 the college was formally divided into three departments: Art, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture; ten years later the Department of Landscape Architecture was transferred to the School of Natural Resources, and in 1968, a Department of Urban Planning was added.
By 1974, the school was renamed the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and the program structure included an emphasis on research, environmental design, and the built environment, while also engaging students in practical experiences. The name of the school was changed in 1999 to A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning in honor of Taubman's $30 million gift earmarked for launching new initiatives in urban planning and community work.
From the description of A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (University of Michigan) records, 1876-[ongoing]. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 78643217
