75th Anniversary
The College of Engineering is proud to be a part of Lamar University for the last 75 years. After 75 years of excellence in education, we have so much to celebrate during the year.
Join us for our 75th Anniversary Celebrations
Thursday, January 22
8AM - 4PM
Our 75th celebration gave educators in engineering the opportunity to learn more about engineering in the classroom, and how to set their students up for success.
E-Week
February 23 - February 27
Week-long events
Celebrations for EWeek will be elevated for our students, with an extra incredible end-of-week Bash!
Cardinal View
Saturday, February 28
8AM - 1PM
Calling all Future Engineering Cardinals! Join us for Cardinal View to learn more about your future career, and the opportunities for you at Lamar University.
Discover Engineering
Saturday, April 11
10AM - 2PM
Join us for our free community-wide event for K-12 students, where your students can get excited about their future as an engineer.
Senior Design Symposium
Friday, May 1
3PM - 5PM
Join us for our annual Senior Design Symposium, where students show off their capstone projects.
Saturday, October 24, 2026
Join us at tailgate for Lamar University's Homecoming! Everyone is invited to join us for a fun time before the Homecoming football game, see updates to the engineering facilities, and receive a special gift from the College of Engineering.
75 Years of Excellence Scholarships
By giving to the College of Engineering, you help shape the future of engineering education by supporting scholarships, hands-on learning, innovative technology, and academic programs. In honor of our 75th Anniversary, we are awarding 75 one-time $1,000 scholarships to first-time engineering freshmen. Gifts of all sizes are greatly appreciated, and a $1,000 donation allows you to directly sponsor one of these scholarships and make a meaningful impact on a student’s journey.
75 Year Silent Auction
Commit by August 1, 2026
The College of Engineering will be hosting a silent auction with all proceeds going to help support student success initiatives. More details will be shared soon, but if you are interested in donating an item or experience, we would love to hear from you. Contact us at engineering@lamar.edu for more information on how to donate a silent auction items!
A Touch of History
J.M. Combs, an attorney and district court judge, had a vision for what South Park Junior College could become.
Importantly, he recognized that the community was surrounded by petroleum refineries with locals doing the backbreaking physical labor.
Combs realized that the college should develop a first-rate engineering program so that locals could obtain professional jobs not only as hardworking blue-collar workers but also as highly trained engineers.
J.M. Combs
O.B. Archer
The fledgling college already was offering courses in physics taught by O.B. Archer. Archer was the son of a Bell County farmer who had graduated from Belton High School and attended the University of Texas until World War I when he left to be an aviator. After the war he returned to the university, obtaining a degree in electrical engineering.
His work at Lamar furthered Combs goals for the college as he headed the physics and engineering department. By 1939, one third of the young men who enrolled in Lamar took engineering courses.
Engineering became a huge focus at colleges and universities throughout the country during the World War II era. Judge J.M. Combs and Lamar’s future president, John E. Gray utilized the engineering and aviation skills of O.B. Archer with their successful Civilian Pilot Training program.
In 1939, Lamar applied for government program from the Civil Aeronautics Authority to create a civilian pilot training program at Lamar. Combs and Gray strove to make Lamar an integral part of a rapidly developing world. The “flying school” opened in August 1939, in which students paid a nominal fee of $25 to receive pilot training with other expenses paid by the federal government. The school boasted that it was a “chance to learn about flying from the ground up.”
The coursework included 72 hours of classroom instruction in topics including mathematics, physics, meteorology, navigation, and civil air regulations followed by 35 hours of actual flight instruction.
According to the 1951 catalog, Lamar College became Lamar State College of Technology on September 1, 1951, going from a two-year college to a four-year college.
From what we found in the commencement books, the first bachelor of science degrees in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering,Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering were awarded May 26, 1953
The Anthony F. Lucas Engineering Building was dedicated on October 9, 1951. Texas Governor Allan Shivers delivered a dedicatory address, and the Secretary Oscar Chapman discussed the importance of technological education to the nations economy.
Mrs. Patricia Ann Garrett (Drake) was the first female Civil Engineering graduate, graduating August 23, 1958.
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