The Early History of Undergraduate Construction Education in the United States

9 pages•Published: May 15, 2022

Abstract

The history of undergraduate construction education in the United States has garnered faint attention by academics and little is known about construction programs in existence before the formation of the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) in 1965. This study uses contemporary historical documents to identify construction programs that existed before the second world war, and programs created during or shortly after the war. A total of nine programs with courses related to the “building industry” are identified as being in operation prior to 1941 and 23 programs are identified as existing by 1946, and 36 programs by 1953. The research also identifies, and analyzes a study conducted by Arthur A. Hood of the Johns-Manville Company who has a major influence on establishing programs during and after the war. Over half of the institutions represented at the inception meeting of the ASC were identified as being established as a result of this study and the actions of Arthur A. Hood. There is a strong case to be made for Arthur A. Hood being the founding father of construction education in the United States.

Keyphrases: associated schools of construction, construction education, curriculum, history, industry

In: Tom Leathem, Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud (editors). ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference, vol 3, pages 804-812.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/2HFq
	https://doi.org/10.29007/2p86

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2022:Early_History_Undergraduate_Construction,
  author    = {Richard Burt},
  title     = {The Early History of Undergraduate Construction Education in the United States},
  booktitle = {ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference},
  editor    = {Tom Leathem and Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {3},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/2HFq},
  doi       = {10.29007/2p86},
  pages     = {804-812},
  year      = {2022}}

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