The Founding of Thayer
1867
Sylvanus Thayer, Class of 1807, established an engineering school at his alma mater.
![People working around a large table](/sites/home/files/styles/max_width_720px/public/2022-10/thayer-founded.png?itok=3OZwE_1_)
When Sylvanus Thayer established an engineering school at Dartmouth, he created the kind of institution he wished he could have attended. As a young man, he wanted a technical education that would prepare him to be an engineer, but at the time no such institution existed in this country. He pursued the next-best thing: a college that offered advanced mathematics as well as a classical education. In 1803 he entered Dartmouth. Though named valedictorian of the class of 1807, Thayer left before the graduation ceremony to become a cadet at the five-year-old United States Military Academy.
In 1867, Thayer brought engineering to Dartmouth. He not only offered $70,000—an enormous sum at the time—to create an engineering school, but he also detailed the curriculum: technical studies built on a strong liberal arts foundation. Over one hundred fifty years later, his Thayer School of Engineering continues the educational model he invented.
Read more on the history of Thayer.
![Illustration of Thayer building at it's founding](/sites/home/files/styles/16_9_lg/public/2022-10/4268799397_e9cc0c3531_o.jpg?h=06f5d4b6&itok=0qx7u3Vb)