The University of Notre Dame is celebrating 125 years since it first offered students a formal course in Architectural Design and Drawing.
Since those first classes, the School of Architecture has become a global preeminent program in classical and traditional architecture and urban design through the dedication, vision, and resilience of our faculty, students, and staff, here and in Rome, during the past 125 years.
Scroll through 125 years of highlights that commemorate our storied past.
1869
The first classes in architectural drawing and design are offered at Notre Dame under the degree granting program. The Art Department studio was located on the fifth floor of the Administration Building.
1889
The first official course in architecture was taught by Henry John Schlacks, a Chicago architect, in 1889.
1904
Eugenio P. Rayneri y Piedra (1883-1960), a native of Havana Cuba, enrolled in the Architecture program in December 1899 and completed his degree in 1904.
1906
The Course in Architecture was renamed the College of Architecture, which offered both bachelor and master of science degrees in Architecture and in Architectural Engineering.
1918
William Wirt Turner received the first master’s degree in Architecture.
1920
The College of Architecture became the Department of Architecture within the College of Engineering because of the lack of student enrollment during World War I.
1930
As the Department of Architecture expanded and outgrew its placement in the fifth floor of the administrative building, the old Law Building, now Crowley Hall, was given to the Department of Architecture.
1931
As the University continued to grow, the law school moved to a newly constructed building.
1947
Ida Bonicelli became the first professional architectural librarian for the school, and single handedly organized the collection of over 15,000 materials.
1949
The program receives accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which serves to accredit architectural education within the United States to ensure programs meet key quality assurance responsibilities.
1964
Frank Montana joined the faculty as an instructor in 1939, and by the 50s he was named chair of the school, a title he held until 1972.
1969
Founded by the School's then Chair Frank Montana began the Rome Studies Program, which would become a required destination for third-year students for a year, and later graduate students for a semester.
1972
In 1972 the University opened enrollment to women for the first time.
1976
Esmée Bellalta became the first woman to become a tenured faculty member at the School, teaching from 1976 until her retirement in 1995.
1978
In 1978 the chairmanship passed to Robert L. Amico who, through his relationship with the then Dean of the College of Engineering Roger Schmitz, was able to elevate the program to the status of a school within the College of Engineering.
1980/1990
With the advent of photography and later computer drawing, Architecture at Notre Dame never abandoned hand drawing.
1989
Chairman Thomas Gordon Smith is hired and creates the first School of Architecture in the U.S. to teach Classical Architecture since the 1950s.
1992
In 1991, Thomas Gordon Smith sought to create a new program that acknowledged the parallels between architecture and furniture design.
1994
In 1994, the School of Architecture gained autonomy from the College of Engineering due to strong administrative support and initiatives championed by Thomas Gordon Smith.
1996
To meet the needs of the students and an architectural curriculum, William and Joanne Bond sponsored an extensive renovation of the former Library Building in which the program lived.
1998
Carroll William Westfall received the School’s first endowed professorship and was named chairman.
2003
Established in 2003, Professor Michael Lykoudis and philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus collaborated on the creation of the Richard H. Driehaus Prize, which is awarded to a living architect whose work embodies the highest ideals of traditional and classical architecture in contemporary society, and creates a positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact. Since its establishment, 21 world-renowned architects have been honored in an annual award ceremony in Chicago.
2004
The Board of Trustees named Michael Lykoudis the first Dean of the School of Architecture as part of the school's strategic goals after occupying the role of chair for two years.
2005
Henry Hope Reed was the inaugural recipient of an award named in his honor presented March 19 at the University Club of Chicago in conjunction with The Richard H. Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture.
2010
The Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture, named in honor of the 2010 Driehaus Prize laureate Rafael Manzano, was bestowed by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, with the generous support of the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Trust from 2012-2016.
2011/2012
The Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards honored the School of Architecture with an Emmy for the cultural documentary programs titled “Architect Michael Graves: A Grand Tour Commemorative” produced and co-written by Daniel Andries, hosted and co-written by Geoffrey Baer.
2014
Previously housed in Via Monterone, the School of Architecture’s Rome Program upgraded to the much larger Via Ostilia Rome Global Gateway, and began to engage with other Rome programs within the University.
2018
As the School developed its classical direction, the idea of the “classical” became a large umbrella of thought that included many cultures and forms of architecture that were derived from nature.
2019
After being housed in Bond Hall for over 50 years, the School of Architecture had outgrown its previous home.
2019
In 2019, more than 240 alumni and friends gathered in Rome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture’s Rome Studies Program.
2020
Co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and partner in Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists, Stefanos Polyzoides was appointed the Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the University of Notre Dame's School of Architecture in the spring of 2020.
2021
In 2021 University of Notre Dame Trustee Fritz Duda; his wife, Mary Lee; and the family’s foundation made a $30 million gift to the University’s School of Architecture to establish a center dedicated to historic preservation in the field, in honor of their son.
2022
As a result of the impact and success of Dean Polyzoides’ Dean’s Charrettes, including the implementation of design suggestions to activate the public realm at street level in Kalamazoo, and other specific goals of cities like LaPorte and South Bend, the school established a new program: The Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative, and names Professor of the Practice Marianne Cusato as its director.
2023
On the heels of charrette success, Dean Polyzoides began building two new initiatives, the Mediterranean Initiative for Architecture, Urbanism, and the Landscape (MIND) and the Adaptive Cities Initiative.
Thank You
Sincere appreciation is extended to the esteemed professors, listed below, whose invaluable contributions have significantly enriched the project.