Cover of the 50th Writeup

As part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the department, Dr. Bob DeHoff and Dr. Rolf Hummel have graciously taken the time to cover the department's history and collect some stories from the early years of the department. In 1959, Dr. Fred Rhines left Carnegie Mellon University with a dream to come to the University of Florida and establish a program based on all areas (metallurgy, ceramics, etc.) of materials. He recognized that the future of materials science and engineering (MSE) encompassed a much broader field than just metallurgy. This was a visionary idea at the time that was just being explored nationally, and UF started one of the first MSE programs in the country. From these modest beginnings, the UF-MSE Department has grown to become one of the top 10 and largest programs in the country with 28 faculty members and over 430 students. These stories help document some of the early years, and I hope you enjoy reading about the department's humble beginnings.