History of the College | design.ncsu.edu

Under the guidance of its founding dean, Henry L. Kamphoefner, the College of Design experienced a remarkable display of creative and intellectual development almost immediately upon opening its doors to students in Fall, 1948.

Designers and theorists such as Buckminster Fuller, Matthew Nowicki, Lewis Mumford, Eduardo Catalano, and other internationally recognized design luminaries joined the college's faculty and built a reputation for innovation and experimentation. Their legacies of creative intrepidness, diversity and excellence continue to this day.

Students have won national recognition including the Prix de Rome, numerous Fulbright Scholarships, and five Paris Prizes. They initiate an annual student publication that reflects the college's experimental posture. Many have gone on to assume important positions in practice and education.

"At the core of the School in these early years was an uncompromising belief that comprehensive design would produce a healthy environment, an improved society, and a better life for all. Experimental in nature, the School was open to new ideas and challenges. Unlike many of its peer institutions newly emerging from traditional academic positions, the School's zeal for the new was balanced by an uncommon concern for the broad development of the individual student who was expected to assume a formative role as a creative leader and committed citizen."

The late Robert P. Burns, FAIA, Architecture Professor Emeritus
College of Design, Class of 1957