Stanford ENGINEERING
Management Science and Engineering

Industrial Engineering at Stanford

The timeline on this page includes events related to the historical department of Industrial Engineering (IE), later renamed Industrial Engineering-Engineering Management (IE-EM). 

This page covers IE-EM from the time it was formed as a department in 1955 until it merged with EES-OR to form MS&E in 2000. 

MS&E main timeline

For timelines specific to MS&E's other legacy departments, please click below:

Operations Research
Engineering-Economic Systems

Industrial Engineering

1950s

W. Grant Ireson, the first executive head of the IE department

1955

Industrial Engineering becomes an independent department within the School of Engineering.

1956

IE joins with Electrical Engineering, Statistics, and Mathematics to operate a graduate program in Data Processing and Scientific Computation.

The IBM 650 Console Unit was the basis for a graduate program in Data Processing and Scientific Computation | IBM

1960s

Building 300 | Richard Cottle

1960

IE moves its offices to Building 300, in the main quad adjacent to Engineering Corner.

Industrial Engineering faculty, ca. 1968 (clockwise): L. Wise, D.A. Thompson, R. Lave, H. DiGiulio, R.V. Oakford, W.G. Ireson, R.A. Hemmes, J. Jucker, P. Gray | Stanford News Service

1970s

Buildings 530 and 540 | Jim Fabry

1970

IE moves its offices to larger quarters in Buildings 530 and 540.

1975

James Adams is appointed chair of IE.

1977

IE adds Engineering Management to its mission and name, becoming Industrial Engineering-Engineering Management (IE-EM).

James Adams (left), chair of IE, 1972 | Stanford News Service

1977

IE-EM, EES, and OR move their offices to the newly-constructed Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Center.

Terman Engineering Center sketch, date unknown | Stanford University Planning Office

Terman Engineering Center under construction, 1970s | Stanford University Planning Office
Terman Engineering Center, completed, 2005 | Sheldon Breiner
Henry Riggs, chair of IE-EM, ca. 2010s | Harvey Mudd College

1978

Henry Riggs is appointed chair of IE-EM.

1980s

Awards & Recognition - 1980s (IE-EM):

  • Eugene Grant elected as a Member of the National Academy of Engineering (1987)

1982

Warren Hausman is appointed chair of IE-EM.

Elisabeth Paté-Cornell creates the Engineering Risk Research Group (ERRG).

Warren Hausman, chair of IE-EM, ca. 2010s
Students in an Industrial Engineering course, 1985 | Stanford News Service

1990s

Robert Carlson, chair of IE-EM, ca. 2000s | Stanford News

Awards & Recognition - 1990s (IE-EM):

  • Elisabeth Paté-Cornell elected as a Member of the National Academy of Engineering (1995)
  • Kathleen Eisenhardt is elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Management (1997)

1992

Robert Carlson is appointed chair of IE-EM.

1993

James Jucker is appointed chair of IE-EM.

James Jucker, chair of IE-EM | Stanford School of Engineering
Elisabeth Paté-Cornell, the first chair of MS&E and, prior to that, chair of IE-EM | Wikipedia

1996

Stephen Barley and Robert Sutton create the Center for Work, Technology & Organization (WTO).

1997

The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), created by Tom Byers, is formally launched by Dean John Hennessy after a two-year startup phase.

Elisabeth Paté-Cornell is appointed chair of IE-EM.

MS&E main timeline

Legacy department timelines:

Operations Research
Engineering-Economic Systems