On Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 2:00pm in the Gearing Hall courtyard on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin, we inaugurated the School of Human Ecology. Dr. William Powers, President of The University, and Dr. Mary Ann Rankin, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, presided at the ribbon cutting!

    In September, 2008, we achieved a long-awaited and hard won accomplishment: The Department of Human Ecology became The School of Human Ecology within the College of Natural Sciences. Two of the current divisions of Human Ecology, Human Development and Family Sciences and Nutritional Sciences, became departments within the School, each with its own chair and governance. The Division of Textiles and Apparel will continue its evolution, recruiting world-class faculty, promising graduate students, and talented undergraduates, under the auspices of the School of Human Ecology until it too has achieved the critical mass needed to be its own department.

    The added prestige of becoming a School brings with it a higher profile within the university community, affording us the opportunity to enhance our research, teaching, and outreach capabilities. We now have greater visibility and impact beyond The University of Texas at Austin. As a school, we are better positioned to recruit top-ranked faculty. Our faculty has consistently garnered national and international awards and recognition for their research, and as a school, we expect to grow the ability of faculty to acquire grants to pursue their research, as funding agencies readily embrace the departmental structure. Our faculty and students are excited about the transition to a school, and take great pride in knowing that they will soon hold a stature equivalent to other schools on campus.

    Human Ecology has a rich and enduring academic tradition at UT-Austin. It was founded as a School of Domestic Science in 1912, under the leadership of Mary E. Gearing. In those early days, the program was housed in a leaky two-room wooden structure affectionately referred to as "the shack." Between 1914 and 1921, the University of Texas reorganized causing the School of Domestic Economy to become the Department of Home Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Since that time, we have evolved, moving our affiliation from the College of Arts and Sciences to the College of Natural Sciences, finding a permanent home in Gearing Hall, and developing our acclaimed programs of study. In 1990 the name was officially changed from "Home Economics" to "Human Ecology." The new name captures all that was home economics, the study of individuals and families within their environments, while opening possibilities for expanding our focus on improving physical, social, economic, and mental health and well-being.

     We are thrilled to share this new beginning with you!

    For more information on how you can participate in our growth and programs, please contact Sarah Farley, School of Human Ecology Development Officer, at 512-471-7282.