Early Action
1851 marks the first action in the formation of what was originally known as Corvallis
Academy, the area's first community school for primary and preparatory education. In 1858
the name was changed to Corvallis College and it was formally incorporated by six local citizens.The first college level curriculum was offered in 1865 while the school was under the
administration of the Methodist Episcopal Church. OSU dates its history back to October 27, 1868, known as OSU Charter Day. On that day, the Oregon Legislative Assembly designated Corvallis College as the
"Agricultural College of the State of Oregon" and the recipient of Land Grant fund income derived from the sale of 90,000 acres (364 km²) in southeast Oregon. As part
of this designation, the college was required to comply with the requirements set forth in the First Morrill Act signed by President Lincoln when Land Grant colleges were established in 1862. The name was
changed to Corvallis State Agricultural College and was then authorized to grant the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science,
and Master of Arts degrees. The first degrees were granted, that of
Bachelor of Arts in 1870.
Oregon Agricultural College (OAC)
In 1890 the college became known as
Oregon Agricultural College (OAC). Orange was
adopted as the school color, with black as the background. The noted Olmstead Brothers developed the
first Campus Master Plan in 1909, emphasizing trees and an architectural harmony showcasing
basic classical forms in brick with dignified entrances. The current campus stays mostly integrated to this original plan, laid
on a grid of wide, tree-lined streets with the well-spaced buildings highlighted by open lawns and tall, clustered trees.The current beaver mascot was adopted in 1910, replacing "Jimmie," the coyote selected in 1893 to be the school's original mascot. The college was also one of the four charter members of the
Pacific
Coast (Athletic) Conference, formed in 1915 which is now known as the Pacific Ten Conference, or Pac-10 for short. 1917
was the first year Army ROTC was active, replacing the original Cadet Corps formed by students studying Military Science.OAC began a horticultural products processing program in 1919, the first of its kind in
the United States. The modern maraschino cherry was developed by
the program in 1925 by Prof. Ernest H. Weigand. Accreditation was granted in 1924 by the Northwest Association of Higher and Secondary Schools.
Oregon State Agricultural College (OSAC)
1927 marked yet another name change this time to
Oregon State Agricultural
College. The Oregon Unification Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly in 1929 placed
the school under the auspices of newly formed Oregon State Board of Higher Education.Doctoral education was first provided in 1935 with the conferral of four Doctor of Philosophy degrees, three in Agriculture and one in
Science. This year also saw the creation of the first summer session, starting a system of year-round operation for the college.
At this point, the degree programs offered were sufficiently diverse to warrant yet another name change in 1937, simply to
Oregon State College.Naval ROTC, and the
program of Naval Sciences, were added to the existing Army
ROTC program in 1946. The Air Force ROTC program
was included in 1949, making Oregon State one of only 33 universities in the country to
offer officer training for all branches of the United States Armed Forces.Although OSU's focus was solidly on agriculture, engineering and other vocational subjects, the novelist Bernard Malamud spent the 1940s and 1950s teaching English Composition there.
His experiences as a professor were the basis for his novel
A New Life. He was
also awarded the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for his novel
The Fixer, which derives its name from a store in downtown Corvallis.The current costumed mascot Benny The Beaver made his first
appearance in 1952. The next year, 1953, saw the
opening of the football facility, Reser Stadium (originally named Parker
Stadium). Linus Pauling, Class of 1922, became Oregon State's first alumni Nobel Laureate in 1954 when he received
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work studying
atomic bonds.
Oregon State University (OSU)
The current name, '
Oregon State University', was adopted on March 6, 1961 by a
legislative act signed into law by Governor Mark Hatfield. The next year,
former student Linus Pauling received the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against nuclear weapons testing. He
became one of two people ever to receive the Nobel Prize in two fields (the
other being Marie Curie), and the only one to hold two unshared Prizes.
1962 also saw OSU's first Heisman
Trophy winner for excellence in collegiate football, Quarterback Terry Baker, also honored that year as
Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. He was the first
west coast player to win the Heisman.The National Sea Grant College Program began in 1966, selecting OSU as one of the original three universities to participate in the program when it
became operational in 1968.Trysting Tree is the name of
Oregon State's golf course, dedicated in 1988, and has been recognized by GolfWeek Magazine
as one of the top five collegiate golf courses on the West Coast. Its name is traced to a tree near Benton Hall where student
couples would meet (or "tryst") and make dates.OSU was designated as a federal Space Grant institution
in 1991, making the university one of only ten in the United States to serve as a Land
Grant, Sea Grant, and Space Grant designate.In 1999 Oregon State rededicated the new $40 million 'Valley Library', selected by
The Library Journal as their 1999 Library of the Year, the first academic library so
named.