Howard University Professor Emeritus Lewis Thigpen Publishes on Mechanical Engineering at Howard University from 1911-2023

Howard University mechanical engineering alumnus and professor emeritus Lewis Thigpen, Ph.D., PE (BSME ’64) recently published “Mechanical Engineering at Howard University 1911-2023", a book that chronicles the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Thigpen writes in his preface that this book is the outcome of his service on the Centennial Planning Committee of the College of Engineering, and Computer Science (now the College of Engineering and Architecture) from 2010 to 2012. Other committee members included previous deans and department chairs from across the college. 

The book provides the background and history of the establishment of the Howard University mechanical engineering program from which the first two people graduated with their bachelor’s degrees in 1934. It also provides an overview of the curriculum, faculty, student organizations, achievements of alumni, industry and government support, and shares important milestones. The appendices list all college and department leadership, as well as mechanical engineering faculty. 

The objective of this publication is to advance awareness of engineering education and research at Howard University and the contributions of the program's alumni and faculty to society," said Thigpen.

Thigpen cites data prior to 1960 from Wilkinson’s History. For data after 1960, Thigpen cites data from the Bulletin of the School of Engineering and Architecture and collected information from his affiliation with the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Howard University catalogs, the Howard Magazine, School of Engineering annual reports, official documents from the School of Engineering's Office of the Dean were also cited as sources for the book. 

Thigpen returned to his alma mater in 1988, serving the Howard University community as a mechanical engineering professor and then department chair for sixteen and a half years, retiring in 2008.