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Lawrence Scientific School
The Lawrence Scientific School was established in 1847 by Harvard to offer degrees in science and engineering. The School was named for Massachusetts industrialist and entrepreneur Abbott Lawrence, who donated $50,000 (an unprecedented sum at the time) to create the institution. From 1851 until 1910 inclusive, Harvard students could earn a Bachelor of Science degree from the Lawrence Scientific School.
In 1906, the Lawrence Scientific School was dissolved and its undergraduate and graduate programs were separated. Students wishing to earn a Bachelor of Science degree without a designated field could earn a non-professional BSc. in Harvard College (1906-1915). During this period, however, the Graduate Schools of Applied Science conferred higher level professional degrees in engineering.
From 1916 to 1921, BSc degrees were conferred on Harvard undergraduates through an agreement with MIT. This arrangement, established in 1914, was outlawed by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in a decision in 1917. This led to Harvard's establishment of the Harvard Engineering School in 1918.
After numerous twists and turns, the Harvard Engineering School has evolved into the current School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which was formally established in 2007.
