This page was created by Christine Liebson. The last update was by Julia Teran.
The Schools of CWRU
"The very fact that Western Reserve does not run true to the common patterns prevalent in the country makes it difficult to explain our organization easily to others."
- Winfred George Leutner
In spite of the complexities, which have only increased since President Leutner's 1938 comment, the staff of the Archives has compiled this summary of the schools and colleges of Case Western Reserve University and its predecessors. Included are the dates each was established and terminated and their names. A similar summary has been made of the legal entities, the Corporations of CWRU.
Selecting "birth and death" dates of schools is one of the complexities. Several schools began life as a single course, evolving into a department and later a separate school. Others originated as independent institutions, only later becoming schools of the University. Some ceased to exist as separate schools but remained as departments. Another complexity is changing terminology. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the terms school and department were often used interchangeably in the University.
The dates used in the accompanying diagram reflect the school's existence as an entity separate from other schools within the University.
Undergraduate Schools of CWRU
Graduate and Professional Schools of CWRU
1826
- Western Reserve College established.
1843
- Cleveland Medical College established.
1844
- Cleveland Medical College renamed the Medical Department of Western Reserve College.
1880
- Case School of Applied Science established.
1882
- Western Reserve College renamed Adelbert College of Western Reserve University.
1888
- College for Women established by WRU.
- Cleveland Conservatory of Music affiliated with WRU.
1871 Cleveland Conservatory of Music was established. - Western Reserve School of Design for Women affiliated with WRU and renamed School of Art.
1882 Western Reserve School of Design for Women was established.
1891
- School of Law established by WRU.
- School of Art affiliation with WRU ended.
1892
- Dental Department established by WRU.
- Department of Graduate Instruction established by WRU.
- School of Law renamed Franklin Thomas Backus Law School of Western Reserve University.
1895
- Cleveland Conservatory of Music affiliation with WRU ended.
1903
- Library School established by WRU.
1906
- Dental School sold to Western Reserve Dental School Company, a for-profit corporation. Degrees continued to be conferred by WRU.
1908
- Cleveland School of Pharmacy affiliated with WRU.
1882 Cleveland School of Pharmacy was established by the Cleveland Pharmaceutical Association.
1910
- Medical Department of WRU absorbed the Medical Department of Ohio Wesleyan University. The Medical Department of Ohio Wesleyan University (1896-1910) was the successor school of several rival Cleveland-based medical schools, including the Charity Hospital Medical College (1865-1869) and the Medical Department of the University of Wooster (1869-1896).
1913
- Medical Department of WRU renamed the School of Medicine of WRU.
1915
- School of Applied Social Sciences established by WRU.
1917
- Cleveland School of Pharmacy renamed the Cleveland School of Pharmacy of Western Reserve University.
- Dental School re-purchased by Western Reserve University.
1921
- Graduate School suspended.
1923
- School of Nursing established by WRU.
1921 Nursing Education Department was established in the College for Women.
1924
- Library School renamed School of Library Science.
- Dental School renamed School of Dentistry.
- School of Nursing absorbed the schools of Nursing at Lakeside Hospital, Maternity Hospital, and Babies Hospital and Dispensary.
1898 Lakeside School for Nurses was established.
Establishment dates of the Maternity Hospital and Babies Hospital and the Dispensary Nursing schools are not known.
1925
- Cleveland College established.
1926
- Cleveland College renamed Cleveland College of Western Reserve University Affiliated with Case School of Applied Science.
- Graduate School re-established by WRU.
1928
- School of Education established by WRU, combining the College for Women Education Department, the Nursery-Kindergarten-PrimaryTraining Department, the Cleveland School of Education, and the Senior Teacher's College of Western Reserve University and the Cleveland School of Education.
1874 Cleveland Normal Training School was established by the Cleveland Board of Education. In 1919, the Cleveland Normal Training School was renamed the Cleveland School of Education.
1915 A joint summer program between WRU and the Cleveland School of Education was established and renamed in 1920 the Senior Teacher's College of Western Reserve University and the Cleveland School of Education.
1916 Education Department was established in the College for Women.
1927 Department of Nursery-Kindergarten-Primary Training was established by WRU after the program was transferred by the Cleveland Day Nursery and Free Kindergarten Association of Cleveland.
1929
- Cleveland School of Architecture affiliated with WRU
1924 Cleveland School of Architecture was established.
1931
- College for Women renamed Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University.
1934
- Cleveland College affiliation with the Case School of Applied Science ended. Case opened its own Evening Division.
1935
- School of Nursing renamed Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing of Western Reserve University.
1941
- Cleveland School of Architecture renamed School of Architecture.
1945
- School of Education closed. Its successor, the Department of Education, closed in 1979.
1947
- Case School of Applied Science renamed Case Institute of Technology.
1949
- Cleveland School of Pharmacy of Western Reserve University closed.
1952
- School of Business established by WRU combining the Cleveland College Division of Business Administration and the Graduate School Division of Business Administration.
1925 Cleveland College Division of Business Administration was established.
1943 Graduate School Division of Business Administration was established.
1953
- School of Architecture closed. Its successor, the Department of Architecture, closed in 1972.
1967
- Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University merged to establish Case Western Reserve University. Case Institute of Technology continued as an undergraduate college of Case Western Reserve University.
- School of Management was established by CWRU, combining the WRU School of Business and the Case Division of Organizational Sciences.
1963 Case Division of Organizational Sciences was established. - School of Graduate Studies established by CWRU, combining the WRU Graduate School and Case School of Graduate Studies.
1931 Case established a regular graduate program. - School of Engineering established by CWRU. It consisted of the Case Division of Engineering.
1961 Case Division of Engineering was established by consolidating the departments of Mechanical, Chemical, Civil, and Electrical Engineering.
1971
- Adelbert, Flora Stone Mather, and Cleveland Colleges consolidated.
1973
- Consolidated colleges renamed Western Reserve College.
1980
- School of Management renamed Weatherhead School of Management.
1981
- School of Library Science renamed Matthew A. Baxter School of Information and Library Science.
1986
- Matthew A. Baxter School of Information and Library Science closed.
1987
- Western Reserve College and Case Institute of Technology combined into The Colleges.
1988
- School of Applied Social Sciences renamed Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
1992
- The Colleges closed. Case School of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences established.
2003
- School of Dentistry renamed School of Dental Medicine.
2013
- Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences renamed Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
This summary was compiled by staff of the Archives from sources in the custody of the Archives.
Sources:
1AA Catalogs of Western Reserve University
1B Founding Documents, Case Western Reserve University
1DA Publications of the Office of the President, Case Western Reserve University
1DB6 Records of Charles F. Thwing, President, Western Reserve University (1890-1920)
1DB11 Records of Louis Adelbert Toepfer, President, Case Western Reserve University (1970-1980)
2JD Records of the Board of Trustees, Adelbert and Western Reserve Colleges (1826-1941)
2KD Records of the Board of Trustees, Western Reserve University (1884-1941)
2KE Records of the Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, Western Reserve University (1884-1941)
2LD Records of the Corporation and Board of Trustees, Western Reserve University (1941-1957)
2LE Records of the Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, Western Reserve University (1941-1957)
2N Records of the Corporation and Trustees, Case Western Reserve University (1967- )
3DQ4 Records of the Provost, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Case Western Reserve University
3EE1 Records of the University Faculty, Western Reserve University
19BE Records of the Board of Trustees, Case Institute of Technology
19DA1 Publications of the Office of the President, Case Institute of Technology
24AA Catalogs of the Medical School
29XA Catalogs of the Lakeside Hospital School for Nurses
61B Founding Documents, Cleveland School of Pharmacy
61C Records of Governing Bodies, Cleveland School of Pharmacy
62AA Catalogs of the School of Education
65AA Catalogs of the School of Art
