Hood College Timeline
2017-2018
The College celebrates its 125th anniversary.
2016
The Tatem Arts Center renovation is completed adding classrooms, faculty offices and upgraded facilities.
2015
Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D., becomes the 11th president of Hood College.
2014
Hood joins the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad. Hood is named as an Apple Distinguished School. The bachelor of science in nursing and completion programs earn accreditation from the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
2013
Integrated marketing communication is added as the 31st undergraduate major. The formation of the Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies is announced.
2011
Hood issues iPads to first-year students through a bequest from Peggy Waite Whitehead ’60. The First-Year Read program is launched. The new Mascot, Blaze, is introduced at Convocation.
2008
The Athletic Hall of Fame is launched with 34 initial inductees. The choir celebrates the 50th anniversary of Messiah. The first ROTC commissioning is held on campus. The mass communication and notification system is established.
2007
Hood is ranked as one of the country’s best and most affordable colleges by U.S. News & World Report.
2006
The campus goes wireless. The master of fine arts in ceramic arts degree is approved.
2005
Blazer Radio is launched.
2004
German and elementary/special education majors are added along with a master of science in computer science degree program. Men’s lacrosse and soccer are added.
2003
Hood opens fall semester as a fully coeducational college; enrollment increases by 47 percent. First-ever men’s Division III NCAA basketball, cross country, golf, swimming and tennis teams are established; women’s cross country and golf are added. A new College logo is introduced.
2002
The 10-week, 16-credit coastal studies semester is introduced.
2001
Ron Volpe’s tenure as 10th president begins. Deborah Jones ’69 and her husband, James A. Lash, provide funding for the establishment of the Summer Research Institute.
2000
Millennium, the College’s alumni development database, is fully operational.
1999
The Hodson Trust announces a gift of $13 million at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hodson Science and Technology Center; the Hood choir celebrates its 100th anniversary
1998
Hood receives a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Hildegarde Pilgram ’31 Endowed Chair in History is established.
1997
Hood establishes an online site on the Internet.
1995
The Hood Campaign for the Second Century raises $54.1 million. Computer technology revolutionizes the way Hood meets the needs of students, faculty and staff. The Whitaker Foundation funds the first Summer Science Institute for undergraduate students and faculty.
1992-1993
The College celebrates its centennial.
1992
The Beneficial-Hodson Library and Information Technology Center is dedicated, named in honor of Hood’s long association with the Hodson Trust and in recognition of their gift of more than $3 million to develop the information technology computer network. The Bonner Scholars Program begins.
1990
Hood’s mission statement is reformulated to reflect the College’s dual mission and its commitment to diversity. The Hood College Four-Year Honors Program is introduced.
1989
The College is awarded a $225,000 grant from The Whitaker Foundation for faculty and student research in the sciences. The Virginia
E. Lewis Lecture Series is established.
1987
The Giles Chair in Education is established.
1985
Hood is rated the number one small college in the East by U.S. News & World Report. The College is recognized for its effective transfer agreements with community colleges.
1984
The Beneficial Chair in Economics is established.
1980
The Board of Associates’ Professional Development Grants Program establishes awards for faculty and staff for professional research.
1978
Hood College and the National Cancer Institute form a partnership to give students opportunities to serve as interns and research assistants at NCI research labs in Frederick.
1975
Hood installs its first woman president. The College introduces internships, awarding credit for supervised professional experience.
1973
The Continuing Education Program—i.e., Adult Learning Services, Brodbeck Scholars—is established.
1971
The coeducational graduate school opens.
1970
The trustees vote to revise Hood’s charter to admit local men as commuters. Interdepartmental majors are offered.
1967
Hood College launches the Junior Year in Strasbourg Program at the University of Strasbourg in France. The National Science Foundation awards Hood a grant to conduct an experimental program in computer science with the National Bureau of Standards. The academic and administrative departments begin computerizing their information.
1966
Hood participates in the U.S.-India Women’s College Exchange Programs and also establishes the Latin American Studies Program and Head Start Child Development Program.
1961
The College establishes an independent study program.
1959
The Andrew G. Truxal Chair of Economics and Sociology is established.
1957
The Whitaker Foundation endows Hood’s first chair, the Whitaker Professor of Chemistry.
1956
The first faculty-trustee dinner is held in honor of the Hood Scholars.
1954
The Hood College Board of Associates meets for the first time.
1951
The $750,000 Hood Forward Program is launched at Convocation with U.S. Senator Margaret Chase Smith and General George C. Marshall, the keynote speakers.
1948
The College choir joins the U.S. Naval Academy Choir for the first Messiah.
1945-1946
The French and Spanish language houses are established to enhance the curriculum.
1944
Hood celebrates its 50th anniversary.
1942
An agreement is signed with The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.
1937
A $500,000 fundraising goal is set for the College’s 50th anniversary celebration.
1936
Hood receives its first gift of $9,961 from the Hodson Trust.
1930
With the construction of Meyran Hall, use of the downtown buildings ends.
1922
The departments of music, art and expression move from the downtown buildings, bringing all departments of the College to the new campus. The Association of Colleges of the Middle Atlantic States and the State of Maryland grant accreditations.
1912-1914
The College is named in honor of Margaret Scholl Hood. Ground is broken for Alumnae Hall.
1897
The 28-acre Groff Park property is purchased with the help of Margaret Scholl Hood as the site for a future campus. The Alumnae Association is organized.
1893
Hood College is founded as the Woman’s College of Frederick by the Potomac Synod of the Reformed Church.
