About This Department

Civil engineering has a special place in LSU’s history with the first engineering degree at LSU being awarded to a civil engineering graduate in 1869. Also, in 1969, the first African American to graduate from the College of Engineering received his bachelor’s in civil engineering.

During 1908, the university was reorganized into individual colleges. At that time, the College of Engineering was established with civil engineering being one of four departments within the new college. Expanding the department’s offerings to include graduate studies, the master’s degree program in civil engineering was initiated in 1932 and the doctoral degree program in 1970. The bachelor’s in environmental engineering program was established in 1995. Most recently, in 2012, a master’s degree in coastal and ecological engineering was added bringing the number of programs offered by CEE to five.