Background and founding (1886 to 1919) Engineering instruction at Johns Hopkins began under the physics department, which from 1886 to 1899 offered a two-year Proficiency in Applied Electricity certificate at the request of local employers, particularly the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The certificate produced 91 graduates over its thirteen years, among them
John Boswell Whitehead, who later led the campaign to establish a formal engineering program at Hopkins. In 1912 the Maryland General Assembly passed the Technical School Bill, which appropriated $600,000 to establish a Department of Applied Science and Advanced Technology at Hopkins and provided $50,000 annually in scholarships for Maryland residents. Major General
George Washington Goethals, chief engineer of the
Panama Canal, delivered the keynote at the building's dedication in May 1915. A 1934
American Council on Education survey rated the Hopkins department of electrical engineering among the three strongest in the United States. University president
Milton S. Eisenhower said the change was intended to ensure that Hopkins continued to produce engineers who were "truly educated and creative individuals, not merely cogs in an increasingly complex industrial machine." Subsequent deans were Don P. Giddens (1992 to 1997), Ilene Busch-Vishniac (1998 to 2003), and Nicholas P. Jones, who served until 2013. ==Campus and facilities==