[4] The Morrill Land-Grant Acts, the first of which passed in 1862 and accepted by the State of Missouri the following year, provided space for institutions with specialties in agriculture and engineering.

The building that eventually would become the current Thomas and Nell Lafferre Hall was constructed in 1893, giving the college its own home.

The college continued to hit landmarks and expand throughout the years, including seeing its first female graduate, Ada Wilson, in 1907, and the creation of the Engineering Library in 1906.

James Thompson stepped down as dean of the University of Missouri College of Engineering on September 1, 2014, after being in the role for around 20 years.

[5] While he had been dean, the college stated it had added new programs in bioengineering, computer science, and IT, and the General Assembly approved the funds to renovate Lafferre Hall.

More than 50 student organizations and design teams are affiliated with the college, several of which regularly win awards and accolades either from the University of Missouri or their national chapters.

[12] The total amount of faculty is 113, and the college has more than 38,000 living alumni, more than 500 of which currently serve as owners, presidents or CEOs of companies in industry.

As former dean Huber O. Croft wrote in "A Brief History of the College of Engineering – University of Missouri-Columbia": It was on a warm spring day in March 1903 — perhaps as the result of a severe case of spring fever — that the students decided an unbearably long period stretched between officially authorized holidays.

It was on this day that the whimsical "discovery" was made (or perhaps it should be called a useful invention) that Erin Go Bragh ("Ireland Forever"), somewhat loosely translated, meant "St. Patrick was an Engineer."

[26] In 2014, the State of Missouri's Board of Public Buildings — Governor Jay Nixon, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and Attorney General Chris Koster — approved $38.5 million in bonds issued by the Missouri General Assembly for renovations and repairs to Lafferre Hall.

[28] Naka is considered the father of stealth technology and was a former Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force.