The Story of Bourns Engineering
Before there were research centers, student teams, and engineering buildings, there was a belief that Riverside could be a place where new engineers and new ideas take shape. Here's how UC Riverside's Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering grew from that ambition.
A new chapter for engineering at UC Riverside
The college took shape in 1989, when its first undergraduate engineering students were admitted. Susan Hackwood became its founding dean in 1990, making history as the first woman to lead an engineering college at a major U.S. research university. She helped build the academic and research community that would define BCOE.
Those early years brought new faculty, classrooms, laboratories, and a growing conviction that engineering education could serve Riverside and the wider region. Support from local industry and university partners helped turn that vision into a permanent home.
From its earliest days, people and partnerships have shaped what Bourns could become.
The people behind the Bourns name
Marlan and Rosemary Bourns founded their electronics company in 1947. From its roots in Riverside, Bourns, Inc. grew into an international business known for electronic components and engineering innovation.
The family's relationship with UCR helped shape the young college. In 1994, a gift from The Bourns Foundation led to the college being named in their honor. The company and family have continued to support engineering education, including scholarships, outreach, and faculty research.
The Bourns Foundation established an engineering scholarship endowment in 1990, reinforcing a commitment to helping students pursue their degrees that preceded the college's naming.
Milestones that shaped the college
From the founding of a local technology company to new degree programs and wider access to engineering education, these moments show how BCOE's story has developed.
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1947
Bourns, Inc. begins in Riverside
Marlan and Rosemary Bourns establish the electronics company whose close ties to the region will later help shape UC Riverside's engineering college.
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1989–90
Engineering takes root at UCR
The college admits its first undergraduate engineering students in 1989. Susan Hackwood arrives as founding dean in 1990, becoming the first woman to lead an engineering college at a major U.S. research university.
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1994
The college receives the Bourns name
A gift from The Bourns Foundation honors Marlan and Rosemary Bourns and helps support the college's growth.
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1995
Bourns Hall opens
The first dedicated engineering building gives the college a new home for teaching, faculty offices, and laboratories.
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2009
National recognition for expanding opportunity
BCOE receives ABET's Claire Felbinger Award for Diversity, recognizing its efforts to recruit, retain, and advance engineering students from underrepresented backgrounds.
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2011–12
A new investment in energy research
A major gift from inventor Winston Chung helps establish the Winston Chung Global Energy Center. The college's second engineering building is named Winston Chung Hall.
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2014
Support for faculty and graduate research grows
The Bourns Foundation agrees to establish the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns Presidential Chair in Engineering, matched by the UC Office of the President.
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2021
A new interdisciplinary robotics degree
BCOE establishes the UC system's first Master of Science program in robotics, drawing on computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.
A legacy that extends beyond campus
As the college grew, research centers and industry partnerships brought engineering to challenges in air quality, energy, transportation, and more. Work at the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) is one example of how BCOE's regional connections developed alongside its research.
The history we're still writing
The college has grown well beyond its first classrooms and laboratories. Today, Bourns brings together engineering and computing disciplines, students from many backgrounds, faculty researchers, alumni, and collaborators across California and beyond.
What connects its early history to the present is the work of creating opportunity: for students to learn and lead, for researchers to pursue new ideas, and for the region to benefit from engineering knowledge.
Education that keeps growing
New and evolving degree pathways reflect the needs of students and the fields they will enter.
Research with regional connections
Faculty, students, companies, and public agencies continue to work together on challenges that matter beyond campus.
A wider engineering community
Scholarships, outreach, mentorship, and student organizations help more people see a place for themselves in engineering.
See what Bourns is building today.
Discover the college, meet its people, or explore ways to be part of its next chapter.