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A History of the University of Missouri-Columbia
Department of Environmental Design

Note to Researcher: The College of Human Environmental Sciences was disbanded in 2021.

According to the HES web page (https://hes.missouri.edu/) from the summer of 2021:

"On February 8, 2021, the University of Missouri announced the restructuring of the College of Human Environmental Sciences. On March 3, 2021, the University announced the new college homes of the five academic units in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. The transition of departmental faculty, staff, and students to new academic homes occurred on July 1, 2021.

Departments:

• The Department of Architectural Studies is now administered by the College of Arts and Science. The department office is still physically located at 137 Stanley Hall.
• The Department of Textile and Apparel Management is now administered by the College of Arts and Science. The department office is still physically located in 137 Stanley Hall.
• The Department of Human Development and Family Science joined the College of Education & Human Development. The department office is physically located in 102 Gwynn Hall.
• The Department of Personal Financial Planning (PFP) joined the Division of Applied Social Sciences within the College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources (CAFNR). The department is currently located in 239 Stanley Hall but will move to Mumford Hall in August.
• Faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology currently housed in HES moved into CAFNR in the newly formed Division of Food, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences. The department is still physically located in 204 Gwynn Hall.
• Extension faculty currently in PFP, along with the Center for Financial and Economic Education, joined the Marketing Department in the Trulaske College of Business, while Extension faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology joined various academic units within the School of Health Professions.

• Extension faculty and staff in HES Youth and Family Extension will be moving to Gentry Hall in August."

The information about the College of Human Environmental Sciences found on the remainder of this page was originally compiled in 1999.

History

The Department of Environmental Design has roots in the course "Care of the House and its Furnishings," taught by the University of Missouri-Columbia's first Home Economics leader, Jane Zabriskie, in 1900. The course included instruction in home construction, water supply, ventilation, heating, cleaning, and disinfecting, as well as home decoration. In the early 1950s, Interior Design was established as a major within the Department of Home Economics. In 1960 an Interior Design Section was created with the establishment of the School of Home Economics. The Department of Housing and Interior Design was established in the College of Home Economics in 1973.

A graduate program in interior design began in the late 1950s and by the late 1980s masters and doctoral programs in design education, environment and behavior, and interdisciplinary historic preservation were well-established. In 1982, Housing and Interior Design was targeted for possible elimination as part of a proposal for sweeping cuts in academic programs at UMC; this proposal was eventually rejected by the Board of Curators. The department's name was changed to the Department of Environmental Design in 1989, and housing design and design management emphases were phased out at this time to refocus the undergraduate emphasis in interior design. In 2004 the name again changed to the Department of Architectural Studies.

Leadership

Note to Researcher: Information on current administrators in the Department of Environmental Design can be found at the following URL:

• ca. 1950-1955 Ethel Cutler, Head
• 1955-1984 Kate Ellen Rogers, Head/Chair
• 1984-present Ruth Brent Tofle, Chair

For additional information on the Department of Architectural Studies and its programs, see its website: https://arch.missouri.edu/

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