1871

Andrew Dickson White, the first president of Cornell University, exhorted the Board of Trustees to establish a new architecture program. White had a fascination with the discipline, combined with a sense of its importance to cultural history. From a young age, he began collecting architectural books and journals. He offered his collection — his "pet extravagance," and possibly the best collection in the United States at the time — to Cornell. In return, the trustees agreed to found the school of architecture and appointed Charles Babcock as the first professor of architecture in the United States.

1876

Providing the first four-year course in architecture in an American university, the college presented an alternative to apprenticeship programs or to study in Europe. The new architecture program was immediately popular, registering 32 students by 1876.

1896

The College of Architecture offers classes in drawing, painting, and sculpture.

1920

Cornell becomes the first architecture school to extend its curriculum to five years.

1921

The Department of Art is formally added.

1986

The college launches Cornell in Rome, a program that has become a vital component of many AAP students' education.

2022

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning marked the Department of Architecture's 150th academic year and a century of art education with a broad slate of college-wide events from exhibitions and artist talks, to symposia, public lectures, and special community gatherings.

2022

A $30 million gift from Paul Rubacha '72, MBA '73, creates an innovative multicollege department of real estate jointly led by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and the SC Johnson College of Business.