1908
The New Jersey State Normal School at Montclair opens to meet the growing demand for professionally trained teachers. There are 187 students on the 25-acre campus and Charles Sumner Chapin is principal.
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1910
First graduating class numbers 45, including William O. Trapp, who will go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism for the New York Evening World in 1929.
1915
Russ Hall, the college's first dormitory, opens.
1918
Montclair State welcomes and trains teachers of all backgrounds to educate New Jersey's young students.
1924
Dr. Harry Sprague becomes principal.
1926
Sports and physical education play an important part in our campus culture.
1927
The school becomes Montclair State Teachers College, offering a four-year Bachelor of Arts for secondary school teachers.
View Details1928
Chapin Hall opens.
1930
Montclair offers its first summer courses and College High opens as a demonstration school.
1932
Montclair State is authorized to offer master's degrees.
1936
The amphitheater is completed.
1937
- Montclair State is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
- Sprague Field is dedicated before a football game against Hofstra.
1950
Enrollment soars during the 1940s-50s.
1947-54
Veterans and families occupy war-surplus buildings on campus.
1949
Montclair State's New Jersey School of Conservation opens.
1951
Dr. E. DeAlton Partridge becomes president.
1952
The nation's first educational television programs are broadcast from campus.
1955
Stone Hall opens.
1957
Finley Hall, Student Center and Memorial Auditorium open.
1958
Montclair State Teachers College merges with Panzer School of Physical Education to become Montclair State College.
1961
Early Rock 'n Roll comes to the campus.
1963
- Harry A. Sprague Library is dedicated.
- Webster, Freeman and Mallory halls open.
1966
- Montclair State becomes a multi-purpose institution, admitting its first liberal arts students.
- Dr. Thomas H. Richardson is confirmed president after serving as acting president since 1964.
1969-70
The College reorganizes along a university model with separate schools headed by their own deans.
1970
Guest speakers, who are a reflection of the time, come to campus.
1972
Richardson Hall is dedicated.
1973
- Montclair State has 7,500 full-time undergraduates and 6,000 part-time and graduate students.
- Dr. David W.D. Dickson becomes president.
1974
The Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children opens.
1983
The campus covers 219 acres.
1984
- Dr. Donald E. Waters becomes president.
- The State of New Jersey legislates autonomy for state colleges.
1986
Montclair State receives two Governor's Challenge Grants – in the arts and critical thinking.
1987
- The Institute for Critical Thinking is established.
- Baseball team wins national championship.
- Richard Lynde is named interim president.
1988
Montclair State begins an Honors Program.
1989
- Red Hawk mascot adopted.
- A $35-million building program is launched.
- Dr. Irvin D. Reid becomes president.
1992
Montclair State has 13,700 students.
1995
- Dickson Hall is named after Montclair State's fifth president, David W.D. Dickson, the first African-American president of a four-year college in New Jersey.
- Montclair State dedicates the Center of Pedagogy, the first of its kind in the nation.
1997
- The Distance Education Room in College Hall – the ultimate in interactive technology – is one of 40 in the state to be funded by the New Jersey Intercampus Network.
- Deputy Provost Gregory Waters is named interim president.
1998
- Dr. Susan A. Cole becomes Montclair State's eighth president.
- Montclair State receives approval from the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education to offer a doctor of education degree in pedagogy – the first doctoral program in the University's 90-year history.
- Floyd Hall Arena and Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center open.
1999
Montclair State adopts a doctorate program in pedagogy.
2000
The School of Business is granted accreditation by the AACSB, the premier accrediting agency for business schools.
2001
- The Red Hawk Diner opens. This 24 hour/7 day a week diner is the first diner in the state, and possibly the nation, to be built on a college campus.
- Endowed chair in Italian and Italian-American Studies is established with support from UNICO National.
- MSU offers the state's first bachelor's degree in athletic training.
2002
The Shanghai Quartet becomes artist-in-residence.
2003
- Doctorates in Environmental Management are offered at Montclair State.
- Red Hawk Deck opens.
- The Village at Little Falls opens.
- Joseph and Elda Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America opens.
2004
Alexander Kasser Theater opens.
2005
Montclair State implements a doctorate program in audiology.
2006
- The 270,000-square-foot University Hall is dedicated.
- The John J. Cali School of Music is established.
