2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As Matt Wisniowski observed in his preface to a history-focused issue of the Journal of Engineering Education, people who study that history find themselves in a perpetual state of déjà vu. Nowhere is this more true than in humanistic education for engineers, where authors “discover” that the STEM aspects of engineering education are necessary but not sufficient for the effective practice of engineering. The paper proposed here argues that a broad historical perspective illuminates both why the humanistic perspective is essential and why it is not established as an integral part of engineering education. In this case, integration is the opposite of the more common approach of engineering students fulfilling humanities and social science (HSS) requirements with traditional disciplinary courses in the HSS that have no meaningful connection to engineering.
Specifically, the paper will delineate the career trajectories and intellectual approaches of three individuals: Sada Harbarger (1894-1942) of Ohio State University; Joseph Vaughan (1905-1999) of the University of Virginia, and Sterling Olmsted (1915-2011) of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. All three held PhDs in English and contributed significantly to engineering education. Harbarger has been recognized primarily for her contributions to the development of technical writing instruction but saw English for engineers as involving a much broader range of activities under the umbrella of professional communication. Vaughan, although the least researched of the three, is the only one of the three whose program has remained intact (though not unchallenged) since Vaughan became the first instructor in it in 1935. Olmsted, in whose honor the highest award of the Liberal Education/Engineering and Society Division was established, was notable for his contributions to studies of the humanities in engineering education (studies that are still cited today) as well as his work in technical writing and English composition. Focusing primarily on the commonalities among the three, the paper will identify some of the dynamics that have both facilitated and stood in the way of integrated humanistic education for engineers.