About the Institution
Penn State Lehigh Valley is the oldest continuously operating campus outside University Park. 1912 In the early 1900s, Pennsylvania State College President Edwin Sparks' vision of the land-grant institution mission and his emphasis on lifelong learning leads to the establishment of "extension courses" throughout the state. Through the efforts of a local citizens' committee in cooperation with Penn State's School of Engineering, the first permanent Penn State technical center is established in the attic of the Stevens School at 6th and Tilghman Streets in Allentown in 1912. The center offers evening courses in engineering subjects. 1917 - 1918 During World War I, women enter the classrooms at the Allentown Engineering Extension for the first time. Most of the women trained at the extension fill positions in the drafting rooms of the steel and cement industries in the Lehigh Valley. 1920s Programs in "Foreman Training," which eventually expand to become the current Magement Development program, begin. Today, Penn State Lehigh Valley ranks as one of the leading providers of Magement Development programming in the state. The extension center provides "continuation school" one day a week for young workers in silk mills and other factories in the area. 1923 Bethlehem Steel offers all employees the opportunity to enroll in shop and engineering courses at the Allentown Extension School. From the beginning, the extension school works to partner with industries in the area to provide needed skills. The instructors, drawn from local businesses, ground the courses in practical application as well as theoretical learning. 1924 At the Allentown Fair, extension students who are also employees of the many silk mills in this area, display silks designed and woven in the Textile Engineering School. Also displayed in the Extension's tent are an illumited map of Pennsylvania and a static electricity machine. 1941 - 1945 The Allentown Branch School responds to the call to train local workers in skills vital to the war effort via the Engineering, Science, and Magement War Training (ESMWT) program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. During the war years, over 4,000 people enroll in classes offere ...

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