WE ARE a smarter

“It’s fascinating to reflect on Otterbein then, as a student trustee in the late 1970s, and now, finishing my 12th and final year back on the Board of Trustees. Then, nursing was new, now we offer a nursing doctoral degree. Equine was in discussion, engineering not even envisioned, and the only campus computer was in Towers Hall and ran on punch cards.”

—Rebecca Princehorn ’78, trustee

doctorate degrees were awarded in 1889. By 1895, the doctorate program was discontinued; master’s degrees continued to be offered until 1912.

Today, there are over 70 undergraduate majors and eight graduate degree programs.

THE ARTS GETS AN EARLY START

Rev. Lewis Davis brought the first piano to Westerville in 1852. Initially, students could take voice and piano lessons as an extracurricular activity and, in 1858, a choral society was formed. In 1873, music became part of the curriculum.

Early Courses Of Study

Otterbein University was founded with a single course of study for all students, which was then broken into the Men’s Course (Classical or Scientific) and the Ladies’ Course (a modified version of the Scientific Course).

Otterbein offered graduate courses starting in 1883, and the first

Otterbein’s 2021-22 Factfulness The Common Book titles since 1995

1946

Returning WWII lift

Similarly, painting and drawing were offered as extracurricular activities starting in the 1850s but were integrated into the curriculum by the 1890s.

In 1907, Otterbein staged its first theatre production, but it was not yet a program of study. Today students can choose from majors in music, art, and theatre and

100 th anniversary is celebrated with a campaign raising Nursing Graduates “As You Like It” cast, 1907