10/9/2026
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One hundred years since the end of the tenure of the first department head of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (TAM), the program is still one of international significance.
Written by Taylor Parks
Early on in the university’s history, the College of Engineering (now The Grainger College of Engineering) recognized the need for students to learn mechanics, or the branch of science that focuses on forces and deformations. When the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics was officially organized in 1890, Arthur Newell Talbot became its first department head, remaining in the role until 1926.
University-wide enrollment for the 1889-90 school year included 337 undergraduate students. By the 1926-27 academic year, the College of Engineering alone had grown to 1,684 students.
As a student in civil engineering at Illinois, Talbot (1857-1942) maintained a grade average of 98 throughout his studies — a record that was unmatched for many years after. He graduated in 1881 and served on the engineering faculty for 57 years.
Talbot’s family described him as having devoted his life to the advancement of engineering education and to the science and practice of engineering. He was known for his inspired teaching and took great satisfaction in seeing former students go on to distinguished careers.
He left not only a legacy of teaching but also one of outstanding research contributions to railroad engineering, structural engineering, sanitary and hydraulic engineering, concrete technology, and engineering education — many of which were recognized through honorary doctoral degrees and medals from national engineering societies. Indeed, the American Railway Engineering Association passed a resolution of appreciation and commendation of his work at its 1925 annual convention in Chicago.
“The purpose of [TAM] courses is to teach the student to analyze and solve engineering problems by applying the principles of mathematics and of physics to conditions as they arise in the design, construction, and operation of engineering structures and machines. In the well-equipped laboratories, the student tests many engineering materials, such as steel, brass, aluminum, timber and concrete, to determine the various properties that are needed in the use of the materials in design and construction, and in the writing of specifications for the materials. In the hydraulics laboratory, he performs experiments on the flow of water in pipes and open channels, and determines the operating characteristics of different kinds of pumps and turbines.”
The College of Engineering, 1940
Talbot’s stellar leadership, prominent work ethic, and extensive academic and research contributions earned him a number of accolades both during his lifetime and posthumously. Notably, the department’s Materials Testing Laboratory was renamed the Arthur Newell Talbot Laboratory during a special convocation in 1938 that Talbot attended. This was followed by a second convocation held at Illinois in 1941, this time by the American Railway Engineering Association to honor Talbot’s services to the Association. More recently, MechSE has offered the annual Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture as one of four endowed lecture series. The Talbot lecture series was originally endowed by Talbot’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren to honor his memory and has run for nearly three decades.
Subsequent department heads included Melvin Lorenius Enger, who succeeded Talbot before going on to become Dean of the College of Engineering in 1934, and Fred B. Seely, who co-authored the textbook Analytical Mechanics for Engineers. TAM’s final department head, from 2005 to 2006, was Nancy Sottos, now a professor of Materials Science and Engineering and who just wrapped a term as head of that department.
“Theoretical and applied mechanics is a unique field that attracts students from mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, physics, as well as materials science backgrounds. It's very fundamental so it draws students from fundamental areas.”
TAM alum and professor Huseyin Sehitoglu (PhD TAM 1983), who served as M&IE department head during the merger
As many alumni will recall, MechSE was born 20 years ago, in 2006, when the TAM department merged with the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (M&IE). Today, MechSE’s theoretical and applied mechanics PhD program is one of just three nationwide, alongside those at Cornell University and Northwestern University.
“The TAM program is very prestigious and well known,” said associate professor Elif Ertekin. “I think that when people hear that you have a TAM degree from the University of Illinois, they’ll know the background you have and the culture you’re coming from.”
The department’s engineering mechanics program, an undergraduate precursor to a TAM MS or PhD, is also renowned on the world stage.
“Illinois is known around the world as a leader in engineering mechanics,” said TAM alum and professor Petros Sofronis (PhD TAM 1987). “The experience that we have and the tradition that we set is unmatched.”