Symposium History

1981	Envisioned by former Provost Ronald W. Collins, and under the leadership of Ira M. Wheatly of History and Philosophy, the first annual event was held April 3, 1981. 17 students and 19 faculty members from nine College of Arts and Sciences departments were featured.
1982	Luncheon and keynote speaker added to event. Listing of keynote speakers and student emcees over the years.
1990	Posters displays added.
1992	Participation expanded with students from the College of Education and the College of Technology included.
1993	The College of Business and the College of Health and Human Services nominated students for participation.
1995	Student emcees added to the luncheon program.
1996	Student designers involved in design process.
2000	Office of Financial Aid and the Graduate School began providing up to 20 University Fellowship Awards for Symposium Participants to graduating participants to encourage them to continue their graduate studies at EMU. Dedicated website launched.
2001	The Barry A. Fish Scholarship and the Ronald W Collins Memorial Endowed Scholarship for Undergraduate Symposium Participants endowed to provide financial awards for continued undergraduate studies.
2002	Webcasting of select presentations began with Symposium XXII.
2005	The Symposium proudly celebrated its 25th event. In honor of the event’s longevity, a new scholarship series was announced and the event also provided the opportunity for 25 select Symposium and University alumni to return to campus for the festivities.
2007	The annual event moved to the new EMU Student Center. Genesis, a bronze sculpture by artist and Symposium XXVII keynote speaker Brent Collins, was dedicated and placed on permanent display at the center.
2008	The nominations process was changed to allow only online submissions, thereby streamlining the approval process and making both web and print publication easier.
2010	The Symposium reaches the historic mark of 30 events! Over the past three decades, more than 4,000 students have had the opportunity to share their research in front of their peers, professors University administration, community, and family. We have grown from 17 presenters in the first Symposium to over 300 in 2009!
2012	Challenge advancement goal reached: $1-million in support of the Symposium and especially student scholarship and research awards. Special to this year was the addition of the Design Expo as an exhibit component for student research.

A complete history of the event can be downloaded here.