Our History

1899Bradford Durfee Textile School is incorporated by act of state legislature. It was later renamed Bradford Durfee Technical Institute, then again as Bradford Durfee College of Technology to distinguish itself as a degree-granting four-year college.

1904Bradford Durfee Textile School opens to students. Its main building is located on the corner of Durfee and Bank Street in Fall River. The first class consisted of five day and 163 evening students.

1918New Bedford Textile School becomes a state institution.

1920New Bedford Textile School and Bradford Durfee Textile School offered three-year diploma courses in general textile manufacturing, textiles designing, chemistry and knit goods manufacturing, as well as a two-year certificate courses in textile technology.

1936Courses in English and economics are added to the Bradford Durfee Textile School’s curriculum.

1947Now known as New Bedford Institute of Technology, the institution is granted the power to award four-year Bachelor of Science degrees. Bradford Durfee soon followed with four-year degrees in 1948.

1956The new science and engineering hall is completed in the spring on the campus of New Bedford Institute of Technology. The addition cost $1 Million and provided modern engineering, science, research laboratories, classrooms, administrative offices, an amphitheater, and a gymnasium.

1958The name of Bradford Durfee Technical Institute changed again to the Bradford Durfee College of Technology to reflect its status as a college with a four-year curriculum

1960New Bedford Institute of Technology and Bradford Durfee College of Technology boards of trustees votes to approve a merger to form Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute (SMTI) on July 7, 1960. The next four years are spent finding a site, forming the SMTI board, and planning for the merger. Massachusetts General Court appropriates $1.5 million for acquisition of a campus site and development of architectural plans.

1964The formal merger and creation of SMTI is complete. Groundbreaking ceremony for the SMTI campus in North Dartmouth is held on June 14 for the construction of the first academic building, LARTS (formerly known as Group I).

1966The first commencement is held on campus on June 12.

1968College Now was established by a faculty task force led by Dr. Lura Teeter to facilitate access to higher education for local high school students who faced economic, educational, or cultural barriers.

1969SMTI becomes Southeastern Massachusetts University (SMU). SMTI awards the first bachelor of arts degrees. Construction of the Science and Engineering Building, the Textile Technology Building, and the Research Building is completed.

1970College of Nursing is established. In 2019, it was renamed to the College of Nursing & Health Sciences to reflect its expanded offerings. The Women’s Referral Center is established, a program that would expand to today’s Center for Women, Gender, & Sexuality.

1971Construction is completed on the Gymnasium-Natatorium and Campus Center.

1973Roberts Hall, the first residence hall complex, opens with over 300 beds.

1988Swain School of Design in New Bedford merges with Southeastern Massachusetts University and is incorporated into the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Cedar Dell West student residence complex opens

1991A new University of Massachusetts structure combines the Amherst, Boston and Worcester campuses with the Southeastern Massachusetts University and the University of Lowell. SMU becomes UMass Dartmouth.

1994UMassD’s first independent doctoral program is approved for electrical engineering.

1996Center for Marine Science and Technology is established, located on 2.6 acres in New Bedford near Buzzards Bay.

2000Center for Marketing Research is established.

2001The Star Store campus in New Bedford opens with visual arts studios, classrooms, and the University Art Gallery. The Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center, now known as the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, opens in Fall River, offering laboratory and incubator space for start-up companies.

2004The new Charlton College of Business building opens. A second centrally located Center for Professional and Continuing Education opens in New Bedford. The university breaks ground on Woodland Commons residence halls to meet the increasing demand for on-campus housing.

2009Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives opens.

2010School of Law is established, creating the state's only public law school.

2018Groundbreaking takes place for a new first-year residence hall and dining complex.

2020The Grove grand-opening. The most modern living facility on campus. Split into two main residential buildings with a state-of-the-art dining facility as a connector.