Faculty Papers: Research at UD (1956-present)

Research at UD (1956-Present)

The establishment of the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) in 1956 played a significant role in the expansion of research at the University. The University’s first research contract with Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), the so-called Project GLOBE, began in 1949 and laid the groundwork for the creation of the Research Institute.  Mathematician and professor Dr. Ken Schraut assumed responsibility for this top-secret project along with Cyril Peckman and Jim Gallico. Subsequent contracts with WPAFB, which pushed UD’s research contracts up to the $1 million mark in 1956, led the University to formally create UDRI. The Research Council (RC) was created at the same time and acted as the University’s policy body for research. The Research Council offered grants for ambitious faculty to pursue their own research (mostly in the sciences) and advocated for a reduction in teaching loads and a more competitive pay-scale to encourage more faculty research.

The most significant changes in terms of faculty research at the University of Dayton occurred during the presidency of Father Raymond Roesch, S.M. (1959-1979). Under his leadership, the University added nine new academic departments, eighteen Bachelor degree programs, forty-four Masters Degree programs, and three doctoral programs. The physical campus expanded to include twenty new buildings during his presidency, and the number of full-time faculty rose to 446, more than twice what it was in 1950. A growing number of faculty members who were hired at this time held Ph.D.s, and an increased emphasis on research accompanied this shift in faculty hires. Controversies in the 1960s and 1970s over what was appropriate for a Catholic university to teach its students created a moment in which the University of Dayton established itself as an institution devoted to Catholic higher education but also willing to expand as a research and teaching-oriented university.

Throughout this time, the Research Council continued to advocate for an increased emphasis on research, and the Council itself expanded to include more lay faculty and faculty from disciplines outside science and engineering. In 1970 the Research Council established a program of Summer Research Grants for select faculty to engage in research during the summer without the constraints of teaching. This program was highly successful and particularly advanced research in the humanities, which had been limited in years prior. Grant-funded summer conferences were also held for middle and high school teachers in the fields of mathematics and history beginning in 1965.

In the 1970s and 1980s other research bodies like the Center for Business and Economic Research and the Center for Christian Renewal sought to foster research independent of UDRI. The 1990s saw an increase in the number of publications, citations, and research activities by faculty. The additions of more graduate and Ph.D. programs have bolstered faculty research. Today, the University of Dayton ranks in the top three for Catholic research institutions. Research at UD spans across every discipline, and in keeping with the Marianist tradition, engages both students and faculty in innovation and investigation.

In 2009 the University of Dayton purchased NCR's former world headquarters. The newly acquired building at 1700 S. Patterson Boulevard is now the home of UDRI.

For more information on the history of research and teaching at the Univeristy of Dayton, check out Voices of UD, edited by Dr. Larry Schweikart of the History Department. There are copies available at Roesch Library and in the University Archives.