In the fall of 1953, 46 years after the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell was founded (in 1907) as Division of Rural Engineering and Architecture, ground was broken for what would become its own home, Riley-Robb Hall, named after its founding fathers, Howard W. Riley and Byron B. Robb. The building was dedicated on October 6, 1954, and in 1956 the Agricultural Engineering Department, as it was then named, occupied its new 2 1/4 acre facility for teaching, research and extension. By Fall Semester 1957, 38 professorial and non-professorial staff, 6 graduate students and 12 office professionals were on the roster, as shown in the new directory of September 25, 1957 in the Appendix. Pictures of many of these individuals can be seen in the photographs included in this album. The appendix contains a listing of this 1957 directory.