The University of Texas at El Paso was created by the Texas Legislature in 1913 as the Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy and was placed under the control of the Board of Regents of the University of Texas.

     Originally located at the present site of Ft. Bliss, the School opened it doors in 1914, offering a 3-year degree in mining engineering. In the Sciences the program was supported by the Department of Geology and the Department of Chemistry and Mineralogy. The latter was chaired by Dr. F. H. Seamon until 1941.

     After a fire destroyed the School, it moved in 1917 to the present location of the University in west El Paso, where four buildings were constructed: Old Main, Education (now Graham Hall), the Chemistry Building (now Quinn Hall), and the Energy Plant (Computer Science). The buildings were modeled after the architectural style of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.

     In 1919 the school was renamed the College of Mines and became a branch of the University of Texas. In 1927, Liberal Arts courses were added, and in 1931 it became a four-year Liberal Arts college operating under its own President, John G. Barry. At this time the Department of Biological Sciences was established within the School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Anton Berkman was made departmental chair, and served for the next 30 years. Also in that year a combined Department of Physics and Mathematics was established, with Dr. E. J. Knapp as chair.

     The first graduate degree program, a Master of Arts, was approved for the College of Mines in 1940. In 1949 the school became Texas Western College of the University of Texas System. In 1951 the Science Building was constructed, it is now the Psychology Building.

     The 1960's saw many changes to Texas Western College and to math and science. The first Master of Science degree, in Physics, was approved in 1962. This degree was followed by M.S. programs in Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Math. In 1967 Texas Western was re-named the University of Texas at El Paso. The School of Liberal Arts was divided into 4 Schools: Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Education, and Science. The first Dean of the School of Science was Dr. Lewis Hatch, professor of Chemistry, who served until 1970. Mathematics was split from the Department of Physics, with C. H. Gladman appointed acting head of Math. The Physical Science Building, housing Chemistry and Physics, was constructed in 1967. Enrollment was reported for 1967-68 as 14,000 students, with 2100 of these math and science majors. Sponsored research funding for the University in 1969 was $352,664.

     In the 1970's the School of Science was lead by Deans James Whalen, professor of chemistry, and Juan Lawson, professor of physics. In 1972 the University established its first faculty endowment, the Lloyd A. Nelson Professorship in Geological Sciences. The first doctoral degree, a Doctor of Geological Sciences, was approved in 1974. In 1975, the School of Science became the College of Science. Completion of the new Engineering-Science complex in 1976 provided state-of-the-art research laboratories
in a four-story building for the Department of Biological Sciences.

     In the 1980's Deans in the College of Science were Dr. James Zajic, professor of microbiology, Dr. Choo Seng Giam, Dr. William Herndon, professor of chemistry (1983-87), and Dr. Rey Elizondo, professor of biological sciences (1987-93).

     The early 1990's saw the change of the doctorate in Geology to a Ph.D. program, and the first enrollment of students in new Ph.D. programs: Materials Science and Engineering in 1993, and Environmental Science and Engineering in 1995. Dr. Jack Bristol, professor of biological sciences, served as Dean of the College from 1993-1997, followed by Dr. Tom Brady, also professor of biological sciences, from 1997-2004. The College established a community Advisory Board, added new baccalaureate and master's degrees, a Ph.D. in Pathobiology, and increased the sponsored projects awards of the College to $ 39 million dollars, representing nearly 30% of the total University portfolio.

     In 2004-05, under the leadership of Interim Dean Michael P. Eastman, the College of Science continues developing new programs to better serve the University, its students, and the community and looks forward to completion of the Biosciences Research Building, which will house a Vivarium and a BSL3 Laboratory.