The Cockrell School of Engineering is one of the eighteen colleges within the University of Texas at Austin. It has more than 8,000 students enrolled in eleven undergraduate and thirteen graduate programs. The college is ranked 10th in the world according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 9th nationally for undergraduate programs and 6th nationally for graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report. Nine of the ten undergraduate programs and seven of the eleven graduate programs are ranked in the top ten nationally. Annual research expenditures are over $180 million and the school has the fourth-largest number of faculty in the National Academy of Engineering. Previously known as the College of Engineering, on July 11, 2007, the University of Texas at Austin renamed the College after 1936 graduate Ernest Cockrell Jr., whose family has over the past 30 years helped to build a $140 million endowment for the College. Undergraduate departments Rankings, in parentheses, taken from the 2023 edition of U.S. News & World Report. Overall: 9th Petroleum Engineering (1st) Environmental Engineering (7th) Civil Engineering (5th) Computer Engineering (8th) Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering (8th) Chemical Engineering (8th) Electrical/Electronic Engineering (11th) Mechanical Engineering (10th) Biomedical Engineering (16th) Graduate departments Rankings, in parentheses, taken from the 2023 edition of U.S. News & World Report. Overall: 6th Petroleum Engineering (1st) Environmental Engineering (3rd) Chemical Engineering (5th) Civil Engineering (6th) Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering (8th) Computer Engineering (9th) Electrical/Electronic Engineering (9th) Mechanical Engineering (10th) Materials Engineering (14th) Nuclear Engineering (17th) Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems Engineering (19th) Biomedical Engineering (22nd) Traditions The Ramshorn The Ramshorn is one of the most prominent symbols associated with the College of Engineering. Its origins as such can be traced back to over a century ago, when T.U. Taylor, the first engineering faculty member and first dean of the College, began drawing the elaborate checkmark on students' work. A mark reserved for perfect papers, Taylor overheard a student remark he had received a "ramshorn" in 1905, from which the symbol took on its current interpretation and significance. Alexander Frederick Claire Alec's beginnings as the patron saint of the College came as the byproduct of the efforts of a group of sophomore engineers back in 1908. Joe H. Gill and his engineering friends thoughtfully considered how to make a holiday of April Fool's Day. After an unsuccessful attempt involving tying cans around dogs' tails and releasing them to disrupt class, the group of students saw a