War time

The college plays an important role in the World War II effort, even as male enrollment drops more than 50 percent under the pressures of military enlistment.

As part of the federal Engineering Defense Training program, Berkeley’s Department of Mechanical Engineering lays the groundwork for large-scale industrial training programs in the San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. By the time the war ends in 1945, more than 150,000 men and women are trained for industrial occupations by the university.

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