Michigan Technological University was founded in 1885 in response to the first mining boom in the US—the clamor for Michigan's copper preceded the California Gold Rush by several years. The Department of Forestry (now the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science) was founded in 1936. Housed in the Hubbell School, the original department had two faculty members: Ubald J. Noblet and Bob Miller. The first graduating class numbered twelve in 1940. As of December 2009, the School had awarded 2,987 alumni a total of 3,210 degrees and certificates, including 2,666 bachelor’s degrees, 385 master’s degrees, and 89 doctorates. The Institute of Wood Research was established by legislative action in 1947 "to develop industry and further employment in the forest areas of Michigan." The Forest Resources and Environmental Science Building was constructed in the mid-1960s and occupied in 1967, being renamed the U. J. Noblet School of Forestry and Wood Products Building in 1994 to honor the department’s founder. In 2002, with the dedication of the building expansion project, the Department of Forestry became the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Graduate degrees were offered beginning in 1967, with the establishment of a master’s program. The doctoral program was established in 1987. The BS in Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the BS in Wildlife Ecology and Management degree programs were added to the School’s curriculum in 1999 and in 2004, respectively.