At Mississippi State University, the Center for Teaching and Learning has established a First Year Seminar series. This seminar series has established learning outcomes that include a student being able to: 1) argue issues specific to their discipline; 2) distinguish their discipline within the academic community and 3) think critically about topics within their discipline. A one-hour seminar entitled “Events that Shaped the Chemical Industry” was proposed and is being taught during the fall semester to 25 freshman chemical engineering students. The last century is ripe with events that significantly impacted the chemical industry, the practice of chemical engineering, and the education of chemical engineers. In this seminar, these freshmen are exposed to the rich history of achievement and accomplishment in chemical engineering as well as the challenges faced by the industry in light of environmental events such as Love Canal and Times Beach and economic events such as the 1973 oil embargo. The seeds of their education are planted in how the chemical industry responded to these challenges. To understand where the chemical industry is heading during the coming decades of their careers, students need to be knowledgeable of the events that have shaped the industry.