Willamette University is adding six academic programs for fall 2026, including a new industrial engineering major and a pair of artificial intelligence minors aimed at students across disciplines.
The university announced a Master of Science in Accounting & Finance, an Industrial Engineering major, two AI minors, a Finance minor and a 2D Animation minor at the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland. All six launched with the 2026-27 academic year.
The new programs arrive as Willamette pursues a merger with Pacific University. Both boards unanimously approved a binding agreement in June, with the combined institution tentatively named the University of the Northwest. That merger is pending regulatory and accreditor approvals that could stretch into 2028.
AI minors open to every major
The Engineering AI minor teaches neural networks, computer vision and software design, along with evaluating algorithmic bias and data drift. The Understanding AI minor examines how the technology shapes society through coursework in philosophy, psychology and linguistics. Both share a keystone course, "AI 101: Understanding AI," taught by Assistant Professor Calvin Deutschbein.
Students can pursue both minors.
"We talk about poetry, film, gender relations, macroeconomics, and life and physical sciences. I sneak in a bit of linear algebra while I hope no one is looking," Deutschbein said in a July 29 university announcement of the AI programs.
Jameson Watts, dean of Willamette's School of Computing & Information Sciences, said in the same July 29 announcement that critical thinking matters more than narrow technical skills in an AI-driven workforce. He described good judgment as "the premium skills in the age of AI."
Industrial engineering and a new hire
The Industrial Engineering major blends engineering, math and the social sciences. Kester Wade, a new assistant professor hired to build the program, holds a PhD and master's degree in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. His research focuses on decision-making in socio-technical systems, including energy resilience and infrastructure planning.
Willamette said alumni with industrial engineering backgrounds have found careers reengineering processes at Tillamook creamery and testing aircraft at Boeing.
Graduate and undergraduate additions
The one-year MS in Accounting & Finance, housed in the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, combines accounting and finance into a single curriculum with experiential learning and a technology foundation. The Atkinson school held orientation for the program's first cohort during Compass Week at the start of the academic year.
The new Finance minor gives undergraduates access to an investment fund course in which students manage real money, similar to courses taken by MBA students at the Atkinson school.
At PNCA in Portland, the 2D Animation minor covers traditional and digital animation techniques, building storytelling, drawing and motion design skills. It can pair with illustration, graphic design, painting, filmmaking and comics programs.
Willamette has not published enrollment figures, tuition details or application deadlines for the new programs.
