University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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professor George Bauson, ft George Davidson was born May 9th, 1825, in Nottingham, England, of Scot- tish parents, who, soon after his birth, came to this country and made their home in Philadelphia. There he received his earlier education in the grammar schools, and graduated from the Central High School in 1845. In the same year he entered the United States Coast Survey, and served in field and office work on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts until 1850, when he was directed to inaugurate the work of the Survey on the Pacific Coast. Except dur- ing the Civil War, he was engaged on this Coast from Panama to Alaska; and for twenty-seven years he was in charge of all the geodetic, astronomical, magnetic, and tidal work, and of the Sub-Office at San Francisco. In 1873 he was pro- moted to the head of the field assistants, for his administrative and executive ability; and the later results of his work on the main triangulation of the Pacific Coast were pronounced by the Superintendent unique in the history of geodesy. His connection with the Coast and Geodetic Survey was terminated after a con- tinuous service of fifty years and one month. During his official career he was given a place upon many special commissions, among them the following: Member of the Assay Commission, Phila- delphia Mint, 1871 and 1875; Examiner of the Assay, Coin, and Bullion Balances and Beams, and Coin Weights, San Francisco Mint, 1872 and 1876; Member of the Board of United States Irrigation Commissioners for the Great Valley of Califor- nia, 1873-5; Tour of Inspection of the Irrigation Works of Egypt and India, 1874-5; Member of the Advisory Board to the California State Harbor Commis- sioners, 1873-6; Member of the Mississippi River Commission, 1888-90; In charge of the Transit of Venus Expeditions, Japan, 1874, and New Mexico, 1882; Delegate to the Ninth Convention of the Association Geodesique Internationale, Paris, 1889; Bearer of the International Prototypes of the Standard Metre and Kilogram from France; and President du Jury International des Recompenses de la Classe 54, Paris Exposition, 1878. Professor Davidson ' s itinerary from 1845 to 1901 was 403,188 miles. The Government has published many of his reports upon special investigations and operations, and his total published works number one hundred and fifty-one, cov- ering in general, geodesy, astronomy, instruments of precision, engineering, geography, and navigation. He is a member of more than twenty scientific and learned societies, has served as President of the Geographical Society of the Pacific from 1881 to date, and was the first American member of the Bureau of Longitudes of France. The Institute de France, Academie des Sciences, has just appointed him Correspondent pour la Section de Geographic et Navigation, in recognition of his important scientific work. He holds the degrees of M. A. and Ph. D., to which the University of Pennsylvania in 1889 added that of Sc. D. His connection with the University of California dates from 1870, when he was made Honorary Professor of Geodesy and Astronomy. He served as an appointed Regent of the University from 1877 to 1884. In 1898 he accepted the chair of Geography in the College of Commerce, which position he still holds. The students of the University of California recognize Professor Davidson ' s ability as a scientist, and his scholarly merit of the honors he has received. To him as a scientist, therefore, but yet more than this, to him as a friend, this record of student life is dedicated. By this means we wish to express to him, as best we may, our appreciation of his long and faithful service to the Univer- sity, his interest in the welfare of its students, his generous sympathy with their needs, and the uniformly just and manly treatment which he has at all times accorded them.

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Cfje Regents of tije cto Urgent . His EXCELLENCY HENRY T. GAGE, Governor, ex-officio President of the Regents. His HONOR JACOB H. NEFF, Lieutenant Governor. HON. C. W. PENDLETON, Speaker of the Assembly. HON. T. J. KIRK, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. HON. A. B. SPRECKELS, President of the State Agricultural Society. SAMUEL C. IRVING, ESQ., President of the Mechanics ' Institute. BENJAMIN IDE WHEELER, PH. D., LL. D., President of the University. Hcgnue. HON. WILLIAM T. WALLACE ISAIAS WILLIAM HELLMAN, ESQ. ARTHUR RODGERS, B. S., PH. D. JAMES FRANKLIN HOUGHTON, C. E. CHESTER ROWELL, M. D. HON. JAMES A. WAYMIRE A. W. FOSTER, ESQ. HON. CHARLES WILLIAM SLACK JACOB BERT REINSTEIN, M. A. JOHN ELIOT BUDD, A. B. MRS. PHOEBE A. HEARST HON. W. H. L. BARNES GEORGE C. PARDEE, M. A., M. D. 20