Armour Institute of Technology - Cycle Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

Page 27 text:

DEAN OF STUDENTS Claude Irwin Palmer is best known out- side of Armour Institute of Technology as an author of textbooks on mathematics. A statement from the McGraw-Hill Book Company says that the copies of his eleven books have reached a grand total of over 500,000 on January 1, 1928. By the alumni and students he is known as Professor Palmer, instructor in mathematics. Dean Palmer was born in Michigan, coming from an old Yankee family. Graduat- ing from the University of Michigan in 1903, he joined the faculty of Armour Institute of Technology in the same year. In 1910 he was appointed Associate Professor of Mathe- matics, and on the retirement of Dr. Campbell and Dean Monin in 1927, he was made Head of the Department of Mathematics and Acting Dean of Students. As Dean of Students he is kept decidedly busy listening to their troubles and complaints, adjusting their many difficulties, and his natural sympathy, sweetness, and sense of justice arc often in evidence. Notwithstanding all his varied duties, he rather enjoys his work. Never ruffied, never in a terrible hurry, always cheerful, always more than willing to cooperate, it is a real joy to be associated with Dean Palmer. DIRE C T 0 II 0 F E V E N I X G C LASSES Robert Yallette Perry, Professor of Machine Design and Director of Even- ing Classes, was born in Hartford, Conn., but has made his home in Chicago since 1890. He graduated from A. I. 1'. in 1897, one of the pioneer students of the insti- tution. After four years of commercial experience with transcontinental railway lines, he re- turned to the Institute to take up the work in which he now ranks as Professor. His early association with the instruction force of the Evening Classes resulted in appointment as Assistant Director in 1917, and the advance- ment to Director of Evening Classes in 1925. Professor Perry is active in all faculty and student interests. He has been President of the Faculty Club twice and has frequently held office or served as committee chairman in the club during the twenty years of its existence. His summer home in the Min- nesota lake region serves as a base for his many and extended hunting, fishing, and canoeing adventures. He is fond of golf and an expert at billiards. A quiet, positive, friendly type of man, who is a real factor in Institute affairs. Robkrt Vallette Perry Ttointy-ont

Page 26 text:

S E C R E T A R Y A X D T R E A S U R E R From time immemorial, the college profess- or has been notorious for his absent-minded- ness and his lack of business acumen. Whether this charge is true, we will not argue, but perhaps it is well that men of broad business training have always been on hand to guide educational institutions through financial and business administrative problems. George Sinclair Allison was born here in Chicago and has been identified with Armour interests in various capacities for twenty five years. A man who believes in figures, for whom they have a fascination, especially that telltale figure at the foot of a column: a man, sympathetic to all your plans, who will listen attentively to your theorizing, but who wants it ultimately trans- lated into the facts of his favorite language. He is the treasurer,—therefore not a servant who has hidden his talents in the ground, but one who through ceaseless effort has put them to severe and profitable use. When asked what he had done throughout his life, he replied, laconically, “Worked!” Aside from his connections at A. T. I., Mr. Allison has been active in the College and University Business Officers Association of Illinois, and at the present time is serving as its president. DEAN OF ENGINEERING John Cornelius Penn, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, and Dean of Engineering, was born in the Netherlands and graduated at A. I. T. with the class of 1905. During the last few years, before the retirement of Dean Monin, much of the work in his office was performed by Professor Penn, who held the title of Assistant to the Dean. Under the present organization of the Dean’s Office, Professor Penn, as Dean of Engineering, gives his special attention to the program of studies and matters concerning the faculty. However, by mutual agreement between the Deans, the duties of their office arc not sharply differentiated, but either is at liberty to give a decision on any question that may arise. Dean Penn’s ability to understand a situa- tion and grasp all the details, his confidence in his own conclusion, and a quick and decisive answer, leave no doubt in the mind of the student or faculty member consulting him John Cornelius Penn and give little chance for argument. Twenty

Page 28 text:

Prof. Georoe F. Gebhardt Prof. George L. Sciierger C 0 M M I T T E E 0 N E D U C A T I 0 X A L P 0 L I C Y All the students look forward to I)r. Scherger's lectures on History and Political Science. A learned scholar and an ardent student of history. Dr. Scherger's eminence as a historian is well-known among educational circles. His most notable contribution to the science is his book, The Evolution of Modern Liberty . To those who have anything to do with the design of Steam Power Plants, Prof. Gebhardt needs no introduction, as his book on that subject, now used all over the world as a standard textbook, is the supreme authority in the field. Prof. Gebhardt, who has been head of the Mechanical Department for many years, 1ms also done much pioneering in the development of steam flow meters. To develop the Department of Fire Protection Engineering without having any precedent to go by, has been the phenomenal task of Prof. Finnegan. An authority on insurance principles ana practices, as well as an active fire pro- tection engineer, he conducts, aside from his duties at the Institute, extensive experimental work in the Underwriters' Laboratories on fire retardant devices and building materials. Though most of us know that Prof. Wilcox is head of the Physics Depart- ment, not all of us realize that he is a leading radio authority, haying just served a term as chairman of the Chicago chapter of the I. R. E. Maintaining a consulting radio engineering practice. Prof. Wilcox is often called upon to conduct extensive research work. His most recent investigation was upon loud si eakers and battery eliminators. Tnanks to the vision and tireless effort of Prof. McCormack, Armour is credited with the installation and successful operation of the first modern laboratory in Chemical Engineering ever to be installed in any educational institution. Prof. McCormack has also established an enviable reputation in his researches on rubber compounds and other plastic materials. Prof. Joseph B. Finnegan Prof. Guy M. Wilcox Prof. Harry McCormack Twenty-two