Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Technique Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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CAETANO LANZA , Q'iii-g,gfgfQ',gLifg'1LAETANO LANZA was born in Boston, 1VIassachusetts, on September 26, 1848. His parents were Cavaliere l I I l gg T 1 Gaetano Lanza, of Palermo, Sicily, and Mary Ann flu-+9 5215! CPaddockj Lanza, of Pomfret, Vermont. I PA Mx A --1554 sa, .,. , 1 Q 'L iffrgj-:gift 15 1. 5 The son resided in Boston with his parents for eleven lr years, and in 1859 the family removed to Charlottes- ,, g az . . . . ville, Virginia, where the young man was sent to school. At the age of seventeen he entered the University of Virginia, and while there he particularly distinguished himself in mathematics, receiving the Courtenay Medal for his proficiency in this subject. During his last year he was appointed Assistant Instructor of lllathematics. He was graduated in June, 1870, with the degree of Bachelor of Science and of Civil and Mechanical Engineer. He continued to teach at the University during the year following graduation, and in the fall of 1871 he returned to Boston to assume his new duties as Instructor of Mathematics at Technology. The next year he was promoted to Assistant Professor, and then lie rapidly rose until in 1883 he was made Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, in charge of the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, the position which he now holds. In 1891 he was married to Miss Jennie Dice hiiller, of Charlottes- ville, Virginia. Besides teaching, Professor Lanza has made many investigations upon engineering subjects, especially in the line of strength of materials, and his publications alone amount to nearly a hundred in number, thus showing a constant contribution to science covering a period of thirty-five years. Among his researches may be mentioned those upon the strength of timber of such sizes as are used in construction, the results of which have been published from time to time, mostly in papers presented to scientific and engineering societies, as well as in his book on Applied Mechanics, and are now adopted as standards by many engineers in their work and by cities in their building laws. Some of his other important investigations have been on the bal- ancing of high-speed machinery, upon reinforced concrete, upon the strength of tile arches and of full-sized locomotive connecting-rods. Professor Lanza has always been deeply interested in educational E91 4 f-sf f V. 7212: W4-...t--,f..,

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E K 93 TECHNIQUE BOARD E3 gg Y, 7, ., W, M E HAROLD ERIC KEBBON, Editor-in-Chief S DAVID FRY BENBOW, Business Dlanager M HAROLD GREENLEAF, Assistarzt Business Bfanager Q DONALD EARLE RENT, Treasurer E GURDON IRVING EDGERTON, Art Editor E RANDALL CREMER, Faculty Editor Q BRADLEY TRAVIS ROSS, History Editor S ARCHIBALD MCCLELLAND EICHER, Athletic Editor E FREDERICK WILLIAM BARKER, JR., Society Editor Q PHILIP XVHITE DALRYMPLE, Statistician Q KENNETH CARTWRIGHT, Statistician M DWIGHT MEAD IVYMAN, Grind Editor E VINCENT LEO GALLAGHER, Assistant Business Blanager E JAMES ALEXANDER TILLINGHAST, Assistant Business Bla zicz ger E CHARLES LESTER GABRIEL, Assistant Business Alanager Q CARL AUGUSTUS FUNK, Assistant Art Editor E SYDNEY LOGAN DAY, Assistant Art Editor 5 Q 'Si EKUHHHHUUHUUHHHHUUUHUUHHUHHHUUHU H xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xi xx xi xi xi xi ZKQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQNQ

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10 TECHNIQUE Vol. XXVI problems, his most extensive work along these lines being a serial article which appeared in the various numbers of the Journal of the F ranklin I?ZSf'tZfU?f8 from lVIay, 1891, to June, 1895, which comprised a course of six lectures prepared for delivery before the Lowell Insti- tute in Boston in 1898. He also delivered a course of six lectures before this same body in 1894 on the Strength of hlaterials. He has also acted frequently as consulting engineer and expert, and has been a member of a number of uries of award, as in the case of the Electrical Exposition held in Philadelphia in 1889, of several exhibitions of the lllassachusetts Charitable lllechanics Association of Boston, and of the Jamestown Exposition in 1907. He has served on numerous committees of various engineering societies, such as the American Society for Testing hIaterials, the Joint Committee on Reinforced Concrete, and the American Society of lXIechanical Engineers. He was a member of the first board of trustees of the John Fitz lVIedal Corporation. In 1903, at the request of the Chief of the Forestry Division of the United States Department of Agriculture, he prepared a plan for timber testing, which was published in a circular issued by them at the time, the greater part of his recommendations having been fol- lowed in their program of tests. In 1907 he invented and patented a continuous steam-engine indicator. Professor Lanza is a member of twenty-four societies, the greater part of them being devoted to science and engineering. He was for one year vice-president of the Appalachian lNIountain Club and for many years vice-president of the lNIathematical and Physical Club, of which he is now and has been for three years the president. He has recently been elected a member of the honorary society of Phi Beta Kappa. Recognition of Professor Lanza,s great worth has been world- wide in its scope, and probably the greatest honor which he has re- ceived and the tribute which is most deeply appreciated by him is the conferment of knighthood upon him by the king of his fatheris land. In 1907 he was decorated by his hlajesty Victor Emmanuel III. as Cavaliere dell, Ordine dei Sante hlaurizio e Lazzaro, which is a very ancient order. A great force in education, an untiring contributor to science, a sincere friend to every Institute man, Professor Lanza has the admiration and deep respect of all.