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

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I aircraft, Dr. Stratton directed the administrative activities of the organization and took the leading part in the establishment of the committee's research laboratory, known as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley Field, Virginia. Here he exerted great influence in the preparation of the govern' ment's programs of scientific research in the Held of aircraft engine development. While serving as,Director of the Bureau of Standards, he placed the facilities of the Bureau at the dis' posal of the committee and made it possible for them to comf plete some important investigations of benefit to aeronautics at these great laboratories. ' A He was one of the very few Americans who before the war had the vision, courage and ability to labor effectively and conf structively to place the new science of aeronautics on the path of progress in the United States. The National Screw Thread Commission owes its existence to Dr. Stratton, who helped draft the bill for Congress and served as its first chairman. It was in connection with the procurement of legislation by Congress for the creation of this commission that the Hon. john Q. Tilson, member of Congress, wrote the following concerning the great faith which Congress had in Dr. Stratton: In order to accomplish what Dr. Stratton set out to accomplish, it was necessary for him to secure numerous acts of Congress as well as liberal and continued appropriations. He could do this only by gaining and holding the confidence of Congress, and this he did to a remarkable degree. Individual members of Congress believed in him and, therefore, were willing to favor legislations proposed by him. In recognition of the notable services which Dr. Stratton had contributed in the field of scientific research and in helping the United States and her allies to win the World XVar, institutions of learning, both at home and abroad, as well as foreign governments conferred high honors upon him. The Government of France made him an officer of the Legion of Honor. He also received the Elliott Cressen medal of the Franklin Institute and the Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. He was an honorary member of the Society of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Fi, and Phi Beta Kappa, as well as many other professional and scientific societies. In 1923, Dr. Stratton was called from the directorship of the National Bureau of Standards to the presidency of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A resolution presented to him at that time characterized this as both a recognition of and a fitting tribute to one who has rendered invaluable service to commerce and industry in America and has served his country well in her hour of need, and his acceptance of the proffered presidency w i means much for the continued future usefulness of that famous institution of learning, for he brings to it a ripe experif ence and an exceptional ability to direct its manifold activities. i Under the able leadership of Dr. Stratton the Institute prospered and exf panded. New laboratories were built and an infirmary added. Two new dormitory groups were added, trebling the former capacity of these living quarters. A great student loan fund was started, one of the IN THE LABORATORY THB NATIONAL ADVISORY' Coxmlrrsn Pon AERON.-XUTICS 14

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Bureau, undertook the founding of similar instif tutions. Endowed research and industrial stand' ardization have grown apace with the Bureau. Within its walls hundreds have been trained. From its staff, industry recruits experts, and they carry on with the spirit of creative research which its founder so cherished. An Electrical Congress, in connection with an International Exhibition, took place at St. Louis in 1904 and proved to be Dr. Stratton's introduction to that international work which for the rest of his life occupied much of his time. In 1905 he became a member of the International Committee of Weights and Measures. This com' mittee dealt solely with standards of length and mass and the standardization of a limited range of temperature. Dr. Stratton believed that the enlargement of the functions of the committee offered the best solution of the problem of establish' ing an International Electrical Commission. Under his leadership the Bureau of Standards was thus placed at the disposal of the entire scientific world. International standardization did not by any means include the whole of Dr. Stratton's work. With the late Dr. Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, he advised Congress concerning the necessity of organized scientific research on the fundamental problems of flight. As a result, Congress passed the legislation establishing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics on March 3, 1915. Dr. Stratton was one of the original members of the committee. Being appointed by President Wilson as a representative of the Bureau of Standards, he was elected a member of the Executive Committee and later secretary. I-Ie was a moving spirit in the early organization and original activities of the committee. As secretary of the committee and chairman of the important subfcommittee on power plants for THE DIRECTOR AT His ANNUAL LAWN PARTY l THE DIRECTOR OP THB BUREAU or STANDARDS 13

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. . - P many evidences of his profound interest in the welfare of the student. Through seven years the great hand and mind of President Stratton guided the destinies of the Institute. In March, 1930, he resigned as President to become Chairf man of the Corporation, which office he held until his death. The influence which Dr. Stratton's remarkable life brought to bear upon the Institute which he so faithfully and loyally served may not be evaluated in mere words. In leaving us, his spirit may rest assured that we shall keep burning steadily and pass on undimmed the torch of inspired effort. That torch PITCHING THB FIRST BALL gives energy and enlightenment -. two PRESIDENT STRATTON AWARDING DEGREES essentials of life and industry. Samuel Wesley Stratton, the man, was even greater than Dr. Stratton, the scientist and executive. The words of Dr. Samuel Cate Prescott, a friend and colleague of Dr. Stratton, admirably express the character and virtue of this great man: Those who knew him well early discovered that in him were the depths of feeling which were not plumbed by the casual acquaintance-a broad and vital human sympathy, a keen but kindly humor, and a deep dislike of sham and ostentation. There was an innate shyness in his nature which was sometimes falsely interpreted as indifference by those who did not look beneath the thin veneer of natural reserve. Once this slight barrier was broken through, the warm, gracious, generous nature of the man became apparent. No one could have close association with him without finding that besides being a prodigious worker, he had a responsive heart, a high sense of honor and character, a mind that could vigorously disagree without rancor, and a spirit deeply imbued with loyalty to the cause he espoused. It was these qualities of heart and brain - the very humaneness of the man -that made him so idolized by those, old or young, who had the privilege of working side by side with him and sharing in his industry, his hopes and achievements, and his projects for greater things. Few of us, if any, can ever know fully how greatly he loved young men, nor how many of them, whether among our students or elsewhere, he aided by his fatherly counsel and by his efforts, often in hidden yet effective ways, for their welfare and happiness. In these ministrations as in other matters, his extreme modesty and dislike of anything savoring of personal publicity prevented any widespreadknowledge of his many generous actions. I Now'.he isgone from us, whether in far realms of space his great steadfast spirit finds new spheres of useful service, or whether here in this Institute his 'unseen presence urges us today to carryon the great work he loved and in which ,we were all proud to share, we cannot know. This we know, that while life shall last and human affection and honor for noble and manly character shall survive in us, we shall hold him in deep andlloving remembrance as a great servant of his people, a great leader and a great friend. What more htting epitaph could be his than the last complete sentence to fall from his lips as he spoke of another, 'His life and his accomplishments have been, and will be for many generations to come, the inspiration of youthf CHAIRMAN STRATTON ' 15