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

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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

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