New York University - Violet Yearbook (New York, NY)

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A History of the College of Engineering HEN the University College moved uptown from its former home at Wfashington Square, the Engineering College followed it. At that time it was headed by Professors Charles H. Snow, Daniel W. Hering, and john J. Stevenson, who had the extremely difiicult task of building up the school with practically no equipment or funds at their disposal. The gift of a large Riehle testing machine in 1896 by Frank Gould was almost revo- lutionary, and the presentation by his sister, Miss Helen Miller Gould, of a two hundred thousand dollar endowment for the College of Engineering in 1898 was invaluable in establishing the College permanently. In the next year, 1899, the Engineering faculty separated completely from that of the Arts College, under the name of the School of Applied Sciences. Three years later the future Dean, Collins Pechin Bliss, was ap- pointed the first professor of Mechanical Engineering. The growth of the College was at first very slow. At the turn of the

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years are eligible for election. Any person of sufiicient distinction and ac- . nn complrshment may be chosen, whether , statesman, soldier, author, scientist, . preacher, actor, educator, inventor, or orator. New York University enters upon its second century of existence and the Heights Colleges upon their fifth dec- EX N t i My i ff'-if , ade. May both continue to render their educational service as defined by their new Chancellor, Harry Woodburn Chase : f- YEL- u- - .c. ,,...-1, ,? I believe that universities must train for leadership, but I do not believe their task is done when they have said this thing. They must also strive to raise the level of enlightenment and un- derstanding of the average rnan and woman. The campus is no longer a cloisterg nor is the university any more a retreat from the world. It is in the world and of the world. It must constantly rededicate itself to the high purposes for which it stands. So far asthe teaching functions of universities are concerned, they must do whatever is wise to bring about fuller understanding and larger ,kim ,IL :Q it ii R 1'- 1 mi 1 f lll uu A ' 4- I4 -za- i ni il il '.A TQ- ll 2 wisdom as regards the complex civiliza- tion of yesterday and tomorrow. They must draw upon the past for its illumi- nation, but they must do this as a means to the understanding of life today. CZ?

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century its student body still numbered less ,fx -M than one hundred, though by 1910 that ff number had more than doubled. Lf' B -'T ,,,, It was in 1903 that Frederick W. -Q4 Devoe donated a sum of money for the E Ea Q erection of the Green Laboratory, named I Emma after Andrew H. Green, a New York ' 'f-A-'gt' ffl philanthropist. At the time, this addition E m was indeed welcome to the Engineering Col- I ,Mk lege, and although with the passing of the hi iEi- ' V Z years it has suffered the natural ravages of , time, it is still a cherished landmark to i Heights students. 1 , In 1914, the three traditional curricula of studies-Civil, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering-were augmented by the addition of a fourth, Industrial Engineering. The first degree in B.S. in Industrial Engineering was granted in 1920. . The World War made an unforgettable impression on the Engineering College. Dean Snow was made Civilian Director of the National Arrny Training Detachment and of Section B of the Student Army Training Corps, and the faculty members were drafted to instruct fledglings in the principles of engineering. Of the Corps commonly known as the Fighting Mechanics, no less than sixteen hundred were I - fkdinwiiu trained at the Heights. The confusion H I 5 ' caused may well be imagined, especially l 4 'N amon the facul members who had W N Sh g W U 9 been engaged mainly in theoretical y 1 rather than practical problems. Men E H who had spent a lifetime in develop- ing one theory were now asked to turn S out first-rate mechanics in a few weeks Il U of intensive instruction. l , - si- I' 3 After the War, in 1919, the build- ,Zim in of the Sa e Laborator was made mWmll,Z g g Y possible by a bequest from Mrs. Russell ee Sage, the wife of the famous financier.