Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn - Polywog Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 9 text:

img g The Quart: nf Trustees i in sincere appreriatiun ut a gush tpurk a arrumplisheha tpith the materialigatinn nf the Qreater Rulpterhnir, the Qlllass - l uf 1919 respectfully hehirates this ttpentpzfifth hulume ut the ilhvlzflvvu

Page 8 text:

f sir 'I1'zy77. 'QYUIZ ' 1 0 , nls.0P 6 2 'ff N 9 9 'Yqnhft . s '. .0-10' ex ,r x' Q. E 5 17,171- 1 by 1 I9 4 F gl' '47 5. 4 fi Qui 'P '4' IQ-,L L9 KX ,ga vY 'ff'f amy! fi 45, , I .Q 11'-pf., Chairman of the Board of Trmtcu,

Page 10 text:

, L.---AM- PoLY woe 'is -we as P 1' .,,,,, '4 DR WILLIAM HENRY NICHOLS was born in Brooklyn on January 9, 1852. From 1865 to 1868 he was a student at th Pol technic Institute of Brooklyn, being a classmate of General Goethals. He attended Cornell when that university o Znedy In 1870 Dr Nichols took the degree of B. S. at the New York University, and in 1873 the degree of M. S. ln 19,04 he received the degree of L.L.D. from Lafayette University and the same year D. Sc. from Columbia. In 1904 Dr. Nichols was elected President of the Society of Chemical lndustry of Great Britain, succeeding Sir William Ramsey. At the 1909 meeting, of the Seventh International Congress of Applied Chemistry held in London, he was elected President of the Eighth Congress to be held in New York. This Eighth Congress was the largest interna- tional congress of applied chemistry ever held, the record of its proceedings filling 70,000 printed pages. ln 1912, in recognition of his valuable work in chemical research, discovery, and development, he was decorated by the King of Italy with the Order of Commendatore of the Crown of Italy. Dr. Nichols was an incorporator of the American Chemical Society. He is a member of many scientific and tech- nical societies, among them the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Electro-Chemical So- ciety, Franklin Institute, French Society of Chemical Industry, Canadian Mining Institute, and Yerein Deutscher Chemiker. He is also a corresponding member of Societe D'Encouragement pour L'lndustrie Nationale, Paris. Dr. Nichols is noted as a manufacturing chemist, copper refiner, and smelter. ln 1870 Dr. Nichols started his little shop on Newton Creek with but one helper. He often worked 24 to 36 hours at a stretch. His scientitic methods won over the Rule o' Thumb methods of his competitors. Today, as a result of these methods, 40,000,000 pounds of copper are being refined every month at the Newton Creek plant. Dr. Nichols is chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Chemical Company, and presidentiof the Nichols Copper Company and the Gransby Consolidated Mining, Smelt- ing and Powder Company. He is a member of the Corn Exchange Bank, State Realty and Mortgage Company, Miami Copper Company, Phosphate Mining Company, Read Phosphate Company, Pittsburg Steel Company, Title Guarantee and Trust Company, and other corporations. When the war started, Dr. Nichols placed himself at the disposal of the Government. He served on the Advisory Committee of the Council of National Defence until it was dissolved, when he assumed the Chairmanship of the Advisory Committee on Chemicals for the Bureau of Mines. He presented to the Government one of the most valuable war can' tributions, the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere. Dr. Nichols has been connected with the Polytechnic for many years. Since 1904 he has been Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He has always been a loyal and warm friend of the Institute. 6