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

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All f 6,4 at MJ 'T ,..,..,97, warg g f if: ,.f, . ffl John G. Tfllxal Chairman Front row, left to rzgbt Professors ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING - . Standing left to - V N te, Bawer, Matte, Wollcrs, Terry , Sealtidlfjfieizoggbfjaggpliessogizanign 3-sung, Panda, Ur, Hostetter, Smith, Kaplan, Chao rag ' Hunt Joyce, Blesser, Axdala, Lawrence Canavaciol Wh l , , IPP 9 Center row, left to right Professors Truxal An el D , g o, orato, Lynch, Schwartz, Whang Bell Back row, left to ngbt Professors Schxllinger, Strauss, Clarke MacLean, Macovskx, Arapakis There will be given herein a brief history of the important changes and developments occurring within the Electrical- Engineering Department during the years 1930-1958. The as developments in overall . staff, size of student body, and space facilities, with emphasis on the essential c curred. It is to be observed period begins just before Dr. pects covered will refer to operations, in curriculum, hanges which have oc- at the outset that this Harry Rogers became s about the time of his 7. It also includes the came as Visiting Profes- President in 1934, and conclude untimely death in June 195 time since Dr. Ernst Weber sor in 1931 throu h hi , g s progressive advancement to Head of the Electrical En ' ' gineering Department, and President of PIB. Perhaps the important chan 8 U' ate curricula relate to the gradual shift in emphasis from applied science and engineering to more basic ges in the under rad science and engineering. Also, there has developed 21 greater emphasis on and closer relation with mathe- matics and the physical sciences. In 1959, there were courses in forging, foundry, pattern maklng and ma' chine shop. These have all been rep1aCCd by more technical and scientific courses. , In the middle 193O's, several revisions occurred 131 which the older courses in telegr21PhY, telephony an radio were rePlaced by new basic courses in electron- ics and circuits. In 1946, a major revision took placj in which time devoted to electronics, circuits, 211 fields was increased. , . In 1956, there occurred another mfilof ffivlslgni again emphasizing basic science and engineeringii In cluding courses in transistors and magnetic alUP11 ers' The amount of time given to electrical machmerl' was also considerably reduced. LH.. ....,..:,,.,!wsttMt:fzff.,,a.....,.,,.,l.,a...,.MM . Y

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, X 'wi CHEMISTRY Seated, left to right. Professors: Gregor, Becker, Overberger, Spoerri, Collins, Eirich. Standing, left to right. Professors: Oster, Loebl, Cohen, Pokras, Markus, Banks, Bauman, Steigman, Morawetz, Riley, Korst, Ullman, Sobel, Goodman, Frankuchen. In 1885, the scientific course at the Polytech- nic Institute of Brooklyn was subdivided at the end of the sophomore year into two categories -Engineering and Applied Chemistry. The first year in which the degree of Bachelor of Science was awarded to a chemist-was 1890, while the degree of Bachelor of Chemical En- gineering was not given until 1909. The Hrst degree of Master of Science was granted in 1902, to a chemist. There are now only a few members of the faculty who remember the last head of the com- bined department, Professor john C. Olsen. The small department as it stood through the '192O's may be described as oriented toward teaching rather than research. Events occurred between 1932 and 1935, to break this pattern and to replace it with a larger and more dynamic one. One of these was the appointment of Dr. Harry S. Rogers as Presi- dent of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. His energy and enthusiasm and his ability to choose men of stature to help him, resulted in an improvement in- the schoo1's academic con- dition. A second event was the establishment of the separate Departments of Chemistry and Chemi- cal Engineering. This division recognized the growth of both disciplines but especially that of Chemical Engineering which had occurred later than that of Chemistry. To head these new departments, strong men were appointed: Dr. Raymond E. Kirk for Chemistry and Dr. Don- ald F. Othmer for Chemical Engineering. With the support, especially of Kirk, Othmer, and Weber, Dr. Rogers moved, in the 3O's, to strengthen the Graduate Program by the es- tablishment of the Graduate Faculty and by the encouragement of Doctoral Programs. In 1955, Dr. Kirk turned over to Dr. Charles G. Gverberger the chairmanship of the Chem- istry Department while retaining the pos-ition of Dean of the Graduate School which he had held since 1944. The last twelve months have been sad ones as our school has suffered the loss of both Dr. Rogers and Dean Kirk. The twenty-five years since Dr. Rogers and Dr. Kirk came to Poly have been years of tran- sition. Due to their continuous leadership, the chemistry staff is now one of the strongest in the country. Charles G. Overberger Chairman 23

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MATHEMATICS ' Ronald M. Foster i Chairman Seated, left to right. Professors: Hebbert, Foster, Fialkow. Standing, left to right. Professors: Salkmd, Flatto, Wynne, Schuster, Savage, Haber, Hochstadt, Malumet, Jensen, Bertin, Terzuoli Qhiddenl, Scanlon, Ullman, Strauss, Russell, Morduchow, Whitford, Lowe. The phenomenal growth of the Polytechnic during the administration of Dr. Harry S. Rogers has been acknowledged throughout the engineering and scien- ti-fic world. In step with this has been the growth of the Polytechnids youngest degree granting depart- ment, the Department of Mathematics. In 1943, President Rogers appointed Professor Ronald M. Foster Chairman of the Department of Mathematics, and under his direction the Department has grown to a size and stature which twenty years ago would have been considered phenomenal. A glance at the graduate catalogue will show -that courses in most of the advanced phases of pure and applied mathematics are offered. Professor Foster directs a full-time and part-time staff totaling fifty-seven mem- bers, representing colleges and universities from all over this country and Canada, including eight gradu- ates of the Polytechnic Institute. In 1947, recognizing the increased demand from science and industry for more men trained and quali- fied in the new field of applied mathematics, the Polytechnic introduced a formallprogram in Applied Mathematics leading to the degree of Master of Science. To this program was added the undergradu- ate curriculum leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science. From a humble beginning, the Department of Mathematics has grown from three or four stu- dents to the present total of seventy students regis- tered in applied mathematics. When we recall that all undergraduate engineering, physics, and chemistry majors must take twenty credits of mathematics, and masters and doctoral candidates many more, we see the necessity for the mathematics department to have grown with the Institute as a whole. President Rogers had consistently worked for the proper balance between the educational and research phases of the Institute. In line with this, staff mem- bers of the Department of Mathematics teach, from time to time, in the Electrical Engineering, Aeronau- tical Engineering, Physics and Chemistry Depart- ments. Sponsored research programs in several of these departments have included many important con- tributions from members of the Mathematics Depart- ment. Articles by Polytechnic mathematicians have ap- peared in various technical journals, such as the Bul- letin of the American Mathematical Society, the American Mathematical Monthly, the Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, the journal of Applied Physics, and many more. 25