Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

Page 25 text:

President Stone. lOC ' TOR WINTHROP ELLSWORTH STONE, to whom this edition of the Debris is dedicated, was elected President of Purdue University on July (3, 1900. He was, however, thoroughly familiar with the history and policy of the institution for many years before that time. His long term of residence at the University had also familiarized him with the history of education in Indiana and had brought him into contact with imiversity problems generally. He is, then, no stranger to the State and not new to educational circles. President Stone is a native of New England — that section which has furnished so many sterling and aggressive men for the development of the more remote parts of our country. The achievements of the sons of New England in various parts of the United States have fully justified tlie statement of William Stoughton made in his election sermon of 1688, when he said, God sifted a whole nation, that he might send choice grain into the wilderness. President Stone was born in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, in 1862, and in 1878 he entered the Massa- chusetts Agricultural College at Amherst and was graduated from that institution with the degree of Bache- lor of Science in 1882. In 1886 a similar degree was conferred upon him by Boston University. After serving his alma mater at Amherst for a short time in tlie capacity of assistant, he went to the University of Gottingen for special work in chemistry. He remained at that institution for two years and then returned to America with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. After a very brief connection with the University of Tennessee he was called to Purdue in 1889 to take charge of the Department of Chemistry. It was in connection with this department that his reputation as a scientist was made. His name soon became a familiar one in the periodicals devoted to chemical research, and his work on the chemistry of sugars gave him an international reputation. It was also in connection with Purdue that he gave evidence of unusual execu- tive ability. He employed business-like methods in the administration of an important and rapidly growing department, and soon was afforded an opportimity to use this same ability in a still larger field. He had been at Purdue but three years when he was made Vice-President of the institution, and from that time to the present has been intimately and influentially connected with the management of the University. During his vice-presidency that office became one of increasing responsi- bility owing to the failing health of the late President Smart. This responsibility, however, he met in such a way as to command the respect and admiration of every one familiar with affairs at Purdue.

Page 24 text:

Purdue is now the largest purely technical school in the West. She was a pioneer in the field of industrial education, and now has an established reputation. The days of her probation are over. She is no longer in the experimental stage. She has still, however, the most important of problems to confront. Her existence does not, perhaps, depend upon the accurate solution of these problems, but their determination will make or mar her future. The problems are no longer critical, but they ai ' e vastly larger than they once were. There was never a time in the history of Purdue when wise guidance was more essential. Other institutions have realized the fact that there is a distinct and pronounced demand for men skilled in applied science. The result is that the great State Universities of the West have established scientific departments, many of which are now important factors in technical education. The competition of the future is destined to be more keen than that of the past. There can, however, be no question as to the future of Purdue so long as she continues to expand along traditional lines. She must, however, do more and better work in the future than she lias done in the past. A healthy institution is dynamic rather tlian static. While Purdue has always enjoyed a large measure of public confidence, there was probably never a time when a more kindly feeling toward her existed in the minds of those interested in technical education. The members of the State Legislature and others in high office, have recently given evidence of their appreciation of her work. The citizens of Indiana and those in other States conversant with her achievements continue to express their confidence in the institution in no uncertain way. There is a very good reason for this. The work of Purdue has been a great stimulus to scientific agriculture ; it has had an important part in developing the efficiency of railroad systems ; it has promoted the study of theoretical and applied electricity ; it has made possible the use of better engineering structures ; it has emphasized the applications of chemical, biological, and sani- tary laws ; it has also provided a training in general studios along literary, linguistic, artistic, and political lines. While the University continues to be aggressive along the lines of her traditional development, there can be no question as to her future. As long as she continues to serve an important and rapidly growing constituency, all good things will be added unto her.

Page 26 text:

President Stone assumed his official duties under very auspicious circumstances. He took up the work of the new year with an enthusiastic faculty and a loyal student body. The results of the year just closed are very gratifying to the friends of Purdue. The educational standard of the institution has been steadily raised, and the increase in attendance has been unprecedented in the history of the University. The friends of Purdtie, in Indiana and elsewhere, were never more aggres- sive in her behalf. The alumni, too, have recently esliibited a loyalty and an enthusiasm which are decidedly reassuring. Taking these things into consideration, the friends of Purdue are warranted In looking for great things from the administra- tion of President Stone. He is a young man in the very prime of life and in the best of health, and gives promise of a long and useful career. It is a significant fact that those college presidents who have done most for their institutions and who have influenced the educational thought of their time most decidedly, have been men who have entered upon their presidential duties at a comparatively early age and who have held office for a long term of years. Yale attained her most remarkable develop- ment under the long presidency of Doctor Dwight. Harvard has developed consistently and unprecedentedly during the long administration of Charles William Eliot. Doctor Daniel C. Gilman has been president of the Johns Hopkins University for a quarter of a century, and in that time has made the institution a centre for graduate study unsurpassed by none in America. The efforts of President Angell during the last thirty years have placed tlie University of Michigan in the van of the great State Universities of the West. These men during their long presidencies have rendered notable services to their respective institu- tions and their influence upon contemporaneous educational thought has been inestimable. The most fruitful college presi- dencies in the history of American institutions have been those of long duration, and the trustees of Purdue have acted wisely in selecting a man for the presidency of this institution, who, among other qualifications, has youth and strength in his favor. President Stone is the type of man most likely to be successful as the executive head of an American college. He has had extensive university training, is imbued with the scientific spirit, has a comprehensive knowledge of imiversity educa- tion, particularly along technical lines, and is, in addition, a man of affairs. The early college president was generally a doctor of divinity. He was often a man of broad culture, and sometimes of scientific mind ; but frequently unskilled in busi- ness matters. There was then a demand for the man of business talent, and educational ability was considered of secondary importance. Many mistakes were made by institutions in the selection of presidents on this basis. It was soon found that the really successful man must possess both executive ability and scholarly attainments. The most efficient college presidents in recent years have been men of this type, and the new President of Purdue must be included in this category. It is with pleasure that the editors of the Debris dedicate this volume to President Stone as a tribute to his sterling worth as a man, and as a recognition of his eminent and loyal services to their alma mater.