Rose Hulman Institute of Technology - Modulus Yearbook (Terre Haute, IN)

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The Three Presidents. ae DR. THOMPSON. CHARLES OLIVER Tompson, A. M., Pu. D., entered formally into the office of President of the Rose Polytechnic Institute on March 7th, 1883. He was at that time 47 years old. He died on the 17th of March, 1885, having thus been con- nected with the Institute but little over two years. A period short indeed, yet long enough at that time in the life of the school to leave a permanent impress of his character upon it. This he did by laying out the general plan of instruction, selecting the first faculty, and fixing and inaugurating in general, the system of management which has not been greatly departed from since. Dr. Thompson was, above all things else, a teacher. Whatever his achievements as a scientist may have been, and they were not inconsiderable, they were yet overshadowed by ability in this respect. He had much of the Emersonian practical philosophy about him, that made him most at home when talking to a body of young men on their own future, planning for them their studies and courses, and giving them hints on the formation of character and the best means for achieving success. For teaching, the breadth of his character and training, his many-sidedness were elements of success. Dr, Thompson was indeed a broad-gauge man, made so by the nature of his training, by his occupations and natural tendencies. His education was scientific and technical, but yet laid upon a broad foundation of classics and history. He had been a teacher of Greek and Latin, and a civil engineer. He was well acquainted with the art of literary criticism, yet he spent much of his energies as a commercial chemist in the laboratory. This kind of training and this variety of occupation is good for the teacher, but not calculated to develop the trained specialist in advanced science. It is calculated to develop the trained specialist in advanced pedagogy.