Stevens Institute of Technology - Link Yearbook (Hoboken, NJ)

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H ia Eixi t ltlllllli illlillllltill and to control inter-relations of the various student activities. The Council has done wonder- ful work at Stevens, both administrative and social, and has displayed keen judgment in successful efforts toward bringing the students and faculty into closer relationship. ln October, 1926, after twenty-five years of meritorious service at Stevens, Dr. Humphreys tendered his resignation to the Trustees, to take effect in January, 1927. His resignation was made imperative by severe illness to which he finally succumbed on August 14, 1927. The Institute and students mourned the loss of Dr. Humphreys, who had done so much to strengthen the student body, and make Stevens a bigger and better Institute of learning. Thus, it required a whole year on the part of the Trustees of Stevens Institute to select a man worthy of Dr. Humphreys, a man who would be willing to sacrifice his outside interests to become the third President. The interim between the second and third Presidents was very ably filled by Dr. Frank L. Sevenoak, a member of the faculty, who graciously served a year as the Institute's temporary head. During the latter part of the College year of 1927-1928, the Trustees announced their selection, and a testimonial dinner was given Dr. Harvey Nathaniel Davis, who had consented to become the third President of Stevens Institute. Thus did Dr. Davis, an eminent scientist and authority on steam, consent to leave his professorship of mechanical engineering at Harvard to take up the reins left by Dr. Sevenoak, and add to the undying fame of Stevens. 19

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, -L. If wider requirements ofthe profession, particularly in the electrical field, the Institute's course remains essentially the same as outlined by him. The original endowment proving inadequate, Dr. Morton gave freely of his own limited means, and secured the foundation, by Andrew Carnegie, of the laboratory which bears the name of that great industrialist. President Morton died in 1902 and Dr. Alexander C. Humphreys was elected to fill the vacancy. Dr. Humphreys, having graduated from the Institute in 1881, had by this time become a leader among engineers, and a recognized authority on water gas. In addition, he was also active in general consulting work. His exhaustive study of accountancy and dc- preciation led to a great demand for his services as expert witness, notably in the famous liighty Cent Cas Case, in which his voluminous testimony proved conclusive. This practical knowledge led him to organize at the Institute a course in the economics of engineering. During his twenty-five years as President, many improvements in the curriculum and buildings were achieved. The Morton Memorial Laboratory of Chemistry, one of the finest in the country, was built shortly after President Humphreys' inauguration. In 1916, Dr. Humphreys interested Mr. William Hall Walker in a gymnasium for Stevens, and soon after, the William Hall Walker Gymnasium was built. flt has served the College extensively in an effort to provide athletic training for every student. During the war, the Government established a School of Steam Engineering for the Navy and to this end built the present Library and Navy Buildings. These were purchased by the College at the close of the war. The Library Building provides ample space on the top fioor for the offices of all the publications. The Navy Building is used as a museum and electrical engineering laboratory. The Honor System, a fixture at most of the leading colleges, has long been successful at Stevens. It was adopted for all classes in 1907, and the placing of every student on his honor proved successful-a tradition of which every student is proud. In order to establish a better understanding between the student body and the faculty, the Student Council was established in 1913 to represent the student body in all matters, V ... ' ' T ' d 1'f' ,.n.-. ,, 18

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ww? I 1 XIII IIPQQ in 2 . 4 il ja nz- 2!zT z14,1ZL A --------gr ----- ----- I 1 Q ' - I . . ...-.--.--... -........- ..... amniiiiiinnmmiuiiun 1 all flllllllllll. llllllllilj ling Illlll!IIII!lllllltlllllllllllllllli . . . . .. . . . 4 .,.. . ,' i! 1!!E!!!iIii !ii mliliilillliilaiiiiwnlu f ill ' Qi: l161I0lHi5llt93949 . gggingggggugguy:IEEiiiiiihygmgiihilllilllllij.Q Dr. Harvey Nathaniel Davis IQIQARVEY NATHANIEL DAVIS was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 6, 1881. He is - descended from an old colonial family, being the son of Nathaniel French Davis and Lydia Martin CBellowsD Davis. His boyhood days were spent in Providence where he first went to school and where he lived and studied until his graduation from the Providence High School. He entered Brown University, where his father was head of the department of mathematics, and received his A.B. degree in 1901. In 1902, he received his Master's degree, and with A.B. and A.M. behind him he started to conquer new fields at Harvard University, winning his Ph.D. in 1906. In the meanwhile, Dr. Davis had already begun his teaching career. From 1901 to 1904, he was an instructor at Brown University and in 1904 he became an instructor at Harvard. From 1910 to 1919, he was an assistant professor, and, at the end of this period, he assumed the chair of mechanical engineering of Harvard University. Dr. Davis has had a very interesting and varied professional career. In 1917, he was associated with the General Electric Company as engineer in the turbine department at Lynn, Mass. In 1918, he became aeronautical mechanical engineer in the United States Air Service. In 1920, he joined the Franklin Railway Supplies Company, and in 1921 re-entered Government service in the Bureau of Mines. He was consulting engineer for the Air Reduc- tion Company in 1922. He is the author of several technical papers dealing with thermo- dynamics and high temperature steam in particular. He is co-author of two widely known books, namely, Practical Physics by Black and Davis, and Steam Tables and Diagrams by Marks and Davis. Both of these books are recognized as standards, the one, as a High School text-book, the other, as a world-wide authority on steam. Dr. Davis has taken out several patents on the liquefaction and rectification of air, and one on steam turbines. 20