University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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ALBERT AERAHAM MICHELSON Peg! II

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ALBERT ABRAHAM MIPHELSON One of the greatest losses suHered by the University was the retirement of The Great Main1 Albert Abraham Michelson, Professor and Head of the Depart- ment of Physics since the founding of the University. Weakened by severe ille ness during the Autumn quarter of 1930, Professor Michelson asked to be relieved from active duty. The Board of Trustees reluctantly voted the retirement, effective July 1, 1930, and instructed its secretary to transmit to him a com- munication in which it was recorded: nThe Trustees desire to express TO you their deep appreciation for the many years of faithful and brilliant service you have given the University and for the eminence you have brought to the insti- tution through your outstanding accomplishments. You have won the admiration and affection of all those Trustees with whom you have come in contact, and as a result they have more than a. friendly interest in your program. They are all delighted to know that as Professor Emeritus you plan to continue your investigations in two projects when the state of your health permits. The Trustees hope that your customary success will follow your efforts in these enterprises and that theyr will bring you much happiness? Thus the Trustees paid tribute to the man who in his own right had acquired a world-wide reputation and who had made the Department of Physics the out- standing organization of its kind in the United States. Professor Michelson's first scientific achievement was the invention of the hlichelson interferometer, through which by an arrangement of mirrors he showed that the earth,s velocity in space cannot be measured or even detected by a. eomd parison of the velocity of light in two directions at right angles to each otheri This generalization that 110 optical experiment can detect absolute motion, but only relative motion of the source and observer, is one of the fundamental postui lates of the theory of relativity. Using this same interferometer in Paris, he completed the historic task of determining the length of the standard meter in terms of the wave-length of the red spectra line of cadium. Further investigations were undertaken to test the validity of past measurements and of the Einstein theory, a theory which was originally inspired by Michelsonk reports of the Michelson-Morley eHects in 1895. His greatest experiment1 that of measuring the velocity of light which was begun as an ensign in the U. S. Naval Academy won him the Nobel Prize in 1906. But typically unwilling to allow inaccuracy in his work, Professor Michelson plans to remeasure the speed of light with new. improved apparatus. The fine reputation enjoyed by Ryerson and Eckhart laboratory men today may be largely traced to the high standards of workmanship and the flue perfection of technique which Professor Michelson brought to his work and maintained within his department for thirty-eight years. His unusual variety of interests has made him an inepiring instructor, and a pleasant neighbor. Friends know Professor Michelson as a skilled tennis player. an expert at chess, a painter of water colors1 and as a violinist of ability. Fag: 10

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JAMES HAYDEN TUFTS With the retirement of James Hayden Tufts the University lost from active service a person whc during a long period distinguished himself as a philosopher, as '3 teacher, and as an invaluable participant in the life of the University and community. As a teacher, Professor Tufts was known for the careful attention he gave to each individual student and for his continued interest in their activities. He was capable of grading papers minutely, and also of giving regular class lectures that brought applause from his listeners. As a member of the Faculty since 1892 and as Head of the Department of Philosophy since 1905, he was chiefly responsible for the enviable prestige enjoyed by that department throughout its existence. The University as a whole benefited from Professor Tufts abilities as an administrator when, following the death of President Burton, he served as Acting President and carried the institution on during its period Of rapid expansion. It was this same man who assumed the large responsibility of interpreting the University to the new Chicago Theological Seminary when it became afhliated. For years the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary, and for years the Chairman of the Committee on Instruction, it was Professor Tufts who directed the development of the project, and who contributed much real thought to it. The University community and the city have also benehted from Philosopher Tufts keen interest in social aHairs and breadth of knowledge. He combined a contagious enthusiasm With a sound reasoning to his activities in his church, in neighborhood philanthropies, and as impartial Arbitrator fer Hart, SehaeHner, and Marx Co. It was characteristic of him that in his last year of active residence he should head the unemployment relief project. Page 12