University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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William Lawson Machmer APPY is that man who has a natural mathematical bent, for his college life is peace. Unfortunately mathematical minds are rare. To most of us, the way of the theory of exponents is a Valley of Dry Bones. Great is that teacher who can bestow the breath of life upon the dry bones of mathematical formulae and make them living table companions. To get by in mathematics is a worthy achievement, to make algebra lovable is the work of a master teacher. William Lawson Machmer, son of a Pennsylvania farmer, was born thirty years ago at Moselem, Berks County, Pennsylvania. (In some respects a dedication greatly resembles an obituary notice.) He began life early and grew up in the midst of a house full of brothers and sisters — the usual fortunate fate of children in the farm households of the Keystone State. At fifteen he was graduated from the public schools, and three years later from the Keystone State Normal School. Whether he fell in love with mathe- matics at this time is not recorded ; otherwise he made a good record — was chosen class president, president of the Keystone literary society and things of that sort. He was now a full-fledged teacher and for two years labored joyously in the ungraded schools of Perry township. Meantime he developed aspirations and in 1903 re-entered the Normal school at Kutztown and began preparations for college. In 1904 he entered Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and three years later was graduated, easily first in scholarship in a class of forty-five; incidentally he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. To most of us this isn ' t a bad record, even for a bookworm. But Machmer, 1907, was interested in almost every phase of college life — President of the college Y. M. C. A., Secretary of the Intercollegiate Oratorical Union, First Assistant College Librarian and numerous other college activities. On the completion of his college course, he was elected head of the depart- ment of physics and mathematics in Franklin and Marshall Academy, a position which he held until 1911, when he was called to Massachusetts Agricultural College as instructor in mathematics. While at the academy he earned his Master ' s degree in mathematics and sociology, and more recently he has begun some advanced graduate work in Columbia University. An upstanding Christian gentleman, a clear thinker, and a scholar of no mean ability, Mr. Machmer is known and admired for his wholesome optimism, his sympathetic friendship, and his unquestioned ability as a teacher. His four years in the academy gave him a fine understanding of the difficulties con- fronting the average lower classman; his intelligent sympathy, absolute fairness, and genuine interest in the men individually have won for him an enviable hold upon their confidence and respect. Mr. Machmer is a man both faculty and students want to keep. He fills well his place in town, church and college. More than that he is loyal and ambitious for the department with which he is connected; his new course in applied mathematics is a distinct innovation. He is thoroughly alert to the needs of his men, and those who know him predict other constructive work to follow. . We are proud to know you, Mr. Machmer. ALEXANDER E. CANCE.