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

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Jforetoorti OST MEN cherish memories of the happy and glorious past. Old friends, old scenes, old contests all become more dear as the years roll on. The days that are gone are en- chanted. Nothing holds as impor- tant a place in the memories of a college man as those days when he was a student at his Alma Mater. It is hoped that this book will serve to recall to its possessors the years they spent at Massachusetts, the former classmates, the campus life, nd all that th at life meant to them. The ties that bind us to our col- lege should be everlasting. THE EDITORS.

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3 ap €. orrep WHEN in 1919 ive learned that our former student at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Dr. Ray E. Torrey, graduate of the class of 1912, was to return to his Alma Mater to assume the duties of instructor in Botany, leaving his position in Wesleyan University, much interest was felt by those who remembered the tall lanky student of former years, whose thorough scholarly work as an undergraduate had impressed itself upon all. We recalled a shy, modest and unassuming student of brilliant ability, and we were interested to see the development which maturer years of study and experience in life must have yielded a receptive mind, full of latent possibilities. The return of the native revealed the old modest and unassuming manner, but the man in- stead of the boy. of mental alertness, of strong convictions, the man who had found himself. Years of study at Harvard, of travel at home and abroad, of experience in the class-room had placed the unobtrusive student upon the higher plane of recognition of individual duty and responsibility, and had given the unassuming character the force and energy of self-assertiveness. Acquainted with his record as an undergraduate, knowing the favor his graduate work had re- ceived from the most eminent specialists, and the successful teaching career already launched forth upon, we augured only successful and fruitful years of labor in work resumed at M. A. C. The realization of optimistic forecasting: the recognition of the intrinsic value of steady adherence to the highest ideals of teaching, as the leader of the student to broader fields of intellectual attain- ment, of insight into life and its various individual problems; the giving unstintedly of self to awake and promote better scholastic attainments; the recognition of the spirit of ambition for the student; the desire to cooperate, to lead, to point the way to broader mental perception — all these dominant forces of the best in pedagogy we promised would be felt and appreciated. Our augury was good. In dedicating the present year-book to Doctor Torrey the students pay him their highest tribute. Ray E. Torrey was born December 15, 1887 at North Leverett. His early education was re- ceived at the schools of Leverett, Montague, and Deerfield. In 1907 he was graduated from the Montague High School under Principal A. C. Monahan, a graduate of M. A. C. It was at the Montague High School that an interest in Natural History began to develop, also here was fostered a talent for drawing which later proved to be an economic asset. Leaving the High School, Mr. Torrey entered the First National Bank at Greenfield, supposing he was through with formal edu- cation. But he soon realized the monotonous routine work was in no wise sufficient to engage a mind eager for knowledge. He read widely and wanted to know more. At Principal Monahan ' s instigation he was led to enter M. A. C. in the fall of 1908, believing at first that he had an inclination for floriculture which he had practiced as an amateur. Lnder the stimulating influence of a few men in Science here he became interested in Biology and Geology, and particularly in the philosophy of Evolution, which led logically to studies In philosophy. Not being hampered by formal instruction in the latter, he was able to extend his reading outside the beaten track and dipped rather extensively in Eastern philosophy. Entirely on his own resources he lived on the raw edge of nothing for four years-then, as at all other phases of his career, daunted by no physical difficulties or hindrances. In his senior year he was Laboratory Assistant in Bot- any; he also received the Hill ' s Prize for the best herbarium collection. Immediately answering a call to assume the position of Head of the Department of Botany in Grove City College, Grove City, Pa., he taught there Botany, Zoology and Geology until 1915. The summer of 1914 was spent in Germany, Italy and England; but the European tour was rudely interrupted by the war, and he was caught in the general American exodus. In the fall of 1915, Mr. Torrey entered Harvard for graduate work, majoring under Professor E. C. Jeffrey in Vascular Morphology. Here he assisted in instructing Harvard classes. His talent for drawing was splendidly utilized in the many illustrations which he made for Professor Jeffrey ' s Anatomy of Woody Plants. He also collaborated with Professor Jeffrey in several