Virginia Polytechnic Institute - Bugle Yearbook (Blacksburg, VA)

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BUSINESS? ACHIEVEMENT 13 A The National 1?UF'ec?pvery Administration ff ! lhr, ., ill 1 li i 'ii' f AQ , 3419 ! Maia IN 1932 the United States was in the midst of the most dangerous economic crisis it had ever suffered. The nation's business was paralyzed. Quick action on a vast scale was imperative to bring relief to a people trembling on the verge of chaos. Meeting this need, President Roosevelt rushed into being the National Recovery Administration to encourage co-operation between trade groups, raise standards of labor and give sustenance to unemployed, remove false trade barriers, eliminate unfair competitive practices. In making a success of this immense enterprise the present Administration has realized one of the greatest achievements the nation has ever witnessed in the world of business. Fighting opposition on all sides, the NRA came through to place commerce and industry on the semi-planned basis that is the minimum necessity of the times, and it is for these great efforts that the NRA typifies the finest achievement in the business world of today.

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x DOCTOR JULIAN ASIIBY BURRUSS Pwfsiclefnt of Vi1'givz.ia Polyteclmic Institute julian Ashby Burruss was born in Richmond in 1876. After working a few years with a railroad company, he came to V. P. I. and was graduated with honors in civil engineering in 1898, having been president of the Y. M. C. A., the Richmond Club and the Maury Literary Society, editor of the BUGLE and the Grey facket, and captain of Bat- tery E. He took graduate work in several different universities, and had the Ph.D. conferred upon him by the University of Chicago, magna cum laude. Early in Dr. Burruss' career he was commandant of cadets and instructor in mathematics and science in a school in Georgia. He held a similar position in Arkansas. Then 'he returned to Rich- mond as principal of an elementary school, later becoming director of Manual Arts for the Rich- mond schools and introducing industrial educa- tion into that city. In 1908, upon the founding of what is now Harrisonburg State Teachers College, Dr. Burruss was chosen to be its Hrst president. He started the building of H. S. T. C. to its present position of the largest woman's college in Virginia. Leaving Harrisonburg, Dr. Burruss in 1919 be- came the first alumnus-president of V. P. I. In spite of many attractive offers from other institu- tions, he has remained with his alma mater 16 years of Dr. Burruss' coming the enrollment had to transfer his services elsewhere. Within three years of Dr. Burrus' coming the enrollment had tripled, andl it has continued to rise. During his incumbency the value of the physical plant has increased many times over. Virginia Tech has been recognized as one of the leading technical colleges in the United States, this accomplishment being largely due to the consistent work of its president.