Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 15 text:

Lincoln Parker Kinnicutt Professor ' of Chemistry , Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1883-1911 N THE morning of February 6, 1911, the flag on the tower of Boynton Hall hung at half-mast. “ ‘Kin- nie’ is dead! ” It did not seem possible! It does not yet seem possible. For, of all the men who have labored on the Hill, no other has so wrought his personality into Tech life as did “ Kinnie.” How we do miss him! Doctor Kinnicutt was born in Worcester, and with the exception of his student years, his life was spent here. After his graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1875 with the degree of Bachelor of Science, he spent four years in the study of chem¬ istry at the universities of Bonn and Heidelberg, followed by a year at Johns Hopkins. He then became an Instructor in Quantitative Analysis at Harvard University, which conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science. In the fall of 1882 he was made Instructor in Chemistry in the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science, and soon became one of the most indefatigable workers in the development which trans¬ formed a struggling school of uncertain aims into the Worcester Polytech¬ nic Institute. Three years later he was made a full Professor, and from 1893 he was Director of the Chemical Department. When the money for the Salisbury Laboratories was given to the Institute, with two of his colleagues he visited many universities, and his keen observation and careful planning were largely instrumental in making that building and its equipment among the best of its day. In his early years at the Institute, Doctor Kinnicutt found time for not a little research work in varied lines; gradually, however, he specialized in the field of sanitary chemistry, devoting most of his attention to prob¬ lems relating to water supply and sewage disposal. In these lines he became a recognized expert whose counsel was sought by distant cities. Learned societies at home and abroad honored him by election to their member-

Page 14 text:

To the Memory of Leonard Parker Kinnicutt Eminent Chemist and Sanitarian Skillful and Inspiring Teacher Courteous Gentleman Loyal and Generous Friend This AFTERMATH is Affectionately Dedicated by the Class of 1911

Page 16 text:

ship. He was appointed President of the Section of Hygiene of the Inter¬ national Congress of Applied Chemistry, which is to be held in Washington in 1912. With characteristic courage and persistence, he continued work upon the plans for this great gathering of scientists until within ten days before his death, In many ways Doctor Kinnicutt rendered distinguished service to the city and to the Commonwealth; but his life work was that of a teacher in the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As the Institute grew, and differen¬ tiation in his own department became necessary, he devoted himself espe¬ cially to the work in general chemistry with the Freshmen, and to the advanced work with the Seniors. For his pupils this was a fortunate choice, for it brought him close to them at the times when he could be of most service. “ I tell you, I just go for my Freshmen! ” he used to say, jokingly, of his own lectures. For he never considered it his sole function to teach his students chemistry. The lecture, any morning, might be postponed or interrupted for a frank, man-to-man talk on what he believed those young fellows, taking their first steps in college life, ought to see from an older man’s standpoint—it might be some points on gentlemanly manners or personal hygiene, on legal rights, or true and false Tech spirit. “ Kinnie ” had been a very human student, and thirty years and more of teaching could not make him forget it. And so he was tolerant of students’ pranks, smoothed over their difficulties, and got them out of their court tangles. But the fellow who was mixed up in anything mean or nasty found that he had a stern man to deal with. “ Kinnie’s ” very idiosyncrasies—of which he had his full share—only served to make him the more likable. On his regular beat from his home to the laboratory—in rather distinctive dress, plodding along on foot or on a bicycle, which he continued to ride after most of his friends had discarded them—for years he was a familiar and unique figure. Close at his heels followed his shadow, the name might be “ Chico,” or “ Kelpie,” or “ Bruce,” but the dog was always shaggy, solemn of face and sedate of manner. On his back was a huge Mappe, and in his hand very likely a bunch of flowers; for this man of science was a lover of outdoor life; he delighted in his Tat- nuck farm, took pride in the early blossoms from his own garden, and in his study at the laboratory, in the midst of its apparatus and papers, there was always on his desk a beaker holding a few flowers. In class he was nervous of speech and rather easily confused. It was a Tech tradition that his mathematics at times became erratic. Inatten¬ tion or disturbance in class caused a rapid rise in temperature, and some¬ thing was likely to happen. When some students had the effrontery to place on his desk a card showing that a “ labor union ” had been formed, he served an ultimatum upon them forthwith, and in short order that non- 10