Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 22 text:

THE AFTERMATH, CLASS OF 1914 would suspect what a wide range that subject covers unless he has had the pleasure of attending one of “Doc’s” colloquiums just after Bingville walloped the Giants. On the other hand, any D. F. (which means “dear friend,” in theory) could see that “Doc” is surely there when it comes to downright, pure, labless theory, and he has undergone a varied load-run himself during his short life as shown by the following data for a curve of external characteristic plotted against time, neglecting stray power losses Abscissae in Years A. D. Ordinates in terminal potential. 1878 Born in Redding, Conn. 1898 Graduated from Wesleyan. 1904 Received degree of M. S. from Wesleyan. 1908 Received degree of Ph. D. at Cornell, and was elected to Sigma Xi. 1904-191 1 Professor at Cornell and Physicist at the Bureau of Standards. 191 1-? Professor at W. P. I. in theory and incidents over¬ looked by the historians. Conclusions derived from the above data: Some men like “Doc”; we “some men;” therefore we like “Doc.” PROFESSOR ALBERT S. RICHEY, E. E. Professor of Electric Railway Engineering Professor Richey was born in Munice, Ind., in 1874. He graduated from Pur¬ due University in 1894, receiving the degree of E. E. Since that time he has worked up in electric railway business from the bottom and before coming East held several high positions with noted railway companies in Indiana. In 1905 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Electric Railway Engineering at the Institute, this being the first chair of Electric Railway Engineering to be established in this country. In 1907 he was appointed to a full professorship. He is a member of honorary societies of Sigma Xi and Tau Beta Pi, the establishment of the latter’s chapter at the Institute being largely due to his efforts. In 1912 he was elected a Fellow in the A. I. E. E., and now is a member of the Railway Standards Committee of that Society. He is also a member of the A. E. R. A., the A. E. R. E. A., and the N. E. L. A., in the first of which he holds three committee appointmnets. The Electrolysis Committee of the A. E. R. E. A., and the same joint committee of the A. I. E. E., ( 30 )

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WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE when we feel down at the mouth, always patient with our shortcomings, always glad to go out of his way to accommodate us, in fact always our friend. We are very fortunate in having such a man at the helm during our last and most important year at Tech, and we feel sure that his interest and friendship will continue with us when we have grad¬ uated and gone out into the cold world. And so we wish to show our appreciation for all he has done for us individually and as a class at this time and we extend to him our very best wishes for continued success here at the Institute and on the larger stage where success means hard work together with a good supply of brains. PROFESSOR JOSEPH O. PHELON, M. M. E. Professor of Electrical Engineering If you ever find yourself in a large, bleak lecture hall, ornamented with an enor¬ mous black board which is covered with curious handles and clocks, at the front of the room and further decorated with a few score diligent prospective engineers in their favorite occupation of concealing an equal number of little red stickers daintily attached to the backs of certain favorite seats, then keep your eyes open for the fun is about to begin. Soon you realize rather than notice, that a diminutive, shy, little man with a countenance completely transfigured with smiles, and a few grayish hairs that could be given a complete massage with hat intact, is entering the room. He stops, turns, and slowly raises his hand toward the care-worn, long renowned announcement on the board: “No books, red label seats,” while the aforesaid grin adds a differential length, and the sparkling eyes gain in brilliancy. If such is your experience, then beware! for lo, you are in the very midst of that far-famed organization known as “Joe’s Course,” famed because of its Sleepy Hollow tranquility, except when those little surprise par¬ ties in the form of examinations appear. However, a side from this failing of Joe’s, we all agree that he is one with the best of us, and we trust that E. E. 1 will survive many cold winters to come. PROFESSOR CLARENCE A. PIERCE, M. S., Ph. D. Assistant Professor of Theoretical Electrical Engineering Yes, Prof. C. A. Pierce, “Doc” for short, hands out theory and it corresponds exactly to the stunts you do in “lab.” If you don’t believe it, just go down and try it. You know Walter Johnson dopes out how his spit ball ought to work, and then he tries it out on the field; but we’ll pass that up for now. Coming back to theory, one never ( 29 )

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WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE and A. E. R. E. A. boast his name upon their letter heads, it appearing as chairman in the former case. He h as offices with the Bay State Ry. Co., and the Boston Elevated, while his consulting work occupies a great deal of his time. Professor Richey is known to few of us here, his courses being devoted strictly to the Senior electrics. Although he is not seen on the Hill as much as some of the Profs., one must look sharp and get up early to get ahead of him, for there are few more ener¬ getic workers. If one sees a piece of paper marked with green ink or pencil, blowing about, it is safe to assume that it belongs in the office at the top of the stairs. His quizzes are remarkable for the amount of common sense needed to pass them, and it is also remarkable how often those same quizzes come on days when that necessary sense has a day off. Nevertheless he showed us many good points about railways and we are very glad that he was able to give us three days a week here at Tech. PROFESSOR CARL D. KNIGHT, E. E. Assistant Professor of Experimenal Electrical Engineering We first met Prof. Knight just after the marks came out for the first month Jun¬ ior year, and we were directed to confer with Prof. Phelon. We went down to the E. E. building and upon arriving at the department office we were met by a tall gent in a duster who told us that Prof. Phelon was away, but that maybe he could do just as well. Seeing that we were in there we considered that we might just as well tell our tale of E’s and have it over, and that would save us going before any of the Profs.; so we told him all about it and sat there staring him in the face every time that he started to say anything. Still it was good advice that he handed out and we left the office and made straight for some upper classman to find out who he was, feeling almost glad that we received those E’s and had had a chance to talk with him. It wasn’t hard to de¬ scribe him to the upper classmen, but when we were told that the gent was Prof. Knight, why, we said, that was a good joke, but it was day time now and that fellow never was a Prof. Well, that same feeling has been with us ever since, only growing strong¬ er. In the last half of Junior year he stuck us most every week with his little prob¬ lems on I.= p , but still we had no hard feelings. r. Prof. Knight is a graduate of Tech in 1903, and as he has been here most of the time since, he has not forgotten his own opinions of the place when he was a student, so this may be one reason why his methods of procedure are liked better than those of some others. His name is the only dark thing about him and he tries to overcome that by teaching the course in Illumination and he certainly accomplishes it in the most inter¬ esting manner. (31)