Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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PRESIDENT IRA N. HOLLIS

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3o tfjr Jffarultg —Whose guidance we have at times too slowly followed; whom we regarded at first with suspicion, then with tolerance and altogether too late with the respect and admira¬ tion that was due them; who have given of their best to teach us and to serve us,—we ex¬ tend the hand, as we part. May they some day feel that their toil has not been in vain. 3Jra pallia, 0. § . President, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The sunset of 1915’s brief day on the Hill marks the close of President Hollis’s second year at Tech, undoubtedly the most brilliant year in the history of the Institute. Dr. Hollis was graduated from the Naval Academy and served for many years at sea and on shore in the engineering corps of the Navy. In 1893 he resigned to ac¬ cept the Professorship of Engineering at Harvard University. A phase of the wide range of his activities is aptly demonstrated in the intense interest manifested by him in ath¬ letics both at Harvard and at W. P. I. The Harvard Stadium is a monument to our President’s untiring energy. In 1899 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard and L.H.D. from Union, and the degree of D.Sc. from the University of Pittsburg in 1912. Dr. Hollis is Vice-President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, President of the Engineering Club of Boston, of which he was one of the promoters, and President of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. Many of his articles have appeared in en¬ gineering and naval journals. To the students on the Hill, and in fact to all with whom he comes into contact, the name of President Hollis will recall not merely a man with degrees, nor the President of Tech, but a man with a marked simplicity of manner, kindly sympathetic in speech, and of evident sincerity. His power of instilling confidence on first acquaintance and his apparent earnestness of purpose have attracted to him many lasting friendships. Dr. Hollis’s devotion to the school and his unremitting efforts to raise it to a higher plane of standing and efficiency have sustained the belief that his coming would mean a new era in the progress of the Institute. No problem on the Hill, no matter how apparently insignificant, is too trivial to receive his individual attention. Realizing that the students enjoy but comparatively few opportunities of meeting one another and the Faculty out¬ side of the classroom, President and Mrs. Hollis during the past year have continued their custom of “open house’’ Sunday afternoons. The Tech Council also is responsible to him for its existence. The class of 1915 appreciates the greatness of the man and the scope of his ac¬ complishments, and, as we leave Tech, we assure him of our regard and loyalty in his future efforts in the service of our Alma Mater. [IS]