Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE Harold Babbitt Smith, M.E. Professor of Electrical Engineering. Although there are thousands of Smiths in this country and Schmidts abroad, Professor Smith is one of the genuines, and most of the rest are copies. But the name is very common by imitation and no copyright is available and so he is known best by the title “H. B.” It takes two pages to write down his “alphabet¬ ical tail,” but one would never guess what a distinguished man our chief is, did he not casually refer at times to “when I was en¬ gineer for this firm,” or “when we developed this device.” Then it is that we open our eyes and wonder how such a quiet, unobtru¬ sive man could have accomplished so much. Professor Smith is a graduate of Cornell, ’91 ; and since then has been Professor of Electrical Engineering at Arkansas State Uni¬ versity and Purdue. During our Senior year we have come more fully to appreciate his sincere friendship and help and we secretly wonder if we can emu¬ late this eminent engineer, a man of unusual breadth of view and with the admirable qualities of a perfect gentleman. Alexander Wilmer Duff, D.Sc. Professor of Physics. In the world of science. Dr. Duff’s posi¬ tion is indeed an enviable one. In 1 884 he was graduated from the University of New Brunswick, and in 1887 from the University of London. He received his Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1888 and the degree of Doctor of Science from the same institution in 1901. Before his advent as head of our Physics Depart¬ ment, he held similar positions at the Univer¬ sity of Madras, New Brunswick University and Purdue. And so, if our attitudes in A. Wilmer’s Sophomore Physics lectures (dear old Physics! !) were other than such a po¬ tentate in the world of science should com¬ mand, let it be ascribed only to our youth. Dr. Duff’s efforts with us must have been unusually discouraging, for they ended with his decision for a year’s study abroad, prob¬ ably to discover new methods of injecting knowledge into brainless media. Professor Duff will be remembered, then, as a true gentleman, thorough and self-contained, and a scientist of high eminence. [ 21 ]

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T THE AFTERMATH CLASS OF NINETEEN FIFTEEN Zelotes Wood Coombs, A.M. Professor of English and Secretary of the Faculty. All hail the King of the Freshmen and the true friend of every Tech man—Profes¬ sor Coombs, head of the English Department. The mere mention of his name brings back to us fond memories of the days of yore when we, as Freshmen, attentively listened to him in that quaint old historic room on the top floor of Boynton Hall. His “Commendable Regularity,” “Adams, Aiken, Aldrin, etc.,” “A Trip to Wachusett” and “Who I Am and Why I Came to the Institute,” will long remain cherished in our minds. Professor Coombs has won our deep de¬ votion by his exceeding loyalty to Tech, es¬ pecially to Athletics. His optimistic views and very generous support cannot be too highly praised. We have always known him to be a gen¬ erous, open-hearted, hard-working gentleman; and carry him away as such in our memories, not doubting that he will remember us down to the detail of middle names and shade of hair. Walter Louis Jennings, Ph.D. Professor of Organic Chemistry. To the uninitiated the mere mention of Pro¬ fessor Jennings brings thoughts of the tortures of Siberia and third degree methods. Anti¬ quated rules, a stock room that defies com¬ petition, and a student-proof elevator are characteristic of his regime. Dr. Jennings was born in Bangor, Maine, entering Harvard in 1885, where he devel¬ oped a profound love of the classics, and a wonderful proficiency in tennis. The finish¬ ing touches to his education in Chemistry were administered at Berlin and Heidelberg. In manner Professor Jennings is best de¬ scribed as a resurrected Puritan: tyrannical, fiequently; just, always. At times he has a peculiar enunciation all his own. Merely translating his “del-i-ket lil-Iac cullah” is a training in itself. The chemists will remember their head principally as a remarkably inter¬ esting lecturer, who sets an almost unattain- ably high standard in neatness and detail. We realize that he has tried faithfully and has succeeded admirably in doing all within his power for every man with whom he has come into contact. [ 20 ]

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THE AFTERMATH CLASS OF NINETEEN FIFTEEN William Warren Bird, B.S. Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Director of Washburn Shops. “By George, I wonder where the mistake is! It surely isn’t evident upon the face of it.” These and many other expressions will long stay in our memory in connection with Professor Bird’s c ourse in Shop Management. Many of us have often wondered how many got the 120 out of a possible 100 in his final in Senior Mechanics and it is a fore¬ gone conclusion that if it had been 220 in¬ stead of 120 no more would have acquired an even 60; and, had it not been for a care¬ fully prepared note-book to raise the final mark, few of us would have survived without a make-up. It was always amazing how easy and sim¬ ple Professor Bird’s stickers were when solved by himself. Problems upon which we would work several hours and accomplish practic¬ ally nothing would be solved by him almost in quicker time than it would take us to read it. H is pleasing disposition and willingness to give good advice have won for Professor Bird the admiration of the students under him. Arthur Willard French, C.E. Professor of Civil Engineering. “When you go out on the job, if your boss is not a college man, he’ll think you’re a joke, and if he is a college man he’ll know you’re a joke.” You are not likely to get an over exaggerated opinion of yourself un¬ der Pa’s instruction, but you get the wisdom of plain common sense poured on you pro¬ miscuously. His occasional diversions from Structures and Arches to dwell upon some of his innumerable jobs or to benefit us by his practical philosophy are always a source of keen interest and appreciation, and, whether the job existed or not, the point was always there. The energy and zeal with which class after class works for him is as indicative of the estimation in which the students hold him as it is of his disciplinary ability. For the Civils really take a sincere delight in working for him. It may be an argument against the san¬ ity of the Civil, but it is an established fact. At all events it is certain that we, the Civils, hold that the mere privilege of know¬ ing the man is full justification of our little stay here at the “Stute.” t 22 ]