Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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fV r THE AFTERMATH CLARENCE ALBERT PIERCE Assistant Professor of Theoretical Electrical Engineering B.S., Wesleyan, 1902, and M.S., 1904; Ph.D., Cornell, 1908; Assistant in Physics, Wesleyan, 1902-04; In¬ structor in Electrical Engineering, Cornell, 1904-11; Assistant Professor of Theoretical Electrical Engineer¬ ing, W. P. I., 1911-. Picture to yourself a portly, bespectacled gen¬ tleman delivering, with the help of numerous unintelligible diagrams, a lecture on armature reaction to forty or fifty sweating, note-taking churls in a room upstairs in the E. E. Building. All of a sudden he stops lecturing and starts off on a lengthy and utterly irrelevant harangue on some such subject as “How to he successful, though married. Gone are all thoughts of ar¬ mature reaction, yea even until the following Wednesday, when a soul-rending quiz reminds the poor student that he should have gotten the lecture which C. A. Pierce forgot to give. “Doc” H K t N0 “Pop” BAX CHARLES JOSEPH ADAMS Assistant Professor of English A.B., Amherst, 1896; Instructor in Modern Languages, W. P. I., 1908-13; Assistant Professor of English, 1913-. If there are folks who are so busy teaching the details of living that they have forgotten how to live themselves, there are also folks who are like “Pop” in showing us the sunny side of life by their own example rather than precept. “Pop’s” understanding heart could always see why we gazed longingly out of the window on a sunny spring afternoon. He usually romps off with first place as the best liked prof on any student referendum. Through his attitude and personal apprecia¬ tion we have gotten more of the love of good reading and the meaning of literature than we have from anyone else in our lives. 23

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n THE AFTERMATH LEON E. JENKS Professor of Chemistry B.S., Hamilton College, 1905, and M.S., 1908; Assistant Professor of Physical and Metallurgical Chemistry, Cooper Union, 1916-18; Professor of Analytical Chemist¬ ry, Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1918-19; Inorganic and Indus¬ trial Chemistry, Univ. of Buffalo, 1919-21; in charge, Division of Technical and Economic Chemistry, the College of the City of New York, 1923-24; Professor of Chemistry, W. P. I., 1924-. Whenever you see a large stack of books moving across the corridor on the third floor of the Salisbury Laboratories, you will prob¬ ably find Prof. Jenks the diminutive prime mover. He believes that the more books con¬ sulted, the more nearly the student approaches the proper perspective. Prof. Jenks’ principal burden is Freshman Chemistry, and he certain¬ ly carries it with conscientiousness. His inter¬ est in those who are out of luck is unsurpassed; he will sympathize with you on any subject from love affairs and the consequent financial embarrassment to food analysis. For this rea¬ son, Prof. Jenks’ office is the seat of countless exhaustive, and very satisfying “gab-fests.” “ Shorty ” y v HARRIS RICE Professor of Mathematics B.S., W. P. I., 1912; A.M., Harvard, 1922; Instructor in Mathematics, Tufts, 1915-19; Harvard, 1918; Assistant Professor, Tufts, 1919-20; W. P. I., 1920-24; Professor. 1924-. “Ricey” is rather diminutive as to size, but his mental powers are enormous, and as for his voice, when he holds forth to his Math classes, it can only be described as stentorian. Local history has it that he developed his vocal chords when he used to call in the “caows” down on his farm in Millbury. And he is probably able to keep in practice, too, for he still goes back and forth to Milbury every day in his snappy little roadster. Prof. Rice has had no little share in making our course at Tech an interesting one, and the value of the training he has given us would be hard to overestimate. “ Ricey ’ 22

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THE AFTERMATH ‘Shrim V “A. j: era ARTHUR JULIUS KNIGHT Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Super¬ intendent of Buildings and Grounds B.S., W. P. L, 1907; Instructor in Civil Engineering, 1910-16; Assistant Professor, 1916-17; Assistant Profes¬ sor, and Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, 1917-. “Has Professor Knight been around?,” and if the odor of burning rags penetrates the atmos¬ phere, the answer is “Yes,” for then his inevit¬ able cigar will soon come strutting into view. Perhaps no Civil will ever forget “Shrimp’s” characteristic poses, either leaning against a black-board or perched up on a stool in the drawing room. And he surely has versatility. He teaches railroads, stereotomy, astronomy or what have you? It has been said that “Shrimp” can teach any¬ thing in Tech’s curriculum. Rut no matter how hard he drives us, he does all the problems him¬ self, which consoles us a little. FRANCIS JOSEPH ADAMS Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering B.S., W. P. I., 1904, and E.E., 1906; Graduate Assistant in Electrical Engineering, 1901-06; Instructor, 1907-17; Assistant Professor, 1917-. Whoever gave Prof. F. J. the nickname “Rip’ must have been fond of antithesis, because “Rip” never ripped anything in his life, either of language or of pants. He is a little diffi¬ dent, quite apologetic and absolutely harmless. (He wouldn’t even make faces for fear of hurt¬ ing somebody’s feelings). But however harm¬ less he may be, he is never vacillating—we have yet to meet a man clever enough to pass his Transmission course without doing a big gob of honest work. “Rip” is primarily an electrical man; he has even worn spurs and scaled the dizzy heights of electric light poles in his day. He once told us that we, too, ought to start our careers as line¬ men’s helpers and work up to be Directors of the company, but we’ve decided we’d rather start in as directors. 24