TECH, THE EARLY YEARS

AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE HISTORY OF THE
TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE AT NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY FROM 1939 TO 1969

 

Editor
Morris E. Fine

 

 

McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL 60208

 
 

 

 

 
 

PREFACE

      The Technological Institute (Tech) was established in 1939 with the help of a major gift from Walter P. Murphy. Prior to that there was a small School of Engineering at Northwestern which had been denied accreditation. Initially the emphasis of Tech was on cooperative undergraduate education, the cooperation being with industry. Later a strong graduate program was developed. This was done without sacrificing undergraduate education. The purpose of this compendium is to capture the history of The Technological Institute during the period, 1939 to 1969. The Technological Institute remained the name of Northwestern's engineering school until 1989 when the name was changed to Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. In what follows it is clear that applied science has been an important part of the school from the beginning.
      This anthology is a collection of writings of many people. When taken as a whole the intent is to give an accurate picture of the history of "Tech" during the 1939 to 1969 period. The individual parts are arranged in order of the first year mentioned. Brief biographies of the authors giving their relationships with Northwestern University are given in an Appendix.

Morris E. Fine    
1995    

       

 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

1873 - 1939
Morris E. Fine and Robert C. Michaelson

Opportunity Lost and Gained: A Sidelight on the Walter P. Murphy Gift
Robert C. Michaelson

The History of Cooperative Engineering Education at Northwestern University
Geraldine O. Garner

Recollections and Reflections on the Early Years of Tech
John R. Eshbach

Construction of Tech
Charles H. Dowding

The School in Retrospect
John A. Kennedy

Some Recollections
George H. Bodeen

Technological Institute The War Years, A Student View
William T. Brazelton

The Early Years
Burgess H. Jennings

Remembrances of the Mechanical Engineering Department
David Mintzer

Computer Science at Northwestern
Gilbert K. Krulee

Reflections on my Experiences at Northwestern University
William T. Brazelton

Some Recollections
George Bankoff

The Departments of Engineering Drawing, Engineering Graphics and Engineering Sciences
Raymond Kliphardt

History of Civil Engineering at Northwestern
Ray Krizek

Civil Engineering at Northwestern
Donald S. Berry

Transportation Engineering at Northwestern
Donald S. Berry

The First Thirty Years
Gordon J. Murphy

Some Thoughts and Recollections
Nick Polydoris

Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University
Christina Enroth-Cugell

The First Thirty Years
Morris E. Fine

My Years at Northwestern
Lyle H. Schwartz

History of Materials Science and Engineering Department
Tom Mason

Industrial Engineering at Northwestern
Gilbert K. Krulee

History of Department of Industrial Engineering
Arthur P. Hurter

Recollections
Joel D. Meyer

A Brief History of The Technological Institute Library
Robert C. Michaelson

Part of the Past
Raymond Kliphardt

Epilogue
Jerome B. Cohen and Morris E. Fine

Some Pictures

About the Authors

 
     
 

1873 - 1939
by
Morris E. Fine and Robert C. Michaelson

     The trustees of Northwestern University ambitiously founded a College of Technology in June 1873 (It is interesting that the name "Technology" goes back to this early period of the University.) for training in applied science and engineering but in his report for 1876-77 President Oliver Marcy announced failure of the College due to lack of financial resources to develop the faculty and facilities (1). The report does mention a professor of civil engineering. While Northwestern founded a College of Technology in June 1873, it already had an engineering professor by 1872: Henry Smith Carhart was hired as a professor of civil engineering for 1872-1873. Carhart was actually a physicist, with his undergraduate training from Wesleyan University, and in 1873 the Trustees appointed him Alan Sisson Memorial Professor of Physics and Secretary of the Faculty of the University. He remained a physics professor at Northwestern until 1886, when he resigned to teach at the University of Michigan. During 1881 he had been on leave to study in Europe, including work in Helmholtz's laboratory in Berlin. Carhart also taught chemistry at Northwestern from 1876-1881 in addition to his duties as professor of physics.
      The University Catalog for 1873-1874 (2) describes the objects of the College of Technology as follows:
      "In this age of railroads, and mining, and surveying, and navigation, the demand for trained, practical and reliable engineers is far beyond the supply. In the laboratories and in the great manufactories of the country, the few skilled chemists that all the high schools have provided have never lacked employment...The Northwestern University, in the College of Technology, recognizes and tries to meet this demand."
      A new professor of civil engineering, William A. Metcalf, A,M.,C.E., was appointed for 1873-75. He was succeeded by Lyman E. Cooley, CE, for 1876-77. Cooley was a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and after leaving Northwestern was a successful civil engineer who, among other things, was a consulting engineer to the Chicago Sanitary District. However Northwestern's College of Technology fell victim, to the economic hard times that began with the "Panic of 1873", and far from having a "demand far beyond supply" as expressed in the catalog quoted above, the College's graduates of later years were unable to find work and the College closed.
      Engineering is again mentioned in the inaugural address in 1891 of the University's incoming president, Henry Wade Rogers (1). Rogers stated that many believed universities in general were " not performing the work necessary to prepare men for the various activities of modern life, so different from the life their fathers lived half a century ago". He recommended establishment of a school of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. This vision was made real during the administration of Abram Winegardner Harris. The Gustav Swift family provided $150,000 for construction of The Swift Hall of Engineering and the new College of Engineering was opened in 1909. A four year curriculum led to a B.S. degree with courses in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. More technical degrees, Civil Engineer, Electrical Engineer and Mechanical Engineer, were obtained by a 5th year of study. The first Dean was John F. Hayford who was Professor of Civil Engineering.
      Dean Hayford was a distinguished engineer and scientist, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The memorial plaque which now resides in the entrance foyer of The Technological Institute Building states, "IN MEMORY OF JOHN FILLMORE HAYFORD DIRECTOR OF THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 1909 -1925 ESTABLISHER OF THE THEORY OF ISOSTASY AUTHOR OF THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED HAYFORD SPHEROID OF REFERENCE DEDUCER OF THE CONDITIONS WHICH GOVERN THE LEVELS OF THE GREAT LAKES".
      Hans Weertman has contributed the following paragraph on John Hayford. Dean Hayford's career is described in a long memoir (3) written by William H. Burger, a Professor of Civil Engineering (who was much beloved and respected by alums of Northwestern University) in the School of Engineering. Prior to coming to Northwestern he served in the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, a relationship "which was to bring him such renown, and in a reciprocal way add prestige to this bureau of the government" (3). In his years with the US Coast and Geodetic Survey he helped establish the position of part of the boundary between Mexico and the US He made a notable contribution to the classic report on the Great San Francisco Earthquake (4). His paper in that report concerned the shift of benchmarks from their positions prior to this earthquake. This work established quantitatively the nature of the earth movements produced by this earthquake. The data of this paper have been used in scientific papers up to the present time. Hayford is best known for his theory of isostasy, which was worked out mainly in his years at Northwestern. Isostasy is concerned with the fact that mountains and continents rise above ocean basins because they are made of rock of density smaller than the rock beneath the ocean. Hayford's theory calculated the position of the surface (Hayford spheroid) where conditions of static equilibrium prevail under mountains, continents and oceans. One recognition of his reputation is Mount Hayford, a mountain in Alaska named after him. (Mount Evans one of the highest mountains in Colorado is named after John Evans, the founder of Northwestern University). After Hayford came to Northwestern he became interested in the Great Lakes and made studies of them, a consequence of walking along Lake Michigan shore between his home and the University. He studied the seiches of Lake Michigan and factors, such as rates of evaporation, that determine lake level. In his day the motto of the College of Engineering was "Culture for Usefulness". Two curricula were offered; Civil Engineering and a combined Mechanical-Electrical Engineering. The aim, then as now, was to train future engineers for the greatest average effectiveness in a lifetime rather than for the greatest effectiveness in the first years after graduation" (3).
      Operationally the Engineering School until the middle 1920's was a department of the College of Liberal Arts (1). The major emphasis was on a broad general education with particular emphasis on mathematics and science. President Walter Dill Scott appointed a committee to suggest strengthening engineering. The report made in 1926 suggested making the Engineering School autonomous, reorganizing the curriculum to include more technical education, and securing a faculty predominantly oriented toward engineering. After the passing away of Dean Hayford, William C. Bauer, who was Professor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, became Dean. He implemented these changes. The College of Engineering was renamed School of Engineering and made autonomous. A new 4 year program of courses leading to a BS Degree in Engineering was adopted. The many joint appointments with CAS which existed at the time were terminated .
      In spite of these changes in 1937 the Engineering School ran into difficulties with the engineering accrediting organization, the recently organized Engineering Council for Professional Development, which denied accreditation. In ECPD's opinion the four year curriculum was too heavily weighted in non engineering courses. The 5th year rectified this, but the 4 year program was considered to be insufficiently professionally oriented. The 5th year was taken by very few students. This program may be contrasted to that at the University of Minnesota where one of the authors attended at that time. Freshman English was required but it was taught in the College of Engineering and included technical writing. There were no required non-science courses. The author had three free electives and took two quarters of physical chemistry and one quarter of economics. To the author's knowledge there was no problem with accreditation.
      In response to the denial of accreditation a four year curriculum satisfying the ECPD requirements was put in place and the trustees authorized funding to hire the necessary faculty and provide the necessary laboratories. The Murphy gift was of enormous help in achieving these objectives. President Scott was contacted by letter in Feb. 1936 about the possibility of an anonymous donor who was considering endowing an engineering school in one of several universities (1). The University enlisted the help of Charles F. Kettering who had become a friend of the University, having received an honorary Doctor of Science in 1935. Kettering's proposal was for an educational program in cooperation with industry and this won a grant of $6,735,000 from the Walter P. Murphy Foundation in March 1939. Negotiations between the donor and the University were hung up over the University's attempt to obtain additional funding for maintenance. The University gave on this point after the denial of accreditation. Construction of the Tech Building began soon after that and it was completed in June 1942. On his death shortly after the Tech Building was dedicated, Murphy willed close to $28,000,000 to endow engineering and the principal sciences.

References

  1. H. F. Williamson and P. W. Wild, "Northwestern University A History 1850-1875" Northwestern University , 1976 pp. 23, 44, 45,72, 107, 111, 167, 192, 193, 197-199, 217, 222, 223, 230-234.

  2. Northwestern University Catalog for 1873-1874.

  3. W. H. Burger, "Biographical Memoir of John Fillmore Hayford 1868-1925" Biographical Memoirs, v. 16, pp. 152-292, (1935) National Academy of Sciences.

  4. J. F. Hayford and A. L. Baldwin, " Geodetic Measurements of Earth Movements, California State Earthquake of April 18, 1906", Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission, Vol. I, (1908) (Reprinted 1969) pp. 114-159, Carnegie Institution of Washington.
 
     
 

OPPORTUNITY LOST AND GAINED:
A SIDELIGHT ON THE WALTER P. MURPHY GIFT
by
Robert C. Michaelson

     Walter P. Murphy's gift of $6,735,000 for the creation of Northwestern's Technological Institute caused a great deal of public attention when it was announced in March, 1939. Even more public interest was aroused by the announcement after Murphy's death on December 16, 1942, that the bulk of his estate, almost $28,000,000, was also to go to the Technological Institute. Many rumors circulated about how Northwestern had come to receive this enormous benefaction; one story had it that the University of Chicago was originally to have received Murphy's funding, but mishandled the opportunity, while Northwestern "picked up the ball." Since there is no accurate published account of this matter (1), it may be of interest to recount the information that is available in archival records.
      In late February, 1936, President Walter Dill Scott of Northwestern received a letter from R. E. Cabell, a member of a law firm in Richmond, Virginia, indicating that an unnamed client was interested in making a substantial gift or bequest "toward establishing or endowing a school of engineering in one of several outstanding educational institutions"; also included was a list of questions about Northwestern's engineering program and needs. Northwestern responded on April 27, 1936 with a seventeen-page prospectus outlining plans for a new school of engineering, of a fairly standard sort. But by this time they had guessed the name of Cabell's principal, and they knew something of Murphy's background and wealth. Thus they began working out a new proposal for this donor, and to help them they engaged Charles Kettering of General Motors and Dean Herman Schneider of the University of Cincinnati, who had both been involved in setting up Cincinnati's cooperative system of engineering education, which alternated study in the classroom with periods of work in industry. Not surprisingly, this was the approach outlined in Northwestern's new prospectus (2).
      At very nearly the same time, Cabell was in contact with the University of Chicago. On March 12, 1936 Cabell called Chicago's President Robert M. Hutchins from the Palmer House requesting a conference. Hutchins was unable to see him at that time but a meeting was arranged with the Dean of Faculties, E. T. Filbey. At this meeting Cabell indicated that a client was considering a rather large grant for engineering education; Chicago had been thought of as a possible location -- were they interested? Filbey replied that Chicago would be interested if there would be support of research and training in engineering that was as distinctive as work done there in other fields, not just another engineering school. When Cabell asked what size fund would be required, Filbey replied that $10,000,000 would be a minimum, and Cabell indicated that this amount was not out of line with the prospective donor's views or capacity. On April 6, Cabell wrote that his principal was much interested in his report of the interview, and wished for Cabell to secure additional information; on April 9, at a meeting in the Palmer House, Cabell asked a series of detailed questions on matters such as how an engineering school at Chicago would be administered, what kind of working relations would there be with industry, and could an effective engineering education and research program be set up in a large university, as opposed to a separate institution. Filbey says in a memo on April 11 that the answers were such as to show that Chicago would do all that was needed with enthusiasm. He also notes that Cabell indicated that no documents were desired unless on request. (A much later memo, on January 11, 1944, recalls that at this Palmer House meeting Cabell mentioned for the first time the "part-time training", or Cincinnati plan). In a brief exchange of letters in early July, Filbey mentions Chicago's interest in Cabell's proposal because of the close relationship to activities there in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and geology, while Cabell's reply discusses the advantages of the Cincinnati plan (3).
      However, by August 10, 1936 Murphy seems to have made his decision, since on that day Cabell notified Northwestern that his principal had retained Dean Schneider as educational counselor and desired that Charles Kettering be induced to help plan the project; moreover, Cabell indicated that Northwestern was his principal's first choice for carrying out the program. Later that month, Murphy allowed his name to be revealed, although still in confidence, to Northwestern, and by September 3 he offered to sign a contract agreeing to provide $6,310,000 for the first stages of the program. At this point though, Northwestern balked, fearing to commit to tenured faculty and the upkeep of an expensive building without an endowment. Murphy broke off negotiations for two years.
      All of this was unknown at Chicago, although Filbey noticed that in an address to a meeting of the Association of Deans and Directors of Summer Sessions, held at Northwestern, Walter Dill Scott remarked that he had been studying the cooperative system in engineering education. Filbey suspected that Scott had used this study as a basis for advancing Northwestern's prospects. Chicago continued to try to remain in the running with Cabell's unnamed donor, and in October 1936 Filbey called on Cabell in Richmond. His memo of this visit indicates that the donor favored the Chicago area for the project. Moreover, the memo notes that when the donor first discussed engineering education with Cabell he was interested in establishing another M.I.T. for graduate training and research; however, as the program of study undertaken by Cabell went forward his enthusiasm for that type of project was much reduced, particularly through the recommendation of men such as Kettering, and he now definitely favored a program of work based on the Cincinnati scheme. As a result of this memo, Chicago's President Hutchins arranged for the physicist Arthur Compton, a professor at Chicago and friend of Kettering, to meet with Kettering to discuss the importance of engineering at Chicago and how it would fit into Chicago's organization. Another memo by Filbey reports that in the meeting Kettering referred to his general skepticism of university education in engineering and indicated the advantages of practical experience.
      Finally, in August 1938 new negotiations began between Northwestern and Cabell, and a contract was signed with the Walter P. Murphy Foundation on March 20, 1939, providing $6,735,000 for the first stage of the project. The following day's newspapers announced Murphy's gift, which was quite sensational since Murphy had kept himself out of the public eye and was unknown to the general public. He was not totally unknown at the University of Chicago, however, since he had given $250,000 to Chicago's medical center in 1928 (although, typically for Murphy, the money established a fund in the name of his friend Charles H. Markham rather than in his own name). Chicago quickly determined that Murphy still had a substantial fortune even after his gift to Northwestern, and began to seek funding from Murphy for their program in medicine: they suggested the creation of the Walter P. Murphy Medical Center. This may have been a tactical error, since Murphy had insisted that Northwestern's Technological Institute not be named for him, and had similarly chosen not to have his name associated with his earlier gift to Chicago. However, it is most likely that Murphy had simply decided to devote his charitable contributions chiefly to the Technological Institute. For whatever reason, Murphy did not give any further major gifts to the University of Chicago, although he did give $25,000 to Chicago's 50th anniversary campaign in 1941 (4). He also invited President and Mrs. Hutchins to a very small and apparently cordial private dinner at his Lake Bluff home in 1940. Hutchins' file memo on this dinner concludes with the statement that Mr. Cabell said that Mr. Murphy had told him that the University of Chicago was his first choice for the Engineering School, and that if they had been interested in it it would have come to Chicago. Hutchins noted that his response was to say he was glad the School promised to be successful at Northwestern and he took the opportunity of reminding Mr. Cabell that Chicago's most pressing problem was in medicine.
      There are some puzzling points in this story. It seems clear that Chicago was indeed Murphy's first choice for his gift -- it is unlikely that his attorney would have made this statement in his presence if it were untrue. This leaves the problem of determining what Cabell meant by saying that the school would have gone to Chicago if they had been interested in it, since there could have been no doubt that Chicago was very interested in using Murphy's funds for an engineering program. The most reasonable conclusion seems to be that Cabell meant that if Chicago had been interested in a Cincinnati-type engineering program, the money would have gone there. The sequence of events seems to be that, on Murphy's instructions, Cabell began investigating engineering education in the United States, making inquiries of engineering schools and of industrial representatives. At the same time, he wrote to Northwestern (and possibly to other leading institutions) to begin considering them as possible sites for the program Murphy wished to establish. Significantly, Chicago was visited by Cabell rather than contacted by letter -- Filbey's memo on the visit states that Cabell told him that Chicago was the only university so far visited in the area, although others had been mentioned as possible locations. Chicago, moreover, was not asked to submit written documents; Cabell asked neither for specific information or for commitment, he was interested in Chicago's point of view. At this time Murphy still seems to have been interested in a research and graduate education program (the "MIT model"). However, very soon after the first meeting, on April 9 Cabell met with Filbey at the Palmer House in Chicago and here began to mention the Cincinnati model for the first time. Filbey does not seem to have been very interested in this aspect of the conversation; he does not even mention it in his memo at the time, but only much later. In any case, Chicago seems to have been committed to the research and graduate education model, while Murphy or Cabell or both were by this time fairly well committed to the Cincinnati model in which Chicago never expressed interest. Not long thereafter, though, Northwestern's second proposal advancing just that model was received by Cabell. A letter from Filbey in 1944 expresses the opinion that Murphy's grant went to Northwestern on Kettering's recommendation; he further states that he doubts if Kettering is one bit interested in the kind of engineering school that Chicago would have developed. The second part of this statement was certainly true, and the first part seems largely true, although even apart from Kettering Murphy had already determined that the sort of engineering school he wanted was not consonant with Chicago's ideas. Although this seems to be the most plausible conclusion, for a final verdict one would need to examine Cabell's personal files (or Murphy's if they existed: Walter Dill Scott's biography of Murphy states that he kept no diary and no copies of his correspondence). Other factors may also have been involved -- for example there are suggestions in both the Chicago and Northwestern archives that Murphy may have been displeased that Hutchins did not personally meet with Cabell. But I believe that such an important decision would have been based primarily on the fact that Murphy found at Northwestern a congeniality not just to his representative but to his ideas on engineering education.
      There is a final question of possible interest to academic administrators, expressed in a 1944 letter from Harold H. Swift, who was Chairman of the University of Chicago's Board of Trustees (and a son of Gustav Swift, in whose honor the Swift family donated the Swift Hall of Engineering, home to Northwestern's small, pre-Murphy Engineering School). Swift writes that the chief question involved seems to be whether Chicago should have been a better trader, finding what the donor wanted and conforming to it rather than straightforwardly giving him their best judgment as requested. For Northwestern of course this question did not arise, since Northwestern's best judgment coincided with Murphy's ideas. Still, this sort of question arises frequently in negotiations with potential donors -- though rarely with such enormous consequences as those involved in Murphy's ultimate gift -- and institutions must ask themselves the difficult question of how much they are willing to have their identities made over to conform to a donor's wishes. In the end, though, Northwestern had determined a course of action for itself, which coincided with the interests of a wealthy and generous donor; Northwestern seized the opportunity.

Notes:

  1. There is a brief paragraph discussing Murphy's proposal to Chicago in William H. McNeill's book Hutchins' University (University of Chicago Press, 1991; page 86). McNeill's preface states "much of what follows derives from personal experience, supplemented by some rather cursory investigation of university records deposited in the Special Collections of Regenstein Library and by conversations with others who still remembered the Hutchins era...." Unfortunately, his account of the Murphy affair is erroneous.

  2. Most of the account given here of Murphy's negotiations with Northwestern is taken from Walter Dill Scott's biography of Murphy, Walter Patton Murphy, 1873-1942 (Northwestern University Press, 1952); some additional information was found in the Northwestern University Archives with the help of the Archivist, Patrick Quinn.

  3. All of the information given here on Murphy's negotiations with the University of Chicago is taken from archival materials in the Regenstein Library of the University of Chicago: the Harold H. Swift Papers, box 104, folder 5. The archivist Richard Popp provided invaluable guidance to these materials.

  4. Walter Dill Scott interviewed Murphy in 1941 for the biography he planned to write. A memo from Scott in March 1941 states that Murphy told him he was going to revise his will, and added "It is assumed that the Technological Institute is sort of a first charge for the [Murphy] Foundation." Scott's notes of his meeting on September 17, 1941 state "George Ranney and Max Epstein called on Mr. Murphy and sought a donation for the University of Chicago. Mr. Murphy investigated the amounts other business men were donating, and sent a check to express his good will, but not enough to indicate special interest. The amount was $25,000."
 
     
 

THE HISTORY OF COOPERATIVE ENGINEERING EDUCATION AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
by
Geraldine O. Garner

     As a newcomer to the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science the invitation to write the history of cooperative engineering education (co-op) at Northwestern was an honor and a privilege. At the same time, it was an intimidating undertaking. After all, there are others in the School, and involved with the School, who have been active participants in the formation and development of the program. What if their recollections were not represented correctly? What if a fact was misinterpreted, particularly if it was misinterpreted by someone who was not here at the time?
      Very quickly, personal concerns of this nature gave way to excitement about the truly historic foundations of cooperative education at Northwestern. As a student, researcher, and administrator of cooperative education, a real appreciation for the roots of the program grew at each stage of the process. Learning about Walter P. Murphy. Finding the Murphy estate in Lake Bluff. Seeing the prospectus prepared for Mr. Murphy's review. Learning that Dean Herman Schneider, the "Father of Cooperative Education", was a central figure in the development of the Northwestern cooperative education program. These opportunities not only made the project rewarding, they made it an inspiring and humbling experience.
      Northwestern and McCormick have always been proud and protective of their cooperative education program. They have every right to be! It is hoped that this chapter accurately recaptures memories, correctly interprets facts, and provides some new information and insight about a truly outstanding program. Nonetheless, it is equally important that this chapter continues to instill pride and to reinforce the knowledge that cooperative engineering education, particularly at Northwestern University, is a superior form of engineering education. The Northwestern Co-op Program has certainly passed Mr. Murphy's "test" and remains an on going tribute to his vision.

INTRODUCTION

The Co-operative System - A Manifesto, published in the October, 1946, issue of the Journal of Engineering Education, the Cooperative Education Division of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education defined cooperative education as an pedagogical approach which "requires or permits all or some engineering students to alternate periods of attendance at school or college with periods of employment in industry during a portion or all of one or more curricula. Employment is constituted as a regular, continuing and essential element in the educational process...[and] is related to some phase of the branch or field of study in which the student is engaged. Employment is to be variegated in order to afford a spread of experience...with minimum hours of employment and a minimum standard of performance in such employment, among the requirements for a degree" (Freund, 1946, pp. 117-118).

     For more than 55 years, Northwestern University's Cooperative Engineering Education Program has adhered to this definition of cooperative education (co-op). Although many other engineering schools weakened the standards for their co-op programs to those of humanities internships, Northwestern continued to maintain the strength of the original concept.
      Since 1940, thousands of Northwestern engineering students have participated in the "cooperative system" on both a mandatory and a voluntary basis. Today, many leaders of business, industry, government, and academia are Northwestern alumni who participated in a co-op program conceived by some of the best engineering minds of the 20th Century. However, few outside of the close knit family of "NU Co-ops" know, or appreciate, the rich historical roots of the Northwestern Co-op Program.
      Unlike most cooperative engineering education programs, Northwestern did not add co-op to the engineering curriculum. Instead, Northwestern incorporated co-op into the original pedagogical design for the Technological Institute (Tech). The process by which such a curriculum was designed is replete with mystery and intrigue. Today, fact and rumor continue to surround the development of the Technological Institute and contribute to the richness of its history.

THE BEGINNING
     In the winter of 1936, Northwestern University President Walter Dill Scott received a letter from a lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. The lawyer, Mr. Royal E. Cabell, wrote that an unnamed client was interested in making a substantial bequest "toward establishing a school of engineering".
      Mr. Cabell had been directed by his client to investigate the needs of engineering education in the United States. Mr. Cabell surveyed the top universities in the country, as well as US industry. His research led to the discovery of a widespread belief that there was not a need for more engineering schools. If fact, the prevalent thought was that "graduates of liberal arts colleges succeeded in industry as well as graduates of colleges of engineering" (Scott, 1952, p. 79). Despite these findings, Mr. Cabell's client was committed to the "development in the United States of the science of engineering". His client was also dedicated to funding an engineering school which would be "second to none."
      The unnamed client concluded that there was a preponderance of engineering schools on both the east and west coasts but none of sufficient stature in the Midwest. Therefore, plans were made to establish an engineering school in the Chicago area.
     The discussions and negotiations of Cabell with the University of Chicago and Northwestern are given in the preceding chapter of this anthology by Michaelson. In March of 1936, Cabell met with E. T. Filbey, Dean of Faculties at the University of Chicago. Filbey told Cabell that "Chicago would be interested if there would be support of research and training in engineering that was as distinctive as work done there in other fields, not just another engineering school" (Michaelson, undated, pp 1-2). There was a follow-up meeting with Filbey in April. At this meeting, Cabell asked a series of questions including how the engineering school at the University of Chicago would be administered and what would be the nature of the school's working relations with industry. According to Michaelson (undated), memoranda were found which indicated that by the summer of 1936, Cabell was mentioning the "cooperative system" in his correspondence with Filbey. Correspondence could not be found which demonstrated that Filbey addressed the issue. However, it is known that he did express the University's interest in working with Mr. Cabell to design a school acceptable to his "principal".
      Meanwhile, upon receiving Mr. Cabell's letter, Northwestern University President Scott began the process of responding to the inquiry. During the process of drafting Northwestern's response, Scott reported that "Northwestern guessed the name of Mr. Cabell's principal". When this occurred, the University realized that its original response needed to be drastically revised. Scott consulted with some of the most influential engineers of the time to recast the original prospectus. Those consulted included: Dr. Charles Kettering, the premier technologist and inventor of the time and chief research engineer at General Motors, who had been the recipient of an honorary degree from Northwestern University; and Dr. Herman Schneider, one of the most innovative engineering educators of the time and dean of engineering at the University of Cincinnati. According to President Scott,

     ...Mr. Kettering enthusiastically agreed to cooperate and to ask several of the outstanding engineers in his organization to contribute their suggestions. He also took steps to secure the cooperation of Dean Herman Schneider, of the University of Cincinnati.
      Dean Schneider had been experimenting for many years with a new type of engineering education known as the cooperative system, which alternated study in the classroom and laboratory with periods of work in industry. Up to that time, the plan had been considered unimportant by the leading universities and technological schools in this country; in no institution had it received adequate financial support. Its merits, however, appealed strongly to Mr. Kettering, a practical businessman and engineer (Scott, 1952, p. 80).


      By the spring of 1936, Northwestern presented a 17 page prospectus to Mr. Cabell (Scott, 1936). Shortly thereafter, the University was notified that the donor had engaged Dean Schneider as his educational consultant and Dr. Kettering as an active participant in planning the "project".
      Apparently unknown to President Scott, Schneider's influence went well beyond the paradigm for the "cooperative system". Mr. Murphy had assigned him the task of identifying candidates to be the dean of the new school of engineering. The dean would have to have "...wide experience in industry and education and...look favorably on the idea of co-op. In addition, a new school had to be set up. The dean [had to] be an effective speaker with a dynamic personality" (Jacobs, 1958, p. 14).
      No one knew the extent of Schneider's involvement in the design of the new school. However, in 1938, a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati learned of it "quite by accident". Professor Clyde Park wrote to the vacationing Schneider about a speech he had heard delivered at the Convention of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, held at the Texas A. and M. College. The speech addressed current issues in engineering education and was presented by a representative of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.
      Upon receiving a hand written letter from Schneider requesting more information about the presenter, Park became aware that Schneider had a very special assignment. Schneider was interested in Park's impressions of the speaker's "ability in speaking, his use of English and his personality before audiences and in private conversation" (Park, 1943, p. 306).

605 Bay Street
Petoskey, MI
August 16, 1938

Dear Park:
      Many thanks for your good letter of August 12. This gives me just what I wanted. Of course, the reason for my initial search is very confidential, hence I do not want to ramify its lines too much. However if in an incidental off-hand way, you can get anything more..., I'd be glad to hear it. But beyond that we should not go; nor is it necessary for my immediate purpose.
      We have had a good vacation and all of us have gained a lot from it. I haven't done as much writing as I had planned. When I landed here I was mentally very tired. My literary attempts were flat. So I accepted my mind's protest and loafed a bit. Later some other things came along to occupy my thoughts,- result, no manuscript.
      Again my appreciation and my good wishes to you all for a fine vacation.

Sincerely

Herman Schneider

     The man identified to Herman Schneider was Ovid W. Eshbach. Dr. Eshbach was active in the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education (SPEE). In addition, he was well known in engineering schools throughout the country because of his book the Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals.
      Eshbach was involved in recruiting engineering graduates for AT&T. In that capacity, he was assigned to organize and implement a graduate co-op program between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and AT&T.
      In 1925, a new communications option was launched by Bell Systems and M.I.T.'s electrical engineering department. Ovid Eshbach was a relatively new AT&T employee at the time, having previously been an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Lehigh University.1 Eshbach had been hired to aid in student recruitment and placement. Therefore, he was the logical choice to put in charge of the new initiative with MIT
      Eshbach's diligence in organizing and administering the program was most evident during the Depression years of 1932 to 1937. When no work was available for the students participating in the MIT co-op program, he began the "Eshbach Handbook" project. He employed some of the young men, who had been laid off, to work on the project. The result was the Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals published in 1936 as one of the Wiley series of handbooks. By the time that Eshbach came to the attention of Dean Schneider, he had selected and followed the development of 11 classes in this graduate co-op program. Overall, Eshbach's background and experiences were an excellent fit with Murphy, Kettering, and Schneider and their plans for the school of engineering at Northwestern University.
      From 1936 to 1939; Murphy, Kettering, and Schneider further developed the Northwestern prospectus. President Scott had brought together three kindred spirits. Charles Kettering had worked on a farm and taught school before entering college. While in college, Kettering dug post-holes as part of a construction crew to earn money for his college education.
      Herman Schneider worked in a local architect's office while a student of engineering. After graduation he worked in the area of structural iron. Recognizing that his architectural experiences were important to his own engineering education, he used this awareness as the foundation for his pedagogical research and approach to engineering education.
      Walter Murphy worked as a rancher and as a fireman and mechanic on the railroads of the Midwest to support his family. While he did not have a college degree, Murphy completed two years at St. Louis University. However, he felt that he "owed a debt of gratitude to industry...." This sense of debt contributed to Murphy's commitment to furnish "industry with better trained and better prepared graduates in technical and engineering lines."
      According to Scott, "any one of these three might have been the first to recognize that industry furnishes a training laboratory for engineers which no college can equal. Actually, Herman Schneider was the first to make this idea the basis of engineering education. Charles Kettering was the first to make it respected by the industrial leaders in America. Walter P. Murphy was the first, and only, individual to be willing and able to subsidize a conclusive experiment in cooperative education." (Scott, 1952, p. 82)
      On March 20, 1939, it was announced that the Walter P. Murphy Foundation had given Northwestern University $6,735,000 to "erect the first unit of the Technological Institute and carry out, until six classes had graduated, the experiment in cooperative education in civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering" (Scott, 1952, p. 84). Three years later, upon his death, Mr. Murphy bequeathed almost $28,000,000 for the founding and support of the Technological Institute. The Murphy gift was "the largest contribution ever made by any one person in America to a single institution in support of training and research in one field of learning" (Scott, 1952, p. 92).
      When the Murphy gift was announced, the press found very little information about Mr. Murphy. His passion for anonymity, therefore, fostered speculation about his background and his accumulation of wealth. The speculation became as interesting as the bequest!
      Writing in the July 25, 1950, issue of the Michigan Society of Architects Weekly Bulletin, W.S. Woodfill recounted the story of Mr. Murphy sitting in the famous barber chair located in the Grand Hotel in Michigan when he made the decision to give money to Northwestern to erect a school of engineering. Mr. Woodfill's account of Mr. Murphy's background was equally interesting:

     Mr. Murphy came to this country as an Irish immigrant, or of modest Irish parentage, and settled in New York City. There he became the private secretary of the late 'Diamond Jim' Brady....
      Mr. Brady was of course the greatest of all railroad supply salesmen. As time went on, Mr. Murphy served Mr. Brady in executive capacities, and upon the death of Mr. Brady succeeded to much of his business, as he had developed those contacts in his association with Mr. Brady.
      Like Mr. Brady, he was always an especially well-groomed gentleman, but unlike Mr. Brady was never a conspicuous person with his habit of "diamonds".

     It is known that James Buchanan "Diamond Jim" Brady was a railroad tycoon and philanthropist. It is also know that he acquired his fortune as a railroad equipment salesman and started two steel railroad car manufacturing firms. While he also vacationed at the Grand Hotel, it is unknown how or when Walter Murphy may have worked for him. In fact, there is little support for Woodfill's description of Murphy's working relationship with Brady in Walter Dill Scott's biography of Murphy.
      Scott reported that Walter Murphy (1873 - 1942) was born in Pittsburgh and that his first job was as a fireman with the Cairo Shortline Railroad in 1889. Payroll records secured by Scott showed that Murphy made no more than $398.25 per year in his three years working for the Cairo Shortline. In 1894, he went to work for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Murphy joined the salesforce of his father's company, Standard Railroad Equipment, in 1900. However, Scott never mentioned Diamond Jim Brady in any connection with Murphy.
     (Editor's note: The date of the alleged barber chair happening was August 1939. The gift was announced in March 1939 so the barber shop affair is evidently a hoax.)
      Like his father and Kettering, Walter Murphy was an inventor. At the time of his death, he held 150 patents for equipment which became the standard for railroad cars. It is thought that he was instrumental in more than 1,500 other patents related to railroad equipment.
      Walter Dill Scott was the president of Northwestern throughout the negotiations and implementation of the gift. He described Walter Murphy as follows:

     No one can fully appreciate the qualities of Walter P. Murphy who has not seen him in action. His enthusiasm, his ingratiating personality, his fluent speech, his high idealism-all combined to make him stand out...as one of the greatest Americans he [Scott] has had the pleasure of meeting (Scott, 1952, p. x - xi).
      This is the legacy of the Co-op Program at Northwestern University.

THE COOPERATIVE SYSTEM EXPERIMENT
      When Mr. Murphy gave the gift of over $6,000,000, it was with the understanding that the "cooperative system", or Co-op Program, would be given a trial. The first six, entering classes of Tech were to have participated in the "experiment". Students in civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering were to take five years to complete their undergraduate degrees by combining classroom instruction with work experience in industry. The experiment was to have gone on over a ten year period. Leadership of the program was critical.
      It was widely speculated that Herman Schneider would come to Northwestern as dean of cooperative education. In fact, in the design of the Technological Institute, two identical offices were planned. One was for the dean of academics and the other was for the dean of the co-op program. However, within days of the Walter P. Murphy Foundation signing the contract to build the Technological Institute, Dean Schneider died in March of 1939.

In April of 1939, Walter Murphy was quoted in School and Society:
...I have long been interested in the problems of thorough training of engineers and business executives and have given considerable study and thought to this subject. Aided by contacts with Dean Schneider, the pioneer of the cooperative system, Dr. Charles F. Kettering, the distinguished research engineer and scientist, and others, I reached the conclusion that the cooperative system offered the very best solution to this problem. (p. 424)

     It was felt by many that Murphy's endorsement of Dean Schneider's "cooperative system" had firmly established co-op as a pedagogical approach in American higher education and validated the strength of Schneider's ideas. In deed, the "cooperative system" had succeeded in surviving the Great Depression.
      Upon the death of Schneider, President Scott, Dr. Kettering, and Mr. Murphy turned to Dean R. C. Disque at Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University) for guidance in conducting the "experiment". Drexel Institute had been among the first schools of engineering to implement the cooperative system on a mandatory basis.
      In 1940, F. George Seulberger, who had been a coordinator of cooperative education at Drexel, was hired to initiate the cooperative education system at Northwestern University. While the first students in the Cooperative Education Program at Tech began their cooperative work assignments in the fall of 1940, the experiment could not take place as originally planned.
      The Technological Institute was dedicated in 1942, within months of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was scheduled to attend the two-day scientific and industrial conference marking the dedication but obviously was unable to do so. Almost immediately the federal government elected to use Tech as one of its most advanced research and training facilities for the armed forces. The state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment made possibly by the Murphy gift were necessary to the war effort. The postponement of the "experiment" was not a disappointment to Mr. Murphy. He took great pride in the fact that Tech had become a center for governmental research and training.
      At the same time, the national pressure for manpower to fight the war on two fronts meant students had to accelerate their programs. This caused the abandonment of the cooperative system for all students, except those classified as "F-4" under the Selective Service. Since there were always a few such students, Tech never completely abandoned the cooperative system. Therefore, today it is among the oldest, continuous cooperative engineering education programs in the country.
      However, during the war, Professor Seulberger served as the University's dean of students while Clarence Watson, assistant professor of Cooperative Education, placed the few students still available to participate in Co-op. After the war, the mandatory Co-op Program was reinstated. Every Tech student, unless a veteran of World War II, was required to participate.
      Watson became associate professor of Cooperative Education and Chairman of the Department of Industrial Relations and Seulberger returned to Tech in 1950. Seulberger was named assistant dean of the Technological Institute in 1952. In the mid 1950's, Watson had left Tech to join the staff of the Ford Foundation. Throughout the 1950's the Co-op Program flourished.
      In the early 1950's, Tech hosted the mid-winter meeting of the Cooperative Education Division of the SPEE. The meeting was part of Northwestern's centennial program. It became a celebration of the contributions of Walter Murphy, Charles Kettering, and Herman Schneider in establishing cooperative education as a significant pedagogical approach.

EVALUATING THE "EXPERIMENT"
      Because the war had interrupted the "experiment", it was not until the 1950's that an evaluation of the "cooperative system" could take place. Before his retirement in 1953, Dean Eshbach began this evaluation process. He asked the department chairmen to formulate questions about the co-op program. They were instructed not to come up with the answers, only the questions.
      In 1954, Dean Donald H. Loughridge, who succeeded Eshbach as dean, appointed a faculty committee to evaluate the "cooperative system" experiment. The committee was chaired by Professor Jenness and had such members as Professors James Van Ness and William Brazelton (a graduate of the first Co-op class in 1943).
      It is important to keep in mind that the evaluation of co-op took place in a time of great turmoil in engineering education. Engineering faculties everywhere were debating the applied versus science-based engineering education. During this time, cooperative education was seen by some faculty as representative of the purely applied side of engineering and, therefore, of limited value in the engineering education revolution of the late 1950's.
      In his writings on the subject, Seulberger pointed out that some faculty may not have realized that the work that co-ops were performing on the job was changing also. Their work was becoming increasingly more sophisticated and reflective of the trend toward a more scientific approach to engineering.
      Nonetheless, the Jenness Committee found that the five year, undergraduate program for co-op students was negatively impacting admissions. In the 1950's, engineering jobs were abundant for engineering graduates at the BS level. In addition, more students planned to continue their engineering education at the graduate level. Consequently, the five year Co-op program was viewed by some prospective students as a disincentive. As a result enrollment in the Technological Institute was suffering.
      The Jenness Committee proposed to change the Co-op Program from mandatory to voluntary. The proposal was driven by the changing needs of faculty and students. John Van Ness and Ronald Sardiga (1959) reported that "by making co-op optional the faculty did not mean to imply that they [felt] co-op [had] outlived its usefulness. Instead, the move was intended to add more flexibility to the program by allowing students to choose for themselves whether or not to elect co-op. The...feeling [was]...that co-op is a superior form of engineering education" (p.20).
      The motion to make co-op optional in the Technological Institute was first made at a faculty meeting in the Fall of 1955. After motions to amend the recommendation, the issue was tabled and not brought up again until 1957. In the intervening time Dean Loughridge stepped down and Dr. Eshbach returned as Acting Dean until Harold B. Gotaas was selected as Dean of Engineering in 1957.
      In May of 1957, Jenness presented the co-op findings at a faculty meeting. He again made the motion to move co-op to an optional basis. This time the faculty of the Technological Institute voted to make cooperative education a voluntary. After a year of preparation for the change, the first entering class to have co-op as an "option" rather than a "requirement" was the freshmen class of 1959-60.
      Unfortunately, the implementation of a voluntary program was made without changing the alternating schedule of school and work. Tech maintained a system of alternation which was viable for mandatory schools but not practical for optional programs. It was quite predictable that under a voluntary system of co-op the entering classes, assigned to work exclusively during the fall and spring quarters and attend school only during the winter and summer, would show a significant decrease in selecting the co-op option. This was certainly true for Tech. Co-op enrollment declined significantly for those entering Tech classes assigned to be "on co-op" exclusively on the fall/spring schedule.
      It is important to keep in mind that the decision to make co-op voluntary was made against the backdrop of a significant event in the history of science and engineering. "The launching of the Russian Sputnik [satellite] in 1957 gave new impetus to the revolution already underway in American engineering education. Out of the national embarrassment at not being first into space came the common agreement that we must improve our education institutions to regain...world power" (Northwestern Engineer, 1963, p. 10). The federal government began committing vast resources in order to "catch up" with the Russian space initiative. The general theme, at the time, was that "the technical fields were not science oriented enough." Therefore, schools of engineering placed increased emphasis on obtaining government funding to conduct research and adding scientific and engineering scholars to their faculties.
      Once again, the national agenda impacted the role of cooperative education in the Technological Institute. The agenda was to produce scientific and engineering manpower quickly. A five year co-op program did not fit the needs of every student nor did it fit the needs of the increasing numbers of faculty members who were trying to foster the development of Ph.D. level engineers. Two years after the Northwestern Co-op Program became voluntary, Dean Seulberger reported that 81 percent of Tech's sophomore class elected to participate in the five-year cooperative work program.
      Throughout the 1960's, the Technological Institute maintained the pedagogical soundness of Schneider's "cooperative system" and George Seulberger continued to oversee the Tech Co-op Program. During this period, students were placed and counseled by co-op faculty which included James Woodbury, Merle Dowd, Tom Brinkmann, Ray Lindenmeyer, and Richard Cole.
      Upon his retirement from Tech, and from co-op, Dean Seulberger was recognized by the Cooperative Education Association for his work in founding Tech's program and for his 40 years of service to the field. Fittingly, he was presented with the "Herman Schneider Award", the highest honor bestowed on a co-op professional.

EPILOGUE
      Herman Schneider's concept, which was supported by Charles Kettering and financed by Walter Murphy, has not only withstood the test of the Great Depression, World War II, and the "Space Race"; it has also withstood the test of the economic turbulence of the last 25 years. In recognition of this achievement, Dean Jerome B. Cohen, the sixth dean of the Technological Institute, reaffirmed Tech's commitment to the prominence cooperative education on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of co-op at Northwestern. In 1989, he renamed the program, the Walter P. Murphy Cooperative Engineering Education Program.
      The golden anniversary of the founding of the program was a fitting time to validate Mr. Murphy's rationale for financing the most significant test of Dean Schneider's "cooperative system" in the United States. Mr. Murphy's description of the program's appeal was clearly stated in his June 15, 1940, letter to the President and Board of Trustees of Northwestern on the dedication of the Technological Institute:

This cooperative system appealed strongly to me as truly American, combining in itself the highest type of classroom instruction in theory with synchronized and coordinated training in the actual workshops of highest type cooperative industries in the practical application of theory so taught in the classroom. It offers an opportunity to any young man having brains, aptitude, and backbone to secure an education of the highest type both in the theory and practice of his chosen technical or engineering profession, even though he may have little financial support with which to begin; and the young man upon completion of his course in engineering under this system has received such training in theory alone with such actual practice in operation that he is ready upon graduation to proceed at once in his chosen field...

Walter P. Murphy
Scott, p.87)

      A new mission statement for the Walter P. Murphy Cooperative Engineering Education Program was drafted in 1993. The new mission statement reflected the values and philosophy of Schneider's concept and Walter Murphy's commitment to it.

To be an acknowledged leader in preparing, placing, and supporting diverse and talented Cooperative Education students in business, industry, and government as an essential part of the engineering education process.

     During the 1990's, enrollment in the Walter P. Murphy Co-op Program has doubled, growing from 140 to over 285 students. The growth has led to administrative changes which once again, gives Co-op a direct report to the dean of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
      With the director of the Co-op Program holding the position of associate dean and associate professor of cooperative engineering education the Walter P. Murphy Cooperative Engineering Education Program moves into the 21st Century poised to continue the legacy of Walter Murphy, Herman Schneider, and Charles Kettering. The commitment to assure that all students in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science are able "to secure an education of the highest type both in theory and practice of...engineering" remains strong and vital.
      Whether mandatory or voluntary, the Walter P. Murphy experiment has been an unprecedented success! The impressive numbers of corporate executives, academic leaders, and high government officials who can say they are graduates of the Northwestern Co-op Program continue to be the best and most sustaining testimony to the strength and wisdom of the Walter P. Murphy Cooperative Engineering Education Program.

REFERENCES

Anonymous, "The Cooperative System of Engineering Education", School and Society, XLIX, April 1, 1939

Anonymous, "Post World War II", Journal of Engineering Education, April, 1971.

Anonymous, "The Conflict and Tech", Northwestern Engineer, May 1963.

Brazelton, W. T., Interview, Technological Institute, November, 1994.

Carlson, R. E., "An Anonymous Friend - Walter P. Murphy", Northwestern Engineer, Vol 26, No. 2, March, 1967.

Co-op Comments, Northwestern University Technological Institute, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Vol 21, No. 1, Fall, 1989.

Freund, "The Cooperative System - A Manifesto", Journal of Engineering Education, October, 1946.

Jacobs, S. J., "Ovid W. Eshbach: Tech's First Dean - Not To Be Forgotten", Northwestern Engineer, Vol 17, No. 2, May 1958.

Michaelson, R., "Opportunity Lost and Gained: A Sidelight on the Walter P. Murphy Gift", This Anthology

Mintzer, D. Interview, Technological Institute, August 1995.

Neyens A. W. and Kirkpatrick, R. K., "Tech Deans", Northwestern Engineer, Vol 26, No. 2, March, 1967.

Park, C. W., Ambassador to Industry: The Idea and Life of Herman Schneider, Bobbs-Merrill Company, NY, 1943.

Scott, W. D., "A Proposed School of Engineering for Northwestern University", 1936.

Scott, W. D., Walter Patton Murphy 1873-1942: A Biography, C.O. Owening and Co., 1952.

Seulberger, F. G., Cooperative Education", Northwestern Engineer, Northwestern Engineer, Vol 26, No. 2, March, 1967.

Staff of The College Blue Book, On the Survey of College-Level Cooperative Education, Christian E. Burchel Publisher, New York, August 30, 1958.

Van Ness, J.W. & Sardiga, R. E., "Seniors Survey Co-op", Northwestern Engineer, Vol 18, No. 1, February 1959.

Wagner, W.F., "Cooperative Engineering Education", Factory Management and Maintenance, November, 1952.

Wildes, K. L., "Ovid W. Eshbach: His First Experience with Co-Op", Northwestern Engineer, Vol 17, No. 2, May 1958.

 
     
 

RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE
EARLY YEARS AT TECH
by
John R. Eshbach

     During my junior year in high school (l938-39) our parents informed my sister and me that our father had been approached to become dean of a new engineering school at Northwestern University. That simple announcement was the first indication of major changes in the lives of each member of our family. For my father, Ovid Wallace Eshbach, it was the beginning of a new phase of his career, a challenging and rewarding association with Northwestern that would continue for the rest of his life. My mother, Clara, as the dean's wife, would become the hostess of many faculty gatherings, a role she undertook with trepidation but fulfilled with uncommon graciousness. Her reward was the many close and lasting friendships she made among the Tech faculty and their family members. For my sister, Frances, and myself the immediate effect was a move to a new part of the country and a new school system, leaving behind childhood friends and making new ones. But, unforeseen at that time, both my sister and I would also tie our futures to Northwestern by later enrolling as students, graduating and maintaining a lifelong devotion to the University. From my own family's experiences it is clear to me that many people besides those on the faculty and staff of the school have shared, at least emotionally, in the building and further development of the Northwestern Technological Institute.
      Our home at the time of my father's appointment was in a suburb just north of Philadelphia and my dad commuted daily to his job at AT&T in lower Manhattan, New York City. I recall being surprised and a bit puzzled at first over why he would have been selected from his position as Special Assistant in the Personnel Relations Department of AT&T to lead this major undertaking at a prestigious midwest university. I was also surprised to learn that Northwestern was located no farther west than suburban Chicago. All I knew about Northwestern at that time was that it was a member of the Big Ten Athletic Conference. As I learned more about the University and its beautiful campus, located on the shore of Lake Michigan, I became very excited and was eager for our move and the prospect of an early and close association with college life. The question about my father's selection to be dean clearly had two aspects - the requirements of the job and his qualifications. As we shall see, I came to realize that he fit the job perfectly.
      In general, this memoir will follow a chronological sequence. I must ask the reader's indulgence, however, as I will inevitably intertwine three threads of storyline - elements of Northwestern's history, recollections of my father and my personal experiences. Following some comments about Walter Murphy's intent in making his gift to Northwestern I'll give a brief perspective on the history of engineering at the University prior to the founding of Tech. Then I'll continue the story of my father's background, his tenure at Tech and some of my own experiences.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     The key event in the establishment of Tech was, of course, the gift in l939 of $6,735,000 to the University from the Chicago inventor and industrialist, Walter Patten Murphy (1). It had been Murphy's ambition to spend his wealth wisely "in the creation of a great institution of human service." After considering various projects he decided that "support of education would be more appropriate and mostory of my father's background, his tenure at Tech and some of my own experiences. Also I felt that my chief responsibility was to promote industry through education." (2)
      In a statement that he prepared for placement in the cornerstone of the new Tech building Mr. Murphy describes the thorough investigation that he undertook to determine which direction his efforts should take - support of an existing school, a new scientific and engineering research institute, or a new engineering school; whether a new school should be along traditional lines or take a new direction; and where a new school should be located. Apparently at first Murphy considered establishing an institute more along the lines of MIT, i.e., with emphasis on graduate studies and research. But in the end he was strongly influenced by Charles F. Kettering, chief research engineer for General Motors, who was emphatic in his belief in the cooperative system of engineering education as the best way to educate engineers to meet the needs of industry. Murphy's investigations also indicated that the Chicago area was the location in greatest need for an outstanding engineering school, a conclusion toward which he was no doubt predisposed.
      Further background on Murphy's gift and discussion of the intricate negotiations preceding it are related in other chapters of this anthology, in particular in the very interesting contribution by Robert Michaelson.(4) Murphy's own writings, as well as notes made by University President Walter Dill Scott in personal meetings with Murphy, show that he also examined Northwestern in depth before committing his resources.(3,5) He was intensely curious about the University's management, its finances, endowment, scholarship programs, and its dormitories and other facilities. These same references make it very clear that he wanted the new school to be based on the cooperative plan of undergraduate engineering education and that he wanted the students, the faculty and the curriculum to be of the highest order - "second to none" - a phrase that later would be much debated.
      It is also clear that Murphy wanted to maintain a very close personal relationship with "his" school. He was by nature a very private person. He did not want the school to be named after him nor would be appear in public or on the programs of ceremonies, such as at the cornerstone laying or the dedication of the new building. However, he followed very closely, personally and through his advisors, the progress of the design and construction of the building, the hiring of faculty, plans for the curriculum and the various financial matters. He stated that from time to time he would like to pass to the University applications for candidates for admission to the new school.(5) He said that he looked forward to the day when he would be living regularly in Lake Forest and could devote most of his attention to the Institute. Unfortunately, his death in l942 precluded this from coming true.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     The early history of engineering education at Northwestern has been discussed in the context of the overall history of the University in Northwestern University - A History l850-l975, by H. F. Williamson and P. S. Wild.(6) I've found a reading of that history to be very interesting in light of the events leading to Murphy's gift. I come to the clear conclusion that from the time of the founding of the University until at least the mid-l920's the Trustees and Administration were quite ambivalent about the role of engineering in the educational mission of the University. They were also somewhat naive about the financial resources needed to provide viable facilities for technical education.
     From its founding the cornerstone of the University was the College of Literature and Science (later the College of Liberal Arts and now the College of Arts and Sciences) and its overall character was one of an institution of broad education. The early professional schools associated with the University, the Medical College and the College of Law, were graduate schools - schools to be entered after a liberal education had already been acquired. By contrast Northwestern's first College of Technology was founded in l873 to provide "quasi-professional training at an undergraduate level for students entering the fields of applied science and engineering".7 The course of study emphasized the basic sciences, physics and chemistry, and permitted electives during the last two undergraduate years to meet "the great variety of ends which the students may desire to attain".
      It seems evident that this College of Technology was founded more as a rounding out of the educational choices available at Northwestern than as a serious attempt to become a first-rate engineering school. The College of Technology was apparently a marginal undertaking. This viewpoint is supported by the fact that it was promptly discontinued only three years after its founding when a financial crisis hit the University.8 This decision was rationalized in the President's Report for l880-8l with a statement of principle that "To teach the trades, to make artisans, engineers, .....is not directly the purpose of this College". At the time of the demise of the College of Technology President Marcy "urged Northwestern to stay out of this field unless it could obtain a large endowment to support a curriculum in technical education". Note the ambivalence; did engineering not fit the purpose of the University, or was it just too expensive?
      While the soundness of President Marcy's advice may seem to presage the Murphy gift and endowment of l939 and l942, it was not fully heeded in the interim. Engineering education at Northwestern with continuity to the present began with the Trustees' discussions in April l907 and the gift of $l50,000 by the Gustavus Swift family (the noted Chicago meat packers, Swift and Co.)(9) That gift was used for the construction of an engineering building, the Swift Hall of Engineering, completed in l909.(10) No reference is made to funding for equipment or endowment for staffing, maintenance and the continual upgrading necessary to stay in the forefront of technical developments. Nevertheless, a small but viable College of Engineering under the able direction of Dean John F. Hayford was maintained from its beginning until his death in l925.
      Soon after Dean Hayford's death President Scott "was not satisfied that the College of Engineering was offering the kind of program that would make it a distinguished center for engineering that it could be and that Chicago needed....."11 . A study committee's recommendations imply that it found some of the same problems as with the curriculum of the earlier College of Technology, namely, that the emphasis was too much on broad education and the basic sciences and not enough on technical training.
      Debate as to proper balance between breadth of education versus depth of technical studies has been ongoing from the earliest days of the engineering profession even to the present. The preeminent engineering schools, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology, which were founded primarily for technical and scientific training, generally have faced the problem from the opposite direction than have schools like Northwestern. Such schools have found it necessary to augment their technical curricula with courses in literature, languages, history, etc. in order to produce graduates who are fully prepared to function well in society.
      To address this problem of balance, the feasibility of a merger between Northwestern's College of Engineering and Armour Institute of Technology was seriously discussed in the late l920's.(12) Armour Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) was known for its strength in technical training and was in fact sometimes unfairly referred to as a "trade school". (It derives its name from its founder, Philip Armour, head of the other large Chicago meat packer, Armour and Co.). By l929, evidently for financial reasons, it was decided that this merger would not take place.
      The future of engineering education at Northwestern reached a critical junction in l937 when, after declining enrollments during the recent years, the school was denied accreditation during a national survey of engineering schools carried out by the Engineers' Council for Professional Development.(13) Again, a major criticism was that the curriculum was too heavily weighted with non-professional courses. It was at this time that Mr. Murphy's desire to found a major engineering school and President Scott's concern for the quality of Northwestern's College of Engineering converged.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     Prior to his appointment as Dean, my father was already well known in engineering education circles. He was particularly well known at schools which offered a cooperative plan option to their undergraduates.
      In my youth, I was rather oblivious to his position in the engineering community. I knew that he had graduated with honors in Electrical Engineering from Leigh University in l9l5 and that he had held various teaching and engineering jobs in the early part of his career. By the time I was old enough to be more inquisitive about his job he was commuting daily from our home near Philadelphia to AT&T headquarters in Manhattan. His work there in the Personnel Relations Department was largely a mystery to me. From time to time he went on trips to visit various universities, presumably to acquaint the engineering departments with employment opportunities at AT&T and in the Bell System more generally and to interview promising students.
      As I grew up I heard more and more about his involvement with the S.P.E.E. (Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education) and the A.I.E.E. (American Institute of Electrical Engineers). He served on various committees of these organizations and attended their annual conventions, always taking our family along to vacation in different parts of the country. He was a member of the Regional Accrediting Committee of the Engineers' Council for Professional Development. In that capacity he helped evaluate the curricula of many engineering schools and "knew a good one when he saw it". I don't know whether he was a member of the team that evaluated Northwestern in l937. He was also a member of the Special Advisory Committee to the President's Committee on Civil Service Improvement and in l932 he directed a survey of adult technical education for the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York.
      A major project that my dad carried out in l934-36 was the organizing and editing of the "Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals", volume one of the John Wiley & Sons Engineering Handbook Series.(14) This work put his name in front of virtually every engineer and engineering student in the country for years to come. Even today, when I meet an engineer for the first time, I'm often asked, "Are you related to the handbook?".
      A key element in my father's resume was his association with the cooperative plan of engineering education. From l926 through l939 a very significant part of his work at AT&T was in coordinating the Bell System - MIT Cooperative Plan. This plan, an option in the Electrical Engineering Department at MIT, permitted selected students to alternate study terms at MIT with terms of work, either with the Bell System or with the General Electric Company. In addition to interviewing, hiring and placing the students within the Bell System, my father monitored their progress, counseled them and followed their careers even after graduation. Beyond that he was also an adjunct MIT professor and taught electrical engineering courses for the MIT students co-oping at Bell. In the late l930's, one of these students was Vernon Lippit, later, and for many years, an outstanding member of the EE faculty at Northwestern. Outside of his AT&T job, my dad also taught evening classes for four years for the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn during this period.
      Later, when he was Dean at Northwestern, my father always had himself assigned to teach an undergraduate quiz section, usually in physics. His official excuse was that, as Dean, he wanted to personally monitor the quality of the students attending his school. The fact was that he loved to teach and I'm sure it provided a welcome diversion from his administrative duties. Even more than teaching in classes, he made and took every opportunity for personal contact, one on one, with his students.
      Through his association with the MIT co-op program, my father became well acquainted with cooperative plans and their coordinators at other schools, including the University of Cincinnati under Dean Herman Schneider and Drexel Institute in Philadelphia under Dean Robert Disque. Dean Schneider was the acknowledged originator of the cooperative plan and was a close friend of Charles Kettering, the advisor who strongly influenced Walter Murphy concerning the co-op plan. Kettering was a noted inventor and founder of the Charles F. Kettering Laboratories near Dayton, Ohio. These laboratories had become a part of General Motors in l9l6 and Kettering was made Vice-President in charge of research for GM. It was through the Kettering connection that the agreement between the Murphy Foundation and Northwestern specified that Dean Schneider be appointed advisor to the University regarding policies affecting the new Tech school. Following Schneider's death in September l939 Dean Bisque was appointed to replace him. Thus it was through the reputation that my father had acquired, as an engineer, as an author, as a teacher and administrator, and through the associations he had developed in the community of engineering educators, especially those promoting the cooperative plan, that he came to be selected to lead the new venture at Northwestern.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     My father very quickly engaged himself fully in the planning and organizing tasks associated with his new job. Even before moving to the Evanston area there were trips to Northwestern for discussions with the University Administration and to become acquainted with the existing engineering faculty. The full-time engineering faculty at that time was quite small, only about a dozen professors of all ranks, several of which were near retirement. So faculty recruitment was a top priority.
      Appointment of department heads for the new institute was particularly critical for several reasons. They would be key for the further hiring of faculty and staff for their departments. Their inputs would be required in the planning of the new building, the laboratories, classrooms and other facilities. They would have to plan the curricula for their departments and coordinate with the other departments and colleges of the University. Course descriptions would have to be written for inclusion in the Institute catalog for the use of prospective students.
      I recall that before moving to Evanston suddenly there were many more long distance phone calls than was usual in our home. I particularly remember my father's elation when he was assured that Dr. John Calvert would join the Institute as Chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department. Calvert came from the University of Pittsburgh and also had association with the Westinghouse Company. I recall that he visited us in Philadelphia for discussions with my father about their new school. The Calverts and my parents became very close friends for the rest of their lives. Burgess Jennings was recruited to be head of Mechanical Engineering and later was Associate Dean. William E. Brinker, Jr., as Chairman of Chemical Engineering, was another acquisition that greatly pleased my father.
      My father was forty-six years old when he became Dean but in spite of his relative youth he quickly gained the respect and trust of the more senior members of the existing faculty. Professor George Maney, who had been acting Dean of the prior College of Engineering, became Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department and held that position for several years until his retirement. Professor Herbert Philbrick had been Chairman of Mechanical Engineering but had just reached retirement age. He became an Emeritus Professor and continued to live in Evanston. "Phil" also became a close friend and a particularly valued counselor to my dad. Augmenting their natural friendship was the fact that Professor Philbrick and my dad shared the same birthday, April l3th. This also happens to be Thomas Jefferson's birthday (exactly l50 years earlier than my dad's). Each year my dad and Phil would get together on their day for lunch at the Faculty Club and would have a third place set for Tom. He never showed up; he was always unavoidably detained.
      An important early addition to the faculty was F. George Seulberger, who, as a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and a former faculty member at Drexel Institute, had had wide experience with the cooperative plan. He was appointed Professor of Cooperative Education at Tech and quickly established relationships with over forty companies, mostly in the greater Chicago area, suitable for placement of engineering students for their co-op work assignments. Professor Seulberger had a long career with Northwestern, later serving as Assistant Dean of Tech and also as Chairman of the Faculty Athletic Committee of the University.
      There were several other departments in other colleges of the University that would be particularly critical to the Tech curricula. In the College of Liberal Arts these included Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I recall that my father was especially concerned about whether the Physics faculty was adequate to take on the anticipated teaching load as the Tech enrollment built up. My recollection is that there were very few physics majors at Northwestern at that time and that the courses being taught were mainly supplemental to other curricula. But math and science courses would be basic for the engineering curricula and would be taken by all Tech students. Thus the founding of Tech required expansion of the faculty in these other departments as well as revision and additions to the courses offered.
      The Physics and Chemistry Departments were to be housed in the new Tech building even though they would remain in the College of Liberal Arts administratively. Thus those departments were intimately involved in the design of the building and laboratories as well as in coordinating curricula and schedules.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

      As the faculty positions began to be filled, my father's efforts turned more toward planning the new building. From late l939 through the next couple of years I well remember my dad spending even his evenings and weekends in his study at home pouring over the blueprints. No detail escaped his attention. I know that he tremendously enjoyed working with the first class architectural firm, Halberd and Root, and later with the contractor, E. C. Wieboldt. The fact that my father was starting his tenure at Northwestern with the construction of a major new building on campus put him in a close working relationship with several departments of the University administration. He developed a friendship and respect for Harry Wells, Vice-president and Business Manager, and Tom Gonser, of the Department of Development, as well as many others.
      The design of the building was significantly influenced by my father's approach to establishing a first class engineering school. His initial goal, coinciding exactly with Walter Murphy's , was to provide top quality undergraduate education. Both he and Murphy wanted a school where young students could receive the best foundation possible on which to build useful and rewarding careers. Advanced research and curricula for graduate degrees would logically come later. Thus the design of the original building placed emphasis on fine lecture halls, classrooms, library, staff offices and laboratories that were primarily "teaching" laboratories, in contrast to what might be considered "research" laboratories. The new building would be the largest on the Evanston campus at that time, having over ten acres of floor space.
      Before construction could begin a building site had to be prepared. The location chosen required the razing of the University's field house, "old Patten Gym", moving en masse the Dearborn Observatory, a stone structure, and relocating the Shakespeare Gardens. Each of these projects engendered its own controversy. With the demolition of the field house a new but smaller Patten Gym was designed and built at the north end of the fraternity quadrangles. The new gym would be adequate only for physical education classes, for intramural events and varsity team practices for basketball, wrestling and swimming. It also contained the Athletic Department offices. But there was no provision for spectators and therefore it was not suitable for varsity intercollegiate events. The Athletic Department was not happy. For several years Northwestern's varsity basketball games were played either in the Evanston High School gym or in the Chicago Stadium. Some swim meets were held in New Trier High School's elegant facility. It would be many years before a new and adequate field house and other athletic facilities would be provided at the Dyche Stadium and other sites.
      I recall that my father spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to pacify a constituency devoted to the maintenance of the Shakespeare Gardens. While he understood their unhappiness and had sympathy for their cause, he approached that problem with a good deal of amusement. I believe that the work required to reestablish the gardens was paid for out of the Tech school building budget.
      Ground was broken on April l, l940 and a cornerstone laying ceremony was held on June l5, l940. Construction was well underway and proceeded smoothly until a major setback occurred on December 2, l940. A fire on that date caused an estimated $700,000 damage and delayed completion by several months. I have a very clear recollection of that event. It was during the first term of my freshman year at Tech. I was living at home and commuted daily by car with my father. That morning, as we approached the campus, driving south on Sheridan Road, the scene ahead was one of fire trucks and hoses covering the street in front of the Tech construction site. Anticipating a disaster, my adrenaline rose and I became very excited. I'm not sure what I expected my father to do, perhaps part the car and rush to the scene. However, he told me to go get ready for my classes and said simply, "they'll take care of it". Characteristically, he calmly drove on, circumventing the scene, and went to his office in Swift Hall.
      The fire was believed to be caused by an overheated "salamander", one of those open drums in which a fire is burned to maintain the surrounding area above freezing while newly poured concrete is curing. The new concrete was covered with straw and tarpaulins were hung to partially enclose the areas and entrap the warm air. The materials that burned of course were the straw, the tarpaulins and the wooden forms. The value of these materials was of little consequence. The very significant loss came from the fact that the water in the still curing concrete turned to steam, causing the reinforced concrete floor slabs and pillars to crack and explode, bending and twisting the steel reinforcing rods in the process. Even areas that the fire had not reached were affected due to expansion of concrete slabs in adjacent regions. Significant portions of the partially completed structure had to be torn down and rebuilt.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     Admission of students to the new Tech school did not wait for the building to be completed. Remarkably, the first class of freshmen entered in the fall of l939, just six months after the Murphy gift had been announced and two years before the building would be ready for occupancy. Forty-three students entered at that time, augmented later by transfers to become a graduating class of sixty-three. Since it was the first class in his new school, my father paid particularly close attention to it. It was always his objective to get to know each of the Tech students personally and he did so to an exceptional degree over many years. But this class was special. He felt a strong commitment to each member. His feeling of responsibility was no doubt enhanced because he knew that each one of them had put their futures in the hands of a school that was still under development. He followed them and maintained contact with many of them throughout their careers. As years went by few things gave him greater than to be paid a casual visit by one of these men from the "first" class.
      This class was unique, too, in the wonderful class spirit that developed, more than in any subsequent class that I am aware of. They organized themselves and elected class officers; they held class outings; they helped establish the Northwestern Chapter of Tau Beta Pi; and they promoted the idea of a Tech magazine, which became the very successful Northwestern Engineer. Upon graduation, they published a keepsake volume, "The First Graduating Class", containing photographs of each faculty and class member, a class history and other memorabilia. (15)
      I entered Tech with the second entering class, in September l940, still one year before the building was to be occupied. The fact that the building was not ready for use did not particularly hamper the studies of these first two entering classes. Several of the prescribed courses, freshman english, math, economics, etc. met in other classroom buildings on campus, and the beginning engineering courses, such as drafting and machine shop, were accommodated in the old engineering building, Swift Hall. Chemistry and physics classes, later to be housed in the Tech building, met in their then existing quarters in Fayerweather Hall at the south end of the campus. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful feeling in the fall of l94l to start the year in brand new classrooms and laboratories. Also, since many classes were not held in the same building and that building was near the men's dormitories and fraternity houses, travel time and distance between classes and from class to living quarters was considerably reduced.
      During the early years of Tech, the University scheduled classes on the semester system and the freshman courses for Tech students were programmed accordingly. However, starting in the second year, Tech students began their co-op assignments and their school and co-op terms went over to the quarter system. It was anticipated that during the last four years of the five year program the Tech students would alternate between quarters in school and quarters in industry. Half of a given class would start their co-op assignments in the fall of their second year and the other half would start that year in school. I well remember that it seemed as if half of my Tech classmates and friends that I had made in my freshman year had vanished at the end of that year. After July l943, when wartime conditions required that the co-op program be put on hold for most Tech students, my entire class was in school again at the same time.
      When Tech was on the quarter system and the rest of the University was on the semester system, those departments that had courses for both Tech and other University students experienced severe scheduling problems. Within very few years the entire University went to the quarter system. While it was not required, I started my co-op experience during the summer after my freshman year, working for the Bell Telephone Co. of Pennsylvania. My job, in a telephone exchange central office, consisted mostly of making wiring changes in accordance with orders for changes in customer service. The pay was 40 cents an hour. So, for a forty hour week, I received $l6.00. I had only three more quarters of co-op, since after July l, l943 the Navy Vl2-NROTC program required full time in school. These last three co-op quarters were with the Allis-Chalmers Co. in West Allis, Wisconsin. There I worked in three different areas - power substation transformers, voltage regulators for diesel-electric railroad engines and control panels for aircraft carrier elevators. I still value very greatly the hands-on experience in the Allis-Chalmers plant at that time in my education and maturing and I still like to reflect on my last co-op quarter. The experience was valuable but, again, the pay barely covered carfare and lunch. My pay was then 65 cents per hour but it was wartime and we worked a lot of overtime. We worked ten hours a day Monday through Friday; we worked alternate weekends, eight hours on Saturday and eight hours on Sunday. Taking account of the overtime rates, we averaged 69 hours of pay per week, which in my case amounted to $44.85 per week. Luckily there was little time or energy left for spending money anyway, except for necessities. I relate my co-op experience as an example, fairly typical of the times and of the experiences of other Tech students.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     In l941 World War II was upon us. Prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, l94l, I don't recall that as students there was a great deal of concern that our university education would not go forward as planned. There was some uncertainty, of course, since the war in Europe had already been raging for over two years. However, until that time it seemed possible that United States participation might be limited to supplying material and non-combat support to our allies. There was, of course, considerable readiness activity on the national level and I'm sure there must have been much more discussion and planning within the University administration than I and most students were aware of. After Pearl Harbor, however, our outlook changed considerably.
      The immediate effect on university students of the declaration of war was the creation of greater uncertainty. It was fairly clear that most men would be drafted eventually or otherwise called to active duty. The uncertainty was the timing. Quite a few Tech students, myself included, were already members of the Naval ROTC at Northwestern and were committed to whatever orders we might receive from the Navy. Rumors were unavoidable. Some said we would shortly be called to active duty, perhaps as seamen, since our officer training was far from complete; some said we would be sent elsewhere for concentrated naval training before receiving a commission. But finally we were told that for the immediate future, until further notice, we would continue our university program as planned. Others, not in the NROTC, faced similar uncertainties but for the most part were allowed to continue their studies until various options for military service were presented. A few decided to discontinue their studies and enlist in the branch of the service of their choice.
      The Pearl Harbor attack caused immediate concern for the safety of Professor John Calvert, Chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department. Prof. Calvert had been on temporary assignment with the Navy at Pearl Harbor since the spring of l94l assisting in the design and installation of equipment for the demagnetizing of ships, or "degaussing" as it was called, so that the ships would not set off magnetically actuated mines. Professor Calvert had indeed witnessed the attack and devastation. Fortunately he survived. However, it was several days before news of his safety got back to Northwestern. I recall how relieved my father was to receive that good news.
      The years l942 and l943 brought major wartime changes to the University and Tech.16 Various Navy and Army training programs made use of University facilities, both on the Evanston and Chicago campuses. Some of these programs did not directly involve the current undergraduate students but drew their trainees from across the country. The largest, in terms of the number trained, was the V7 Midshipmen's School in Chicago. It produced some 24,000 commissioned officers, so-called "90-day Wonders", by the end of l945. The largest program on the Evanston campus was the Navy Radio School with over 6,000 trainees. This school had a big impact on Tech, although again the regular student body of Tech was not involved. The entire fourth floor of the Tech building and several other classrooms were turned over to the Navy for this program. The responsibility for organizing the Radio School fell to Prof. Calvert on his return from Pearl Harbor and the teaching load of several electrical engineering professors was increased. The Radio School trainees were housed and fed on the campus in Lunt Hall and Swift Hall, both of which were remodeled for that purpose.
      The wartime program that most directly affected the undergraduate student body was the Vl2 Navy College Training Program that began on the Evanston campus on July l, l943. A large part of the undergraduate male student body was indoctrinated into this program, including those already in the NROTC. All those in the Vl2-NROTC Program were considered to be on active duty as Apprentice Seamen. All were in uniform, the NROTC in their cadet uniforms and the other Vl2 in seamen's garb. The Navy had taken over the fraternity houses and dormitories of the north quadrangle and we were assigned to those quarters according to the divisions we were in. I had been living previously in my fraternity house, Alpha Delta Phi, but now found myself assigned to nearby Goodrich House. My roommates were Jack Hayford and Dick Petritz, who were also NROTC cadets. Jack was a grandson of former Dean Hayford. Dick was one of those Tech students who had been in the "other" half of my class, on co-op assignment while I was in school, so I had previously known him only casually. We were now to become lifelong friends.
      All of us in the Vl2 Program were confined to campus during the week and had curfew at midnight on Saturday nights and l0 p.m. on Sunday nights. During the week our class schedules were no different than normally but our time when not in class was quite regimented. I don't recall the exact daily schedule but, roughly, we had early morning calisthenics at about 6:00 a.m., breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and first class at 8:00 a.m. I recall that there were many nodding heads in the eight o'clock classes, mine included. It was almost impossible to stay awake after the calisthenics and a big breakfast. Cutting classes was almost unheard of. Also, we were assigned on a rotating basis to stand watch in our dormitories throughout the night.
      School was continuous after the start of the Vl2 Program, no more quarters of co-op. At that time it appeared that my class might complete its undergraduate program of studies and receive Bachelor of Science degrees in the various majors in June l944, one year earlier than would have been the case for the originally planned five year co-op program. However, by the winter of l943-44 there were rumors that we might receive our Navy Ensign commissions sooner than June and before we had completed our degrees. Those rumors turned out to be true. My NROTC class received commissions on February 27, l944 along with orders to proceed to various naval assignments. However, the University, for its part, did not send us off empty-handed. Although we were lacking some credits necessary for degrees in our major fields of study, the University Senate awarded us Bachelor of Science degrees, without designation of a major. This was an important concession for many of my classmates, since at that time it was not known when or if they would be able to return to complete their final term.
      As we've seen, these necessary wartime activities had required considerable disruption and modification of the planned development of the Technological Institute in its early years. In a real sense Tech and the University answered a call to duty. It was fortunate that the school was founded when it was, in l939, with just enough time to complete the facilities and establish working relationships among the new faculty, staff and University Administration before they were put to the test of the war years. I might suggest that in its wartime experience Tech underwent an early maturing, much as many of its students did in their wartime service.
      The years immediately after World War II saw the return of many students whose studies had been interrupted, as well as many who had been in the service but had not been in college previously. Some of these were now married and had started families. In those post-war years there was, therefore, a noticeable maturity and increased purposefulness among the student body. Most of these veterans received substantial financial support for their education's through the G.I. Bill, passed by Congress at the close of the war.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     Relationships between Tech and University administrations had their ups and down over those years. Some problems were financial, but others were more fundamental and concerned the direction and pace of development of the Technological Institute. From the beginning I was aware that there was considerable debate over the proper and equitable budgeting of costs involved in Tech's integration into the University. I'm not knowledgeable enough to be too specific, partly because my father, by his nature, did not discuss such matters at home. I'm sure that my dad felt that some other parts of the University regarded the Murphy gift as a windfall that they might be able to take advantage of. Direct costs, due to Tech students enrollment in courses in other colleges of the University, were handled satisfactorily by a system of "cross-tuition". But the initial Murphy gift, generous as it was, did not provide endowment for building maintenance, upgrade of facilities in future years or for endowed professorships. Thus, my dad saw potential problems, such as had been foreseen even by President Marcy in the l880's. And there were deeper problems.
      The founding of Tech had taken place at a time of significant change in the University administration. On September l, l939 Franklin Bliss Snyder, the Dean of the Graduate School and former English professor, became President of Northwestern and Walter Dill Scott became President Emeritus. That same month the first class was enrolled in the new Technological Institute. It had been during Scott's incumbency that negotiations with Walter Murphy had taken place. Although Snyder was certainly aware of these negotiations, it was Scott who was intimately involved. Scott had apparently become quite friendly with Murphy and later even induced Murphy to allow him to write Murphy's authorized biography.(17) That biography, published privately, resulted from five long personal interviews with Murphy. Scott continued as the principal direct contact with Murphy even after stepping down from the University Presidency. Scott's notes, from his meetings with Murphy, indicate that Murphy was "more than satisfied with the new building" and the progress of the Institute.(5) It was also Scott who, at Murphy's request in l94l, discussed with Murphy the conditions for a further bequest to the Northwestern Technological Institute. That bequest, amounting to almost $28,000,000, came to Northwestern upon Murphy's death in December l942 and seemed to put to rest any further concern over adequate endowment for Tech.
      In spite of the satisfaction that Murphy had expressed to Walter Dill Scott, President Snyder, almost from the beginning of his incumbency, seems to have been less in tune with the objectives of the new school. He especially expressed concern over what was meant by the phrase "second to none" and speculated about what Walter Murphy really had in mind, venturing far afield from what had been fairly explicit.(18) He felt that if the Institute was to become "second to none" the Trustees should define it in terms that are "broader, more flexible, and above all more idealistic" than a typical academic definition would imply. "They should pay little attention to present University organization, and less to precedent and tradition. They should conceive of the Institute not in terms of today or of ten years hence, but in terms of the next two centuries". ......."If this position is sound, then the Institute will be defined in philosophic rather than academic terms". And, "The Trustees must be untrammeled by the possible hesitation of an accountant or auditor to alter present budgetary arrangements".
      Such high sounding phrases did not serve to give any real guidance to the Institute. I know that my father became very frustrated trying to work with President Snyder and their relationship was tense. As part of Snyder's vision for the Institute, he proposed a much greater integration into the University as a whole than would likely occur under the cooperative engineering education plan. These ideas cut two ways as far as the Institute was concerned. On one side it seemed to be opening once again the old debate about breadth versus depth of education for engineers and, on the other, it was a means whereby the overall University could tap more deeply into the endowment Murphy had intended for the Institute. Preservation and use of funds, as he understood Murphy had intended, was a matter my father took very seriously. Although debate over these concerns began quite early, other matters, the construction of the Tech building and the program diversions of the war years, took precedence until nearly the end of the war.
      After the war ended, this debate became more serious and other elements were added. In addition to pressing for more breadth in the engineering curricula, President Snyder became impatient with the pace of adding graduate studies and of hiring eminent scholars and research professors. A special Trustee's committee was set up to conduct a review based on Snyder's concerns. The committee's report, however, was generally supportive of the direction Tech was taking, particularly in view of the "stipulations of the Murphy Foundation and its appointed consultant".(19) The committee did stress, however, that most emphasis should be placed on increasing the distinction of the present curricula and on hiring "more men of established reputation". It approved "the marked concentration on undergraduate education".
      I suspect that my father was satisfied, even if not overjoyed, with the Trustee's committee's report. President Snyder apparently was neither pleased nor satisfied; he continued to maintain that there should be much more emphasis on graduate studies and hiring of research scholars, similar to MIT and Cal Tech. That kind of emphasis had been considered by Murphy, but was set aside in favor of the undergraduate cooperative plan. There is no doubt that my father's own personal interest lay with the undergraduate students. He also loved science and rejoiced in each new research discovery; but his real desire was that he and his school should do all that they could to help young students who had chosen engineering to acquire the education and professional attitudes they would need for successful careers. In this he was completely in tune with Walter Murphy.
      Graduate programs were added to Tech curricula in the years immediately after the war, Master's degree programs first and later PhDs. These followed in logical sequence, once the undergraduate programs were well-established, but the pace may have been increased as a result of President Snyder's prodding. Also, research professors were added to the faculty, as were needed for the viability of the graduate programs. I know that my father was bothered by the high salaries required to bring professors of outstanding reputation to Northwestern. My impression is that, until that time, faculty salaries at Tech were closely tied to professorial rank, not reputation.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     My father's tenure as Dean continued until l953 when he announced his desire to retire from that position and to devote his future years to teaching and to the development of teaching methods. His retirement was interrupted briefly in l955-56 when he was asked to return as Acting Dean, after the resignation of Dean Loughridge, who had been his successor.20 After returning to teaching once again, it was less than two years later, on March 4, l958, that he suffered a fatal heart attack while teaching a physics quiz section.
      In this memoir it has not been my intent to write a biography of my father or a tribute to him. I have tried to put my perspective on some of the events leading to the founding of Tech and during Tech's early years. Accurate, well-written biographies of my father have appeared elsewhere.(21,22) Also, since the sharp focus of his work at Northwestern was always on his students, I'm sure that no tribute, however expansive, would have pleased him more than the succinct statement beneath the bas-relief likeness of him mounted in the foyer of Tech and dedicated by his students:

"As scholar, teacher, friend, and man of God, he shared his talents and led by patient force of example. His constructive efforts and practical ideals live on, woven into the fabric of his school. In our hearts lies the inspiration of his warm, untiring interest in our individual dreams."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

     To conclude, Tech's founding was the result of the convergence of Walter Murphy's desire to fill a need for a major engineering school in the Chicago area and the University's effort to become a distinguished center of engineering education. It came during that brief window of opportunity between the recovery from the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. Major gifts, the size of Murphy's, would have been almost unthinkable in the early l930's, and later, with all of our nation's manpower and resources directed toward the war effort, no attention could have been given to starting a new tech school.
      Also, with over fifty years hindsight, I believe that the timing was most favorable for several other reasons. In the two or three decades just prior to l939, and still ongoing at that time, there had been an explosion of knowledge in the basic sciences underlying all areas of technology. As an example, I think especially of the development and application of quantum mechanics and all that it meant for our understanding of atoms and molecules and their interactions. The physics of solids was just beginning to benefit from quantum physics, with profound implications for understanding and controlling the mechanical, electrical and chemical properties of materials, known and as yet unknown. Nuclear physics had become a major field of study and nuclear fission was first demonstrated in l939. One could go on and on, but the point is that these advances in the basic sciences would require and bring about very significant and pervasive changes in technical education.
      The decade just after the founding of Tech, with important technical advances resulting from war efforts, would see the development of nuclear power, the invention of the transistor, the development of jet aircraft, the application of microwaves in communication and radar systems, advances in the mathematics of computers and so much more.
      Thus I believe that Tech was established during a watershed period for technical education, for technical innovation and for the role of engineers in our society. Whether it was realized at the time or not, there existed a challenge that went beyond constructing a new building, providing facilities, and expanding the faculty and student body. It was a challenge to create a school that must endure in the face of exploding technical knowledge and societal changes. The fact that Tech has endured and produced high quality graduates for over fifty years, and is currently considered worthy of being upgraded to be viable for many more decades in the future, is ample proof that the challenge was met.

REFERENCES

  1. Harold F. Williamson and Payson S. Wild, "NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY - A History - l850-l975", Northwestern University, l976; pp. l98-l99.

  2. Walter Dill Scott, "Walter Patton Murphy - l873-l942", published privately, l952; pp. 76-77.

  3. Ref. 2; pp. 85-88.

  4. Robert Michaelson, "Opportunity lost and gained: a sidelight on the Walter P. Murphy gift", (this volume).

  5. Walter Dill Scott, Notes of a conference with Mr. Murphy, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, Sept. l7, l94l, Walter Dill Scott Files, N.U. Archives.

  6. Ref. l; pp. 23, 44-45, l07, lll, l67-69, l92-l93, l97-l99, 217, 230-234, 274, and 300-30l.

  7. Ref. l; p. 23.

  8. Ref. l; pp. 44-45.

  9. Ref. l; p. l07.

  10. Ref. l; p. l09.

  11. Ref. l; p. l67.

  12. Ref. l; p. l68.

  13. Ref. l; p. l92.

  14. Ovid W. Eshbach, Ed., "Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals", John Wiley & Sons, Inc., l936.

  15. "The First Graduating Class",Northwestern Technological Institute, 1943.

  16. Ref. 1: chapt. 6.

  17. Ref. 2.

  18. Franklin Bliss Snyder, Memorandum of Aug. 1, 1944, NU Archives.

  19. Ref. 1; pp. 232-233.

  20. Ref. 1; pp. 300-301.

  21. Ronald E. Ring, "Dean Ovid W. Eshbach", Northwestern Engineer, vol 12, no. 1, p. 7, March 1953.

  22. Stanley J. Jacobs, "Ovid W. Eshbach, Tech's First Dean", Northwestern Engineer, Vol. 17, No. 2, p. 11, May 1958
 
     
 

CONSTRUCTION OF TECH
by
Charles H. Dowding

     John C. Sanderson, who graduated from Northwestern in 1932 and retired from Northwestern as the University Architect, was the Resident Construction Superintendent and wrote an M.S. thesis, "Construction of the Northwestern Technological Institute Building." This is a very interesting thesis that details the construction and its history.
      Some interesting items from the thesis follow.
      The building contractor, R. C. Wieboldt , whose home later became the current presidential mansion, was in personal charge of all phases of the project and did little else other than to supervise the job. Of course, who wouldn't take advantage of the opportunity of supervising such a large and interesting a project when it was only a three or four block walk away along the Lake Michigan shore.
      Financing the $5,000,000 job was shared between Northwestern and the Murphy Foundation. Northwestern would advance monthly payments (in the amount of approximately $300,000) to Wieboldt and then apply to the Murphy Foundation for reimbursement, after verification by a New York architectural firm. Initially the process required six weeks by mail, which meant Northwestern was out $600,000 for two weeks. This delay forced the team to invent electronic funds transfer -- albeit a rather crude version by today's standards -- by relying on phone conversation rather than written documents.
      Speaking of written documents, there were over 6000 letters and shop drawings issued during the two years of the construction. As is still customary today (alas, some things never change) each subcontract or manufacturer prepared special "shop drawings" showing in detail the construction of their component and the manner in which it was fitted into the building. Those who have built a kitchen will not be surprised that the largest number of shop drawings were those necessary for the laboratory furniture. A large number of last minute decisions about cabinetry seem to be part of any project. The second largest category is for the infrastructure components of Tech: electrical, plumbing, ventilation and heating. Copying of the drawings cost some $10,000. That was an enormous sum in those days. For comparison two freight elevators were purchased and installed for this $10,000.
      To make room for Tech, the Phi Kappa Psi house was moved and rotated from its former position, parallel and immediately south of the Sigma Chi house. Also the first Patton Gym and Dearborn observatory were demolished and moved respectively. The new Patton gym was immediately rebuilt.
      Completion of this enormous building in two years required that the concrete columns and floors be poured during the winter. Pouring of concrete requires temperatures of at least 50 degrees F. This environment was provided by enclosing Tech in a cocoon of over 400,000 square feet of canvas and warming the interior with coke fired salamanders.
      On December 2, 1940 an ominous sign of the coming world conflagration marred an otherwise excellent project as a fire broke out at 8:05 a.m. in the north east portion of the building. A vivid description is given in Sanderson's thesis and pictures of Tech in construction before and after the fire are given in a later chapter.
      The building construction was insured and after many weeks of conferences with plenty of "haggling," the price settlements were made. The total adjustment of loss was for approximately $608,000. The above delay and the subsequent delay caused by wrecking (completed April 8, 1941) and rebuilding set back the completion date so much that it pushed many items into war priority difficulties at the end of the job.
      The stone facing of Tech comes from Lannon Wisconsin and is a ripple marked, slightly fossiliferous dolomite, which is very weather resistant. Some 140,000 square feet or 5000 tons were placed by a crew of as many 100 masons. Since they might be working on the same wall at the same time, uniformity of appearance could be achieved only if the crew was accustomed to working together. Fortunately, Tech benefited by having its stone placed by the same crew of masons that had labored for the previous two years on Patton Gym and Scott Hall. To control the appearance, the specifications called for 50 percent of the stone to be rock face (parallel to the bedding or layering but not along a seam), 25 percent split face (perpendicular to the bedding), 15 percent bedding face, and 10 percent seam face (parallel to the bedding with a different color). In addition, there were specifications as to the percent of height and width ratios.
      The stone trim including the carved ornaments are Indiana Limestone from Bloomington Indiana, the quarries that were popularized by the "cutters" as the townies were called by the university students in the movie "Breaking Away." A total of 35,000 cubic feet or 1,800 tons were used. The carved figures of industrial and scientific processes and achievements near the main entrances were conceived and modeled by Edgar Miller for $7,500. Jon Johnson sculpted the figures after the stone was placed for $3,225. Replacement today would cost hundreds of times more.
      The interior tile along the corridors is made of a special vitricotta clay that is fired at ultra high temperatures to ensure vitrification of the clays. It was originally to be a manganese spot gray; however, the war-time footing curtailed the supply and the present iron spot buff was substituted. Before the vitricotta was selected it was required to withstand acids, alkalies, grease; ink and paint were required to be removed with ordinary solvents. Because of its abrasion resistance, all cutting required special carborundum saws.
      The building contained a number of special purpose facilities.
      A million pound testing machine was built in the north end of the Civil Engineering wing. It was the largest of its kind in the world at the time; not because of the capacity of the machine nor the three story height of the frame, but because of the length of the base. This base, which was in reality a hugh concrete girder, was 54 feet long and 22 feet wide with the actual machine sitting in the center twelve feet. Some fourteen 3-1/2 in. diameter bolts anchored the base of the machine proper during a test. These bolts were approximately nine feet long and weighed about 300 pounds each.
      Next to the one million pound testing machine was a five million pound direct compression machine. The entire load of the machine was thrown on the reinforced concrete frame, which was 35 feet tall and could crush 10 feet tall specimens. Seven steel bands 2-3/4 in. thick and 8 in. wide, that withstood the tension, weighed about two tons apiece! This reinforcing had to be placed with a special derrick.
      One of the highlights of the building was the sound proof rooms, two of which were located in the sub-basement of the Physics Department and the third was on the third floor of the Electrical Engineering wing. While basically similar, the most interesting and perhaps the room most deserving of the title (never proven) "the quietest room on earth" was one of the rooms in the subbasement This room was a room within a room. The inner room was built of concrete block on a structural steel frame and weighed about 100,000 pounds and "floated" on 14 stacks of rubber cushions. The weight of the room was carefully checked and the rubber area calculated to give the optimum compression, so that the rubber would be at its maximum absorption loading. US Rubber Company engineers worked with the architect to determine this loading even to the extent of making up and testing sample stacks.
      The entire surface of the room inside and out was coated with Spray-O-Flake, which was ground up newspapers blown onto the surfaces with a bituminous binder. It is a very effective sound absorbent material and it was thought that it would absorb all stray exterior noises. Inside of the room the walls and ceilings were hung with 16 layers of muslin and flannel curtains supported from a pipe framework. These curtains were suspended on centers which varied from 1/2 to 3-1/2 in. on the theory that various length sound waves would be trapped in the spaces between curtains. The floor was covered with Blow-Knox Subway Grating under which was 3 in. of rock wool was covered with a layer of muslin. Dusting this room must have been quite a challenge.
      A shielded radio room was built on the second floor of the Electrical Engineering wing. This room had a complete copper lining grounded to the electrical conduit system. Over the floor, a linoleum rug was placed to protect the copper. The wooden door was lined on the back with copper, and a copper screen was even placed over the glass in the door.
      A high voltage laboratory was located on the north end of the Electrical Engineering wing. The most interesting feature of the room was its "ground-grid" system. Everything metallic in the room was bonded together in a grounded electrical grid. The wall grid was welded to the roof on one foot intervals at the ceiling line. In the floor grid, which was soldered to the wall grid, 1 in. x 1/8 in. copper bus bars, doubled, were laid out on approximately nine foot squares. Tinned copper lath was stretched over the entire floor, turned up at the edges and soldered at one foot intervals. At the intersections of the copper bus bars bronze sockets were soldered on to provide "ground" outlets for experimental purposes. The copper bus bars were connected to large copper ground cables located in three corners of the room. These ground cables were also extended and connected to the roof. Each door frame, window frame, ladder or other metal object in the room was connected to the ground-grid. The southwest corner of the room was a specially prepared corner known as the "water test area" which was designed for testing of motors, insulators, etc. under severe water conditions.

 
     
 

THE SCHOOL IN RETROSPECT*
by
John A. Kennedy
(Written in Spring 1943,
Initial portion on history omitted)

     Announcement was made in March of 1939 that Walter P. Murphy had bequeathed $6,735,000 to Northwestern University for the establishment of a Technological Institute. Within three weeks, Ovid W. Eshbach, a man nationally known in educational and engineering fields, was selected as Dean of the new Institute. Under his direction, plans were quickly formulated and the enormous work was begun.
      The first class, of which we are members, entered Northwestern in the fall of 1939. Taking advantage of the fine opportunities that a complete university such as Northwestern had to offer, we were given the foundation of our education and future life, long before engineering facilities were available.
      In his gift, Mr. Murphy suggested that the Institute should follow the cooperative type of education. Under this plan, a student not only receives the normal engineering education, but tempers his theoretical knowledge with practical application in industry. Here at Northwestern, the plan was set up with the student alternating three months of work in industry with three months of study on the campus. The plan, somewhat revolutionary but nevertheless sound and realistic, has thrived at Northwestern. The present emergency has given cooperative education its greatest opportunity. This senior class gives vivid testimonial to its success.
      Groundbreaking for the building of the new Institute came in April of 1940. Construction was rapid and schedules originally set up were everywhere exceeded. By the fall of l940 the entire south wing had been completed.
      None of the seniors will have difficulty in remembering that unusually cold and cloudy morning of December 2, 1940, when, after our eight-thirty quiz section, we followed the fire engines to the building site of the Institute. There we stood with the faculty as firemen poured tons of water on the partially completed building. The fire, started by an overheated salamander, was a serious blow, but before the ruins had stopped smoldering, the men responsible for the Institute's success were hard at work making up for lost time. Classes opened in that building the following September.
      It was in this all-but-completed building that we faced the world-resounding blow, Pearl Harbor. Our Institute now became a vital industry, vital to the nation's defense, because in this modern age technological development is the powerful arm of war as well as a guiding light of peace. To the engineering schools of the nation, America looked for technical assistance in the task of winning the war.
      During the following months, the new Institute could be likened to a giant new machine, which normally would be started slowly, but because of the emergency was given full throttle. Old plans were discarded, and this giant mechanism that is a modern engineering school was accelerated to its capacity. No summary is necessary to show its performance. Facts are self-explanatory.
      Soon after the start of the war, universities were designated to assist officially in the training of branches of the armed services. Previous military training at the schools during peacetime was the basis of the classification in many instances. Northwestern, with its long-established Naval unit, has been primarily devoted to this branch of the service. A Naval Radio Training School was housed in the former Lunt Administration building and in Swift Hall. These two buildings were rebuilt to serve as barracks for more than one thousand men. Actual training is given on the fourth floor of the Institute. To date, almost three thousand trained operators have left Evanston to help man the ships of Uncle Sam.
      Mere training has not been the only contribution of the Northwestern Technological Institute. In each of the building's vast wings there may be found skilled engineers and scientists using the finest equipment in an effort to save needless waste of American lives in the path to victory.
      A large group of chemists have been working on a research project. Perhaps it is some new ersatz material or a secret antitoxin. At any rate it is not for us to speculate, but rather to wait for the great story that will follow the peace. This work has not interfered with the normal operation of the Chemical Engineering Department.
      The establishment of this new department, with Dr. Brinker as Chairman, cannot be overlooked in our short history. To him must go credit for an excellent idea that gave our senior chemicals an opportunity to construct the unit operations laboratory. When skilled labor was getting scarce, and priorities were holding up completion of the lab, it was his suggestion that the students devote some of their time to the work. The result was an enthusiastic cooperation and a chance to carry the practical aspect of engineering education just one step further. One senior said that it was unfortunate that construction of unit operation labs could not become a regular part of the chemical curriculum; an impossible desire, but it shows how much was gained by the seniors in this work.
      The Mechanical Engineering facilities have been used by various industrial organizations for nearly every conceivable type of testing work. In the cold room, it has not been uncommon to find a carburetor manufacturer running his product in all possible temperature conditions. Upstairs, the air conditioning facilities have been put to innumerable uses.
      For many years, Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern reflected the leadership of its Department Chairman, Professor Philbrick, a man well known in his profession, who added to the reputation of Northwestern . His retirement last year was a loss to all. However, we have had opportunity to enjoy his instruction and leadership. To replace Mr. Philbrick, the Institute chose Burgess Jennings, an author of various engineering texts and a man who is well known in the engineering field. His work at Northwestern has already shown him to be a capable successor to Professor Philbrick.
      The emergency found the Department of Electrical Engineering ready to assume the heavy burden it has had to carry. Professor Calvert, between consultations with the Navy on construction problems that have taken him as far away as Hawaii, has developed a staff that is doing a fine job of training and research. An Army Signal Corps electronics school trains men in a field that probably has had less said about its operation but more about its performance than any other in the war effort. Radar, long a name on the taboo list, is a science that needs highly trained personnel. The Army set up a series of schools to train these men, each one being progressively more advanced. Northwestern's school in advanced electronics was one of the most difficult. Many thousands of dollars' worth of radio equipment had to be installed for this type of instruction, and numerous additions made to the faculty. The advantage of this program to the regular student had been a curriculum in radio and ultra high frequency that is comparable with any in the country.
      The Naval radio training school, primarily based on electrical engineering instruction, was another load on the department. The demands for instruction made it seem unlikely that there would be much time for research. That, however, has not been the case. The new high voltage laboratory was put into operation and tests were begun on the breakdown of insulators and materials for the government and private industry. In the communications branch of the department other projects have been underway.
      One of the features of the new Institute is the giant million-pound testing machine. Its unusual construction gives it operational characteristics that are obtainable in few other machines now in use. Located in the Civil Engineering wing, it has been widely used in the past two years. Along with the other testing machines of the department, it constitutes one of the most complete testing laboratories in the country. The work carried on is under the direction of Professor Maney, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering. After the war, this work will probably become even more important owing to the great reconstruction period that will follow.
      Another aspect of the tremendous program undertaken by the Institute was the night training school. Offered free to assist war workers in industry, these courses included all branches of engineering and associated subjects. Presented by the University in cooperation with the government, these courses brought thousands of men and women to the new building. Under the regular Institute faculty and other engineers and teachers, these men and women were given training to prepare them for effective participation in the nation's war effort.
      One of the bright spots in our college career and in the history of the Institute was the formal dedication of the new building in June, 1942. The ceremony included a two-day industrial and educational conference, which was attended by distinguished men of science, education, and industry. The actual dedication was something more than just a tribute to a job well done; it represented the realization of Walter P. Murphy's dream of an educational institution to train young men for future responsibility in engineering and industry.
      The Honorable Jesse Jones, Secretary of the Interior, delivered the dedicatory address. His words to the thousands gathered in the spacious court of the new building well expressed our own feelings: "These exercises that bring us together today mark the final development of an ideal which will not only serve our generation but will live long after all of us who are gathered here, to benefit coming generations." Mr. Jones visualized the day when "the last shot is fired," and when the gigantic reconstruction will follow. The importance of the new Institute is easily recognized in respect to winning the war, but the peacetime results of the Technological Institute will be equally, if not more, important.
      We seniors found the year following the declaration of war a most difficult one. The help of the Dean and the faculty in stabilizing our thinking in those first months will long be remembered. Now, as graduates, most of us have clearly defined places in the war program. Many have joined the Navy reserve program, others the Army, and still others have remained civilians to serve our country in industry.
      Last July the Navy Department called its college reservists into uniform. Northwestern was selected as one of the schools to carry out a program of accelerated training for these men. With the Naval R.O.T.C. as the nucleus, over twelve hundred men went into uniform and formed the new unit in Evanston. Most of the students were from Northwestern, but many came from colleges devoted to other programs, and promising high school graduates were included. Consequently, all of the Navy men in our class went actively into the service but remained here to complete their training.
      These men are housed in the men's quadrangles at the north end of the campus. All dormitories and fraternities have been converted into barracks. As could be expected, the emphasis of the Navy college training program is on engineering. Because the national program of the Navy was set up on the semester system, an adjustment was required in the Northwestern quarter plan. The seniors and the presenters, both civil and military, have carried on in classes together. Because of the accelerated program the seniors are being graduated six months ahead of schedule and the pre-seniors an entire year in advance.
      We, as the first graduating class of the new Institute, will help to form industry's first impression of the Northwestern Technological Institute. Upon our shoulders rest the responsibilities of proving how well we can put to work the engineering education we have received. Therefore, to the ideals of the founder of our school we dedicate our future efforts: The best we know how, in war and in peace.

*"The First Graduating Class" - 1943, p. 7 Published by the Senior Class, Northwestern University Technological Institute
A. J. Ward, editor

 
     
 

SOME RECOLLECTIONS
by
George H. Bodeen

     My academic relationship with Northwestern started back in the Fall of l941. My mother, father and I had been looking at engineering schools for me to attend and earlier in l941 we had decided on Northwestern. I can remember my dad saying to me "It is apparent that this new technological institute building and the Murphy Grant will greatly enhance engineering education at Northwestern." History has certainly proven him to be correct.
      I enrolled at NU in the Fall of l941 in the School of Engineering. I was part of the initial entering freshman class in the new building. What a thrill that was. And, what a long time ago it was - 53 years. It just doesn't seem that long until I think of all the water that has gone under the bridge in my life since that time.
      First of all, my wonderful dad died on October 3l, l941. That was barely two months after I had enrolled as a student in the Civil Engineering Department. Because the sole breadwinner of our family was gone, I had to go to work for very obvious reasons.
      After thinking about this transition from school to work for about two weeks, I came to the conclusion that I needed to resign as a student in order to maintain my good standing. As a result, I went to see Dean Eshbach. What a fine, thoughtful and gentle man he was. As a l7 year old kid, I was scared and very nervous when I went into his office, but he soon put me at ease. He accepted my resignation with regret and then went on to say that the school would be happy to accept my re-enrollment when it was possible for me to do so. I told him I saw no possible way that I could ever re-enroll because of the large costs of tuition, books, and so forth. He told me not to give up hope for he felt sure that someday I would be back.
      Shortly after that day, I found a job and put my shoulder to that wheel. Suddenly, Pearl Harbor took place and the United States went to war. I was able to obtain a deferment for a while because of our family's financial plight. However, I eventually enlisted in the Army Air Corp. I was discharged in early l946 and immediately re-enrolled in Northwestern's School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering. This time, however, Uncle Sam was paying my tuition plus buying my books and other needed accessories such as a slide rule. I truly love the GI Bill for it provided the very necessary financial assistance to me and enabled me to start on a whole new track for my life.
      As soon as I attended my first class in the Spring quarter of l946, I remembered with great fondness, Dean Eshbach's statement to me that I would indeed re-enroll and here I was back in school again.
      Needless to say, the spring quarter of '46 saw a lot of veterans re-enrolling or enrolling for the first time - not so in l941. In addition, there were many Quonset huts that were built on campus to house the large increase in the student body.
      Veterans were mixing with young people right out of high school and that combination was an interesting one. There was certainly an age disparity between the two groups and, for the most part, the veterans were a more mature group. While friction developed now and then, most everything worked out just fine. The war was over, we had returned home safely and we were looking forward to opportunities that NU would bring. Then, to top it all off, Northwestern beat the University of California-Berkeley in the Tournament of Roses (the Rose Bowl) in January l949. Wow!
      Today, when I reflect back on those days I do so with great pleasure. What a change it was to come back to such a free and open life after spending years in a highly disciplined serviceman's life. The football games, the parties, making new friends that would last for the years to come, and graduating from a first class privately endowed school was very fulfilling.
      I will end by saying that I am still close to the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and I am very pleased to be able to pay back some of the benefits and opportunities that Northwestern has provided for me down through the years.

 
     
 

TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
THE WAR YEARS, A STUDENT VIEW
by
William T. Brazelton

     In a sense World War II and I came to Northwestern University at the same time. I transferred to Northwestern University as a junior in chemical engineering in order to participate in Tech's cooperative education program. During the Fall Quarter 1941, I was in the final weeks of my first coop assignment when on December 7, 1941, the Pearl Harbor incident precipitated the declared entry of the United States into the war. The next two years that I spent in undergraduate study in Tech, during a period of national emergency, provided a very unusual and interesting experience.
      With the United States at war, I joined Northwestern in the classroom for the first time at the beginning of the winter quarter, the first week in January, 1942. At the first meeting of our Analytical Chemistry class in the old Fayerweather Hall of Science, we were told that the class would meet thereafter in the new Technological Institute building. I never had another undergraduate class outside of the Technological Institute building from that time forward.
      That winter quarter in Tech provided to an engineering student an almost idyllic setting. With an enrollment of 546 students we had the run of this huge building. There were some spaces, particularly laboratories, that were not completed, and often these were vacant. We could have group meetings or study sessions in almost any place of our choosing. The student lounge most always had the atmosphere of a small private club. However, the needs of the wartime urgency was to see this change shortly.
      Ten days after Pearl Harbor, an emergency national meeting of the Society of the Promotion of Engineering Education (later the American Society of Engineering Education) was convened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Out of this and a subsequent meeting of the representatives of the cooperative engineering schools in Cincinnati on January 6 came recommendations on "Acceleration of Regular Engineering Programs." The Tech Faculty responded by adopting at a meeting on January 10, 1941, several proposals deemed appropriate in the local circumstance. It was approved to begin the freshman year in the coming year in June, instead of September and to have the present freshman class continue study through the summer quarter. Although realizing further changes may need to be made later none were proposed at this time. Conditions were also established for accepting outstanding, highly selected students upon completion of three years of high school study with distinction. On January 14, the University Senate reaffirmed this policy. It was also decided at this time that acceleration of the junior class was impractical, an action that, for the moment, affected my personal status.
      At the time I transferred to Northwestern, there was a program in chemical engineering but no faculty. During the first week of February 1941, all of the chemical engineering students were invited to a meeting following their afternoon laboratory to meet the new department chairman. We were introduced to Dr. William E. Brinker who had just joined the Northwestern University faculty from the University of Pittsburgh. The meeting left the students with a confidence in the new chairman and the future of chemical engineering at Northwestern. During the summer term V.C. Williams from the University of Virginia also joined the faculty as assistant professor of chemical engineering.
      In April, the completion of the move of engineering from Swift to the Technological Institute was confirmed when the order was issued for any staff and faculty still holding keys to Swift to be sure they were turned in. In March, a convocation for sophomore and junior students brought our attention to the immediacy of the war effort. The topic for discussion was "the question of finding one's most suitable place in the military service or otherwise." Army, navy, selective service representative and faculty presenters were leaders in the discussion.
      The 1941/42 academic year was, by plan, the year of the dedication of the Technological Institute and the discontinuation of the School of Engineering. In June, the last regular class of the School of Engineering was graduated and on June 15-16 an impressive dedication ceremony was held. For two full days, the auditorium and the west plaza were fully occupied by distinguished representatives from other institutions, from the government, industry and from the alumni, students and friends. The illustrious participants in the dedication included the Secretary of Commerce, the Governor of Illinois, the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the president of General Motors Research Corporation, president of the University of Cincinnati, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the president of Drexel Institute, the president of the Illinois Institute of Technology, the president of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, the chairman of the War Production Board, the president of the board of trustees and President Franklin B. Snyder of Northwestern University and many others. Unfortunately by this time, my spring quarter coop assignment involved me in helping to meet the demands of my company's over commitment in supplying resin used in making liberty ships and time off was out of the question - in my last week of that assignment, I missed the Tech dedication ceremonies.
      Mine was not a singular absence from the dedication ceremonies, there were others, notable among them -- Walter P. Murphy. He had fully planned to participate but as the time approached he was in Denver in poor health and his doctors felt that the travel and excitement of the activities in Evanston could be further injurious to his health. He listened to the ceremonies over a special telephone hookup during which Northwestern president Franklyn B. Snyder awarded him, in absentia, an honorary degree. Assuredly he had reason for pride and satisfaction on that day, but his health continued on a downward trend and six months later on December 16, 1942, he died. His will provided for personal bequests totaling five million dollars after which the residue of his estate was to go for the further development, maintenance, and operation of the Northwestern Technological Institute. The residue amounted to $28,000,000.
      After a spring quarter on co-op assignment, I returned to campus and to Tech to find it a completely different place, it was bustling with war related activities in the classrooms and in the laboratories. An area adjacent to the chemical engineering laboratory was sealed off for security purposes to house some forty scientists working on gas warfare related problems. A second research project was started in July in mechanical engineering dealing with the development of artificial limbs. We also found that our status for the fall term had been established; we would be pre-senior students. At the regular April meeting, the faculty approached "the problem of choosing an official name to take care of the additional year in the cooperative education program by adopting the proposal that third year students be called juniors; fourth year, Pre-Seniors, and fifth year, Seniors." This terminology has prevailed to the present.
      Military uniforms became the dress of the majority in Tech when in the summer of 1941, a commitment to train radio men for the United States Navy was entered into. Twelve classrooms in Tech were equipped for this purpose and on June 1, the first contingent of 250 men were received and training initiated. During the summer, 250 men were received each month until in September the full quota of 1000 were aboard. The training was sixteen weeks in length and was conducted by thirty civilian instructors employed for this purpose only.
      In fall of 1941, the Technological Institute had initiated, on a rather small scale, defense courses under contract with the Engineering, Science, and Management War-Training division of the United States Office of Education. The primary objective of this program was to provide highly specific training to prepare personnel for both defense industries and military service. Despite the small beginning, by the spring quarter of 1942, almost 1,500 students were enrolled in this program. Clearly by the summer term, those of us in the regular Tech engineering program recognized that we were a minority group in the building, a situation considerably different from our winter term experience.
      Emergency measures were emphasized to the faculty when in July, Dean Fagg, the Dean of Faculties, forwarded an order from the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees suspending, for the duration, that portion of the University Statutes relating to faculty members being free of summer duties. It was stated that "the existence of the war, and the resulting demand for a year round educational program make it necessary for the Trustees to call on members of the faculty for service during the summer quarter."
      In the fall, the faculty discussed the possible need to go to a four-year program, since the Navy had adopted rules allowing only students on an accelerated program to enroll in the ROTC. A problem of pre-seniors possibly being called for military service before graduation was also discussed. This was in keeping with the mood of the time and illustrated the constant uncertainty of our student status.
      For the first Tech class, the junior year was conducted fully in accord with the prescribed curriculum. Alternating classes had two quarters in school and two quarters on coop assignment. This quarter arrangement in engineering was carried on at the same time that the rest of the University was on a semester system, effectively isolating Tech as far as the classroom was concerned. All non-Tech classes, very few in number, were specially designed and set-up on a quarter basis for engineering students only.
      During the following academic year 1942-43, September to June, Tech operated as a civilian school. The enrollment, totaling 818 students was the largest in the history of engineering at Northwestern. However, during the year the military situation caused considerable turnover, with possibly more than 250 students leaving for service.
      At the beginning of the 1942/43 academic year, the Tech faculty was still relatively small and in chemical engineering there were still only two members, Brinker and Williams. Chemical engineering was totally new at Northwestern and the departmental program was being developed from scratch by these two men. Our courses were mostly conventional but our laboratories only partly so. The Physical Measurement Laboratory had available standard equipment and experimentation and testing was somewhat usual. Our Unit Operation Laboratory was completely different and provided a very unusual experience. Although there were a few pieces of standard equipment, (the only piece I can remember was the Oliver filter) the lab was essentially the design of V.C. Williams. Most of the Williams designed equipment was built and assembled at Northwestern by Williams, the department mechanic and the students. The laboratory, therefore was in part experimentation but also provided a large dose of shopwork, assembling, and construction. We sharpened our techniques in welding, plumbing, steam fitting and machining, as well running pilot units demonstrating heat transfer, distillation, filtration, and other unit operations.
     During the spring quarter coop assignment, word was circulated as to Northwestern's increased war effort responsibility in association with the Navy. At a May 1943 faculty meeting, Dean Eshbach outlined the Navy College Training Program, a six semester curriculum to be offered by selected schools across the country. At Tech it would be necessary to provide a course of study that would accommodate students with advanced standing coming from other schools and have them graduate at the regular time. The number of students to transfer to Northwestern in this program, commonly called the V-12 program, during the summer was known and was a number that would double the enrollment in engineering. A considerable problem was anticipated in that the distribution between departments and classes was completely unknown.
      With additional programs, in particular the Navy V-12 program, the teaching load in engineering alone was increased more than 60% over the previous year. To meet the increased instructional need, eight regular faculty and sixteen lecturers were appointed during the year. Consequently, upon returning to campus following the spring coop quarter, we found a new term arrangement, a substantial increase in the Navy population, and a number of new faculty. The chemical engineering faculty had three new members, George Brown, LeRoy Stutzman and John Sutherland, certainly welcome additions.
      The adoption of the Navy V-12 program required that the work in that program be on a Navy term basis essentially a semester or one third of a calendar year, all three terms being required each year. However, with only 40% of the junior and senior classes in engineering being enrolled in the Navy, it was decided that the upperclasses class civilians and Navy students would attend the same classes on the Navy term. Underclass civilians were to be kept on the quarter system and the cooperative plan as long as draft regulations would allow. This arrangement was generally well received by the students.
      Student status was in a continuous volatile state; during the 1943 year, directives from the War Manpower Commission to the draft boards changed three times. By the end of the summer of 1943, it was the rule that engineering students would be permitted to continue studies, only the studies were full-time and that the degree could be attained in two years or less. These provisions made continuation of the cooperative plan through the full program an impossibility, except for students holding deferments for physical.
      Under the V-12 program, Northwestern became predominately a Navy school, some called it a naval base. The center of campus including Lunt and Swift Hall was set-off for the Navy and the Quonset hut behind Lunt was set up as their mess hall. Navy classes were held in Tech and many of the dormitories and fraternities in the north quads were reserved for the Navy units. All students in the V-12 program, including NROTC and V-7, were fully provided with pay, tuition costs, room, board, and uniforms (which were worn at all times). From a student standpoint, this provided a most excellent scholarship. However, in exchange there was some curtailment of freedoms with very rigid discipline and very strict hours. All military students were required at each class in their schedule and to observe a 10 pm lights out. Areas to the west of Sheridan Road were declared off limits to naval personnel which left Scott Hall student center a civilian domain.
      Those of us who were civilians found many military effects in the classroom. Class times were rigidly adhered to and the Navy section reader would call the class, including civilians, to attention at the beginning of the hour and also at the close. Accurate attendance records were kept at each class meeting. Difficulties were created in some of the laboratories by the Navy rules requiring all work be completed in the laboratories and in some cases by truncation of the lab time to accommodate physical training. Examinations were required every four weeks and for upperclass civilian students grades were reported on the same basis.
      The V-12 program provided another rather unusual effect. Major sports were continued during the war years with some rather unusual arrangements. Principal military bases were represented by outstanding football teams some including professional players. During the emergency these teams competed with college teams in non-conference play. This situation made for an interesting season. Somewhat out of character, in the fall of 1943 Northwestern had a winning season with a record of 6 and 2. The team included a number of seasoned V-12 athletes who had played at other schools.
      My undergraduate career at Northwestern experienced one last Navy effect, when on November 3rd, Dean Eshbach explained that the NROTC members of our class would be graduated and commissioned on December 18th and that civilians in the class would be graduated at the same time. This required a special shortened term and the development of special ad-hoc courses. These courses were appropriate and complete but, in haste, may have had some strange definition. Several of us upon returning after the war found that for examples of courses we took together, we received grade reports with different titles and numbers, possibly a Navy effect.
      Although I had looked at opportunities in industry and in the military, I was persuaded by Professor Edward Obert to accept an appointment as an assistant in Mechanical Engineering and begin graduate studies in Chemical Engineering. In this latter role, I joined two other students as the first graduate students in the department. My assignment in Mechanical Engineering was as assistant in the Heat Power Laboratory. I entered into this arrangement with the feeling that I could at least complete studies into summer since I had just been issued in December a Selective Service Classification of 2A (deferment) until June 14, 1944. Such was not to be the case, in June I was in naval uniform at Great Lakes.
      The graduate courses in Chemical Engineering for three students were very informal. The format was essentially that of a tutorial. We would gather around the faculty person's desk and agree on the topic and, by way of group discussion with the guidance of the instructor would develop the subject and a summation of notes. The end result was a "set of transactions" close to a textbook.
      That the military urgency was stepping up was brought to our attention when on February 8th, 1944, a special faculty meeting was called to announce that 78 NROTC students (41 seniors and 37 juniors) had been called to service at the end of the current term on March 1st. The University Senate with the support of the deans, recommended to the Board of Trustees that degrees be granted to the V-12 students who had completed 180 quarter hours of credit. The degree was an undesignated Bachelor of Science, conferred by the University rather than the professional schools and was commonly known as the "Senate Degree." The Tech faculty adopted the policy of for this purpose only, granting 3 quarter hours of credit for each 3 months of cooperative work in industry.
      The urgency was felt personally when in April, the War Manpower Commission issued a directive that terminated the University"s ability to employ anyone under the age of 26 who would be eligible for military service. Although I had applied for a direct commission in the Navy, I was called directly into service in May and received a commission in late June, reporting directly to Princeton University for officer indoctrination.
      My last opportunity to observe a wartime effect in the University was in late September, I returned to campus very, very briefly while on military travel time. I attended the first and possibly the only night football game in Dyche Stadium. It was a contest between Northwestern and Indiana University held on the evening of Friday, September 22nd, 1944. What might be called wartime jitters had caused this night game to take place. The annual college all-star game had been scheduled to be held in its usual location in Soldiers Field in Chicago in 1944, but the assemblage of thousands of people under lights in a stadium in the middle of a large city was thought to be too hazardous. So, in compromise, the location was changed to Dyche Stadium where temporary lights on wooden poles were erected. The University took advantage of the light setup to offer something different with the Indiana game. Following that weekend, I reported ship board and spent my time, until the end of the war, half way around the world in the Pacific. My contact with Tech during that period was by way of frequent correspondence with Bill Roberts and Ed Obert in Mechanical Engineering and Bill Brinker, chairman of Chemical Engineering.

 
     
 

THE EARLY YEARS
by
Burgess H. Jennings

     During the spring of l940 I was contacted by Dean Ovid Eshbach to inquire whether I might consider leaving Lehigh University, where I had been teaching in the Mechanical Engineering Department, to accept a position on the staff of the Technological Institute which was being created following the generous gift of Walter P. Murphy. I naturally agreed and was invited to Evanston to meet with President Snyder and the other faculty members with whom I would work. I enjoyed my visit, the people were very friendly, the campus was beautiful, and I accepted the professorship which was offered me.
      However, I was awed and even alarmed at the responsibilities facing me and the other faculty members because here with the new building rapidly rising, the plans for the laboratories and work spaces in mechanical engineering were hardly off the drawing board or worse had not even been made. I broached this topic with Dean Eshbach and the architects and found they were as alarmed as I was. As a result I was asked to serve as a summer employee of the architects to expedite and coordinate University planning with how the architects could carry out faculty wishes in regard to using the new space. Thus I left the east in mid-June barely as soon as my classes were finished, moved to Evanston, and shuttled between an office at the architects, Holabird and Root in Chicago and a University office which had been provided for me in the Swift College of Engineering.
      Planning the layout for the mechanical engineering shops at least was well along since much of the machinery already in use in Swift College of Engineering would be moved to the new building with space allocated for additional machines to be acquired; the same situation existed for the power laboratory.
      In my particular area of interest, environmental engineering, no plans had been made so I devoted much of my time to allocating space and selecting equipment for two laboratories, the first to be a low-temperature test area for machines and equipment, reaching to -40¡, and a second larger, controlled-temperature room, suitable for investigations with human or animal subjects. By the time these rooms were ready to serve, the war had come and both rooms contributed to the war effort. The low temperature room was put at the disposal of local manufacturers to test certain products being developed for military operations. The larger general-purpose room also became involved in a comprehensive project designed to reduce cross infection within groups living in confined quarters.
      The availability of the latter facility made me willing to join forces with Dr. Edward Bigg of the NU Medical faculty and with representatives of the Great Lakes Naval Center to carry out a research program designed to reduce cross infection in densely populated living quarters. We did find one material, at least, that could be disseminated into living-space air, that would make that air aseptic. We then carried out numerous tests in our test room to show that organisms delivered in one part of the room were killed in air and were thus no longer toxic at other locations in that room. Tests of this type were then carried out in full living quarters at Great Lakes.
      These tests confirmed that aseptic air could be generated and controlled in the sleeping quarters of crowded barracks and this was fully reported in a number of research papers. However, even though cross infection, while sleeping, was reduced or even eliminated, the close contact of the recruits during daytime work and study programs meant that cross infection was still a most serious problem.
      When I first arrived on the scene at Northwestern, work on the walls and roof area had largely been finished and construction was moving on positioning the interior walls and hallways. It was then, at that early stage in the life of a new building, that it had its first setback: a fire. The roof or rather ceiling of the auditorium was being set in place and there were numerous temporary wood pilings supporting the steel roof beams. A welder's torch ignited trash which in turn ignited the wood pilings and a somewhat intense fire raged before it could be extinguished. Fortunately other combustible material was at a minimum and the fire did not spread but it caused an annoying delay of several weeks for completion of construction. Finally, the word was given and I was allowed to move into a beautiful new office in the still unfinished Technological Institute building, this was the way my second year at Northwestern started (1941). It was a busy year too because the clouds of war which had been threatening finally broke in a deluge.
      With the influx of additional students training in military programs, the campus took on a whole new character and the department was scurrying to find the additional faculty needed to serve these students. As it happened, Dr. Herbert Philbrick, who had long chaired the Department in the Swift College of Engineering, reached retirement, and I succeeded to all the additional responsibilities involved, year 1941.
      With war now in full swing, word emanated from Washington that the citizenry should become involved to help in any way they could to serve a useful war-related effort. To this end, the ESMWT program was inaugurated all over the United States where the letters stood for Engineering, Science, and Management, War-Training program. Obviously, such a program would have little if any of its content involved with University-level courses but the University offered its facilities and staff to help and I was delegated to set up and direct the activity. I forget the exact numbers but know that a teaching staff of 25-30 was collected to teach the various subjects chosen, with some two-thirds college faculty and the remainder selected from surrounding area industrial organizations. The tuition-free courses each ran for eleven weeks and were given in the evenings and Saturdays to prevent job conflicts. This training program, carried out during the early war years, continued to some two years during which time some 3,000 or more students participated in classes offered in the new Technological Institute. For faculty it had been necessary to round up some 25 to 30 teachers either from the Northwestern faculty or from industrial companies. How much the program helped the war effort at home will never be known but it did give some students enough courage to enter war-work areas they would not have considered before. It even gave some of the more enterprising students in later years a flimsy basis on which to claim they were Northwestern alumni.
      It would be impossible to overstate the impact the war had on the early years of the Technological Institute. Diverse indeed were the students themselves because Northwestern had several different military groups usually attending classes along with ordinary civilian students. These civilians too had their problems because, even with deferments, a number of them were taken into active service and left school before graduation. In addition to other problems, just being an ordinary citizen during wartime was a problem because rationing and other restrictions were in vogue. Gasoline, in such limited amounts, was allowed that absolutely no luxury travel was possible. That was bad too, because I also remember that at my favorite station for buying my limited supply the cost was l7 cents a gallon. In l993 I remember paying $l.39 a gallon by way of contrast. Food too was rationed and you couldn't always get as much as your coupons allowed, particularly meat.
      The students were fine and I enjoyed the limited amount of time I had for teaching; they were serious and really more dedicated than in postwar years. Between administrative duties and some war-related consultation, I kept busy and very pleased with the progress being made by the Technological Institute in its early years.
      The University was indeed fortunate in having selected Ovid W. Eshbach as the first Dean and leader of the Technological Institute during its formative years. He was an excellent engineer and had a full appreciation of the problems involved in educating students not only in engineering concepts but also in how to succeed in the complex world of today. He worked closely with the faculty in setting up the courses and curricula for the various engineering areas. His leadership in these matters was remarkable as he was so diplomatic that the final solution was usually exactly what he wanted even though his working groups often didn't realize that this was the case. His door was always open both to faculty and students and he worked hard to find solutions to all the problems (both academic and personal) which were brought to him.
      Under his leadership, the Institute prospered and grew both in student body and in the assemblage of a competent, (even distinguished) faculty while a steady stream of fine graduates were being turned out. Dean Eshbach reached retirement age so a new dean was sought and finally found. Unfortunately, he lacked the outgoing qualities of his predecessor and his leadership became so irritating to the faculty that all of the departmental chairmen resigned and refused to work under him. This led to his removal as dean and to his later departure from the University. His successor was Harold B. Gotaas, a most successful dean and administrator who served the Institute and University well for many years.
      Meanwhile, in my department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, events were occurring that made it more and more obvious that the areas of finance, manpower, and administration were sufficiently important that they didn't have to be associated with thermodynamics, power, and mechanical design. Thus planning was started to create a separate Department of Industrial Engineering and the separation took place a few years later.
      The importance of research in the universities had been growing for years. For not only did it aid the welfare of mankind but it added to the prestige and financial support it provided the universities. Dean Gotaas asked me to accept the position of Associate Dean to serve the Institute and implement the many research projects which were being carried out by the faculty. I served in this capacity until I reached retirement in l968.

 
     
 

REMEMBRANCES OF THE
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
According to
David Mintzer

      I came to the Technological Institute* of Northwestern University as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Astronautical Sciences on September 1, 1962. I had been teaching and doing research in acoustics in the Physics Department at Yale University and had become acquainted there with Marvin Lewis, who had received his Ph.D. in the Physics Department at Northwestern, where he had specialized in statistical mechanics. We began to study the burgeoning fields of irreversible statistical mechanics, kinetic theory of gases, plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics. These had become very active fields with the onset of the US space program, since the reentry of a spacecraft into the very rarefied upper atmosphere involved problems that could only be solved in the context of those fields, classical fluid mechanics was no longer enough! At about that time the Northwestern University Mechanical Engineering Department, under the Chairmanship of Professor Ali Cambel, had developed a strong experimental program in reentry problems. Cambel offered Lewis a position as Associate Professor in the department, which he accepted in 1960, and I accepted an offer to join the department in 1962.
      The most senior members of the department (in terms of service at Tech) were primarily involved in the more traditional areas of mechanical engineering: Professor Merhyle Spotts in machine design, Professor Burgess H. Jennings (who was also Associate Dean of Graduate Student Affairs) in environmental control (heating and air conditioning), and Professor Richard S. Hartenberg in kinematic synthesis (and the history of technology). In related research were: Professor Severin Raynor, who was involved in engineering analysis and instrumentation; Associate Professors Donald D. Kilner in stress analysis; and Jacques Denavit in kinematic synthesis and the use of digital and analog computers in mechanical engineering problems (a few years later he started research in computer analysis of plasma physics problems). More modern problems of mechanics, in that they had a close relation to the space program, started with the work in astrodynamics of Associate Professor Yechiel Shulman. The remainder of the department specialized in various thermo-fluid dynamics aspects of the space program: Professor Ali Bulent Cambel led the large experimental program in gas dynamics; Assistant Professors Richard Tankin, Chad F. Gottschlich, and Thomas P. Anderson worked in shock wave problems, high temperature phenomena and related experimental fluid dynamics problems. Professor Ilya Prigogine carried on his research in modern theoretical thermodynamics; Associate Professor Arthur Kovitz and Assistant Professor Ching-Shi Liu and I were engaged in theoretical research in fluid mechanics; and Marvin Lewis and I in the fields noted in the first paragraph.
      The department at that time was an example of the changes taking place in much of engineering as a result of the Second World War and the subsequent growth of the defense industry, the space program and related national activities. The emphasis on the "art" aspects (e.g., experience) of engineering was giving way to an emphasis on the underlying science (in other departments similar forces were resulting in an emphasis on materials science, biomedical engineering, computer science, etc.). The year before, Professor Cambel had written (in a report A Synopsis of the Department of Mechanical Engineering "... we aim our education to the superior youth who is intellectually versatile and who has the basic knowledge which will endure over the years as new technologies replace old ones". Indicative of that trend was the recent dismantling of a welding shop, a foundry, a pattern shop and a wood shop; instead, laboratories for Kinematics, for Vibrations and Stress Analysis, and for Gas Dynamics were developed and the need for a digital computer (in addition to the department's analog computer) was acknowledged.
      The developing research activity in the non-traditional areas of the profession was mirrored in the changes in courses and curricular. In the five years before I came into the department it had changed from a Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering to a Department of Mechanical Engineering; around 1962, it had become the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Astronautical Sciences (absorbing Special Programs in Space Sciences and in Astronautical Engineering). During that period (in the Fall of 1958), the Cooperative Engineering Program, which required eighteen months of "practical work experience" in industry during the (five years of) undergraduate work, was changed from a requirement for all undergraduates in Tech to an option. In the 1956-57 Northwestern University Bulletin the department's required undergraduate courses included, among others, courses in Production Processes, in Introductory Accounting and in Industrial Organization and Management; courses in Heat Power Fundamentals, Internal Combustion Engines, and in Heating and Air Conditioning; courses in Foundry and in Gas and Steam Turbine Analysis were recommended electives. These were, of course, the tools of the practicing mechanical engineer of the era just past which enabled the US to become the great industrial power of the time. These required courses, and others, were dropped in the 1961-62 Bulletin; in their place were required courses in Ordinary Differential Equations, Gas Dynamics, and many electives. Moreover, the nature of the possible electives changed. In the 1956-57 Northwestern University Bulletin the department's undergraduate course listing (which included Industrial Engineering courses) contained, among others, three courses in Metal Processing (including welding, forging, and casting, and details of the methods and tools used in manufacturing plants); three courses in Foundry Technology (including melting and casting methods and metallurgical principles, with laboratory) ; Precision Gaging and Analysis; and Engineering Tool Design. These courses were replaced by such courses as Aerodynamics, Experimental Methods in Jet Propulsion, Exterior Ballistics and Astrodynamics, and Rockets and Thermal Jets, all of which gave representation to the new industries developing in the country.
      These changes reflected the new engineering curricula adopted by most universities, which emphasized the science base of engineering. It recognized that the more practical aspects were best learned "on the job", and that engineering was undergoing such rapid changes that schools had better stress those things which would change little or only slowly over the years, namely, the engineering sciences. Thus, for example, the introductory course in thermodynamics -- in which I was much involved-- changed markedly. From a course which included "...problem solution by the use of property charts; applications to problems selected from the fields refrigeration, steam power cycles, and internal combustion engines." (1956-57 N. U. Bulletin, course 740-B20) we changed to a course which included "... Zeroth Law and the meaning of temperature; ... equations of state, the Third Law of Thermodynamics, and introduction to cycles" (1960-61 N. U. Bulletin, course 740-B20). At the graduate level similar changes were taking place. Courses in internal combustion engines, and in gas and steam turbine analysis were dropped during this period, and Combustion and Plasma Radiation, Engineering Spectroscopy, Transport Phenomena, Magneto-Gas Dynamics, and Rarefied Gas Dynamics "among others" were introduced.
      I remember those early days with a great deal of nostalgia. The members of the "space research" groups, both experimental and theoretical, became good friends. We not only attended the same seminars, and discussed related problems, but we usually lunched together, and often had non-technical "bull-sessions" in one office or another. Cambel was an excellent department chairman, utilizing every opportunity to try to cement the department into a coherent whole. He knew the importance to the department's reputation of having a "high profile", and was active in the professional societies. He started a Gas Dynamics Colloquium in conjunction with the Gas Dynamics Laboratory, which added much to the departments reputation (in 1959-60 talks were given by 19 non-NU speakers). In 1955 he organized, with the American Rocket Society, and was Chairman of the first national conference on gas dynamics; subsequently, in 1967, the Seventh Biennial Gas Dynamics Symposium was held at Northwestern, with Cambel playing an active role.
      Subsequent years brought about an increased emphasis on the basic and applied sciences and mathematics, and, as new faculty replaced retiring ones, even courses retaining an "old" name took on a different character.
      In 1963 Professors Prigogine and Gottschlich left the department, and Professor Thomas P. Goodman and Assistant Professor Richard C. Warder, Jr. had been given appointments. Sadly, Professor Goodman, who had been expected to bolster our work in the more practical aspects of engineering, died in 1965. In 1964 Professor Spotts retired, Kilner left, and Assistant Professors William E. Olmstead, John A. Walker, and Man-Chen Yuen were appointed to the department. Olmstead's interests lay in applied mathematics, so that his appointment was joint with the Department of Engineering Science ; Walker's, in control theory; and Yuen's in experimental fluid dynamics. In 1965 Jaques Denavit was promoted to full professor; and Warder left. In that year Larry Holmes was appointed an assistant professor (gas dynamics); he left in 1969. In 1966 Professors Shulman and Anderson left, and Vincent H. Larson was appointed an Associate Professor. Larson's interests were in engineering design, particularly in transportation. (Associate Dean of Science Lucius P. Gregg, Jr. was given an honorary appointment as an Instructor, and Michael C. de Malherbe, from the University of Witwatersrand, a Visiting Professorship.)
      A major change took place in 1966 with Professor Cambel going on leave to become Director of Research and Engineering Support of the Institute of Defense Analysis, a "think tank" in Washington, D.C. He subsequently (in 1968) resigned from the department to become Dean of Engineering at Wayne State University. Professor Hartenberg was named Acting Chairman by Dean Gotaas, and a search for a new department chairman was started. This was a time of much difficulty for the department, especially in its relationship to the Dean. He was a strong advocate for a chairman solidly in one of the "classical" areas of mechanical engineering; the vast majority of the department wanted a chairman whose interests were in the more modern aspects. One prospective chairman after another was interviewed by the dean and by members of the department; one after another they were found unacceptable by him or us. Finally, the department realized that the dean would have his way, and Dr. Ralph A. Burton, whose area of expertise was in lubrication and wear, was appointed a professor and chairman as of September, 1969.
      In 1967 a new faculty Council on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics was formed to administer the teaching and research in those and allied fields; it was to give greater visibility to our activities in those areas, and provide more coherence to our course offerings. Members of the council came from the Departments of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Astronautical Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Materials Sciences, and Applied Mathematics and Engineering Sciences. Professors George Herrman, of Civil Engineering, and David Mintzer were Chairman and Vice-chairman, respectively. A new Fluid Dynamics Colloquium was started and sponsored by the Council.
      During the period 1966-69 several new appointments were made: Associate Professor Er-Yung Yu (astromechanics) and Assistant Professor William E. Schmittendorf (systems and controls) were appointed in 1967; Associate Professor Herbert S. Chang (lubrication) and assistant Professor Gilbert D. Stein (molecular beams) in 1968; and Professor Alan Kistler (gas dynamics) in 1969. Olmstead was promoted to Associate Professor in 1967; Walker and Yuen to Associate Professor in 1968, and Kovitz to a full Professor in 1969.
      These changes in the curriculum were reflected in the student body in the department. During the 1960 -62 period an average (I have used a three year average in this analysis since the number of students who graduate fluctuates significantly from year to year) of 31 students received their Bachelor of Science degree in the department, 16 received the Master of Science degree, and 4 received the Doctor of Philosophy degree (of these last, 2 had theses related to gas dynamics). For the 1967-69 period, there were an average of 20 BS degrees, 8 MS degrees, and 10 Ph.D. degrees (6 of which had gas dynamics-related theses). Thus, in this seven year period (say, from 1961 to 1968), while the undergraduate graduation rate (presumably reflecting a trend in enrollments) fell somewhat, the master's degree enrollment fell markedly, and the Ph.D. enrollment rose markedly. The perception had taken hold nationally that Northwestern was one of the best places to go for a good research-oriented advanced degree.
      In 1969 the American Society of Mechanical Engineers held a joint applied mechanics and fluids engineering conference at Tech, also indicative of the growing national prominence of the department.
      When I first came to the department Ethel Majerus was the department secretary and Brenda Wilson (who also was new) was one of the office staff; Anton Matheson and Robert Klaub were machinists in the department shop. (There were other staff members, but I had little to do with them.) In 1965 Lillian Warren became department secretary, and remained as such until after the period covered by these reminiscences. Lillian Kurtz joined the department in 1967; and Judy Kozlov, who subsequently left for another department after many years, came in 1969.
      With the coming of the 1970 period, major changes took place at Tech: the retirement of Dean Gotaas and the appointment of Dean Walter Owen; the student unrest associated with the Viet Nam War; a new president of the university. In many ways the pre-1960 period appears, in retrospect, to have been a prelude (although an active prelude) to the much stronger research focus of the department in the 1960's. This latter period was one of camaraderie and singleness of purpose: to make the department nationally famous for its research activities. I suspect we will never see such a time again.

* I will refer to what is now called the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences by the name it was known as during the period of these remembrances: the Technological Institute and Tech.

 
     
 

COMPUTER SCIENCE AT NORTHWESTERN
by
Gilbert Krulee

     Officially, the Department of Computer Science was established in 1970 as a stand-alone department. In 1983, it was re-established in its present form as one half of a Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. A brief historical review of the field of Computer Science at Northwestern, leading up to the recognition of the need for an academic enterprise devoted to teaching and research in the field of Computer Science is presented.
      If we leave out slide rules and mechanical desk calculators like the Marchant, the first computer on the Northwestern campus was an IBM 650 which was housed in the Dearborn Observatory. Beginning in 1957, it was brought to the campus on a rental basis through the efforts of Jim VanNess in Electrical Engineering and two others. This computer was digital in design and used vacuum tubes in order to carry out its computations. By present day standards, it was expensive, not particularly reliable, and of surprisingly limited capabilities. Note that, in terms of capacity, it could not compete with even present day personal computers which can be purchased for not much more than $1000. What distinguished this computer was that it was digital in design, unlike the analog computers that were already in use in electrical engineering.
      This first computer was soon replaced with more modern IBM computers, the 709 and then the 7094. These changes took place in the early 1960's, at which time the reliance on vacuum tubes was eliminated, to be replaced by the newer transistor technology. This change has been one of the keys to the dramatic increase in the use of digital computers. In addition, by the early to middle 1960's, there were at most two one-quarter courses that could be taken by students, whether undergraduates or graduates. Jim Van Ness and Roger Jenness introduced the first course, EE C18. This was an introduction to numerical methods and is still being taught, although with significant changes in the content being covered. There was also a course available in the Math Department, taught by Virginia Klema, organized around the then newly developed high-level language ALGOL. As an aside, prior to this time, one wrote programs in either machine language or assembly language. FORTRAN became available in 1960, followed by ALGOL and by some of the list processing languages like IPL and LISP, used primarily for applications in Artificial Intelligence.
      Then in 1963, Bruce Johnson and I, both in Industrial Engineering, began to teach a 3-quarter sequence with more of an emphasis on data processing, simulation, and statistical analysis. By the middle to late 1960s, there had emerged an interest among the faculty in computers scattered throughout a number of departments. These included Professors VanNess, Aagard, Tou, Murphy, and Yau in Electrical Engineering, Professor Stevens in Chemical Engineering, Professors Grau and Wouk in Engineering Sciences (now Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics), and Professor Kliphardt, also in Engineering Sciences. As an aside, it is important to note that the faculty members interested in the development of a program in computer science were primarily located in The Technological Institute. During this early period, there was limited activity among the faculty of other schools at Northwestern. This was not always the case at other universities. And there are other universities in which there were formed two departments, one in Arts and Sciences and another in a School of Engineering.
      As the interest in computers began to increase throughout the McCormick School, we began to deal with two rather complex problems which raised difficult questions about organization of programs and about who should take responsibility for the recruiting of additional faculty. As to additions to the faculty, Professor Van Ness had served as director of the Computing Center. After his resignation in 1966, we recruited a successor. At that time, I served as chairman of the Faculty Computer Committee and by coincidence as chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering. Perhaps it should be no surprise that Ben Mittman, the next director of the Computing Center, had his initial appointment in Industrial Engineering, even though his academic background was primarily in mathematics. As another example, Mike Flynn was also hired in the late '60s into Industrial Engineering, with a joint appointment in Electrical Engineering, even though his training was in Electrical Engineering and his interests focused on the design of computers and computer architecture.
      As for graduate programs and students, by the early '60s, several of us began to support students who majored in Computer Science and sometimes Artificial Intelligence. These students mainly graduated through Industrial Engineering or Applied Mathematics even though they have never worked in those fields and currently view themselves as working in the field of Computer Science. These academic complications were partially resolved in the late '60s while Ben Gotaas was still the Tech dean. We established, with the formal approval of the Graduate School, an interdisciplinary committee. The committee included representatives from several departments in Tech, with the strongest representation coming from Electrical Engineering, Engineering Sciences, and Industrial Engineering. Students could work through this committee and receive a degree that was designated as Computer Science. To be more precise, the 1969 catalog reference is to a Center for Computer Sciences.
     In 1968, there came into existence a General Engineering course (i.e. without being the responsibility of any particular department) called Introduction to Engineering: Computer Fundamentals. This course was organized around FORTRAN and it emphasized "the study of a variety of computational problems from different fields of engineering." Professor Kliphardt coordinated this effort although it was team taught using representatives from most of the departments in Tech. By implication, the existence of this course represented an awareness that all engineers would have a need to program and to solve problems using a computer. In 1969, however, this was an optional course, open to Tech freshmen. After the new department was founded, this course became CS A01, Introduction to Computer Programming. Soon afterwards, it became a requirement for all Tech freshmen.
      This pattern of treating Computer Science as interdisciplinary, without forming a department, is a pattern that was followed by many universities throughout the country. But by the late '60s, the pattern began to change as many schools established departments of Computer Science. Among the most influential, we can point to Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, University of Texas, Penn State, and the University of Pennsylvania as important pioneers. Interestingly enough, MIT followed a somewhat different pattern of development. Computer Science became a separate program within Electrical Engineering. Since this is a very large department, there are two associate chairs, one for EE and one in Computer Science. From a functional perspective, these can be viewed as separate departments.
      Thus, by 1970, it became clear that we needed to formalize our investment in Computer Science and that the interdisciplinary committee was no longer a wholly satisfactory situation. The newly appointed dean, Walter Owen asked me, as chair of the interdisciplinary committee to make a formal proposal concerning the establishment of a separate department. At that time, each of the three departments that had the most at stake could (and did) make a case for the possibility that the new program should be incorporated into one of the existing departments. Perhaps for reasons that are significantly political, the most acceptable solution was to establish a separate department within the Technological Institute. This change was approved in 1970 and the new department began officially in 1971. I became the first chair of the new department. Within the first year or two, four interesting developments took place. First, our approach to appointments in the new department followed a principle of inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness. Any faculty member who wanted a joint appointment could become a member of the new department. Second, through a process of negotiation, certain courses from existing departments were transferred to the new department. For example, a number of courses in IE and in Engineering Science moved over to the new department, particularly those that had little to do with the primary mission of the original department. Third, we designed and introduced an undergraduate curriculum in computer science. This effect was undertaken by Ben Mittman and Mel Schwartz and it followed rather closely the proposed undergraduate curriculum that had been published by the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) which was the relevant professional association. Fourth, we began to add faculty into the new department with Larry Henschen and Hal Sudborough being the first. Interestingly enough, prior to this time none of our faculty had done graduate work in Computer Science, primarily because departments of Computer Science had not yet come into existence. Beginning with 1970, our recruiting was primarily limited to Departments of Computer Science. And thus Computer Science at Northwestern was born.

 
     
 

REFLECTIONS ON MY EXPERIENCES AT
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
by
William F. Stevens

I. Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Program - (1940-1944)
      My early years (before NU) were spent in Harvard, Illinois, a small town close enough to Chicago to benefit from the many advantages of the city yet far enough removed to be free of most of its disadvantages. Northwestern University had always been high on my list of possible places to go for my college education (my mother had graduated from NU and we were all aware of the opportunities there), but it was not until the announcement of the founding of the Northwestern Technological Institute and the beginning of the construction of its new building, early in 1940, that I gave serious thought to attending myself. A visit to the school in the spring attracted me further, so I applied and was admitted for the fall of 1940, as a member of the second class to enter Tech.
      As originally set up, Tech had four basic curricula - civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering. All involved the cooperative plan, with students taking a five-year program leading to the BS degree. The entire first year was spent on the campus, after which all students were to participate in four years of quarterly alternation between college and industrial work. Unfortunately, the advent of World War II required that significant changes be made to this plan, but the combination of education and industrial experience has been retained, wherever possible, over subsequent years.
      I arrived on the Evanston campus in September, 1940, ready for the undergraduate experience I had heard so much about, and I was not disappointed. Northwestern had much to offer and I tried to take advantage of it all. The new Tech building was under construction, so all of my classes met on the South Campus -chemistry in Fayerweather Hall, mathematics in Locy, and all of my engineering classes (drafting, shop, etc.) in Swift Hall, previously the headquarters of the School of Engineering and now the home of the new Tech Institute. No chemical engineering teachers were on the faculty this first year, but the beginning years of the ChE program had been carefully developed, so that I was kept busy with various preparatory requirements in mathematics, science, and general engineering.
      In addition to my regular classes, I found time to take part in many of the other activities open to college undergraduates. After going through rush week, I joined a fraternity and was a participant in many of its get-togethers. Following through on my high school interests, I joined the marching band and the a cappella choir, both of which I enjoyed a great deal. (It was good that I did so, as a freshman, since my schedule as an engineering student made it impossible for me to do so in later years.) Believe it or not, NU had an excellent football team in 1940, and I was able to go to most of the games. With Lynn Waldorf as coach, the team's record was 7 wins and 2 losses, with a 20-0 win over Notre Dame in the last game of the season. (No school on the following Monday, to celebrate!) I was able to go {as a member of the band) to two of the football team's away games - to Wisconsin, on the train (NU won 27-7), and to Michigan, by air because 3 of us overslept and missed the train (it was close, but we lost 13-12). All in all, it was a wonderful year for this small-town boy!
      During my first year on campus construction work continued on the new Tech building, financed by the generous gift of Walter P. Murphy, and we were all looking forward to being able to occupy the building early the next fall. Unfortunately, one morning in December, some of the wooden construction scaffolding caught fire from a misplaced "salamander" and oil-soaked canvas covering the forms carried the fire to other portions of the building. The damage was considerable, resulting in a serious delay for the entire project, but repairs were made and overall construction continued.
      The fall of 1941 saw several of my classes being held in the still to be completed Tech building. In particular, the various new laboratories and classrooms were of great help to my overall program. However, war clouds were looming and Pearl Harbor Day arrived, a complete surprise for most of us in the Midwest Much of the space in the new building was utilized for a Navy radio school, and we all became involved with war activities. All of the Evanston campus went onto the quarter system, and the entire area began to operate on "war" time - actually daylight-saving time in the middle of the winter. My cooperative work experience got underway in January, 1942, and I alternated work and school for the next eighteen months.
      The spring of 1942 saw the arrival of the first member of the faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Professor William E. Brinker, from the University of Pittsburgh. As chair of the department, Dr. Brinker played a major role in developing detailed plans for ChE courses and securing new faculty to carry them out. Professor Virgil C. Williams joined us that September, and Professors Leroy F. Stutzman, John B. Sutherland, and George M. Brown became faculty members in July, 1943. All of these men were major contributors to the excellent education I received as a chemical engineering undergraduate at Northwestern.
      The new Technological Institute building was formally dedicated at a convocation held on June 16, 1942, on the front patio of the Tech building. Many dignitaries were in attendance and gave their strong endorsement of the new building and the program it would be serving. The following statement was made:

"And so it is toward an ideal that the Institute will hold itself. First, there is the immediate need for giving all aid possible to the war effort. Second, there is postwar reconstruction and conversion. Third, there is the ideal of service to mankind in ever increasing quantity - service so that our American ideal of life and liberty will not die."

     By the fall of 1942 our participation in World War II began to have a much greater effect on campus life. Many students left school to be involved more directly in the war effort, and those that remained played major roles in war-related activities. The annual Waa-Mu show was canceled and few if any off-campus dances were held. I continued my coop involvement, but my assignments were more closely related to the war effort. Fortunately, our faculty continued their strong interest in and involvement with the undergraduate program, as evidenced by the founding of the "Northwestern Engineer" and the establishment of a chapter of the engineering honorary, Tau Beta Pi, on the NU campus. It was still a great place to be an undergraduate engineer.
      The winter of 1943 found a considerable number of chemical engineering undergraduates ready for unit operations laboratory experience, but with an incompletely constructed unit operations laboratory to work in. As a result, we students were fortunate that we were called upon to do much of the work of actually building the experiments to be used in the lab. Upon completion, the laboratory had equipment to demonstrate most unit operations, as well as a number of instruments for measurement and control. The students found it more than satisfactory, since we had had a major part in the laboratory's construction.
      Our country's involvement with the war effort continued to grow during the spring of 1943, with the result that the NU campus was soon to be taken over by the Navy. In June, a large group of Navy reservists were called to active duty and sent to various college campuses to train, in so-called V-12 programs. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to Northwestern University, and permitted to continue on my undergraduate program in chemical engineering. The Navy took over all of the housing units at the north end of the campus, where more than 1200 new apprentice sea- men and ROTC men were housed. We went back on semesters, with our courses accelerated to the point where the first Tech class graduated in December, 1943 and the next (mine) in June, 1944. It was definitely a changed environment, but our course program continued to be a good one, thanks to our dedicated faculty. The war had great effect upon us all, but perhaps those who felt it most were the Navy ROTC students who were scheduled to graduate in June. Because of the escalation of our involvement in Europe, these men were called to duty in February, 1994, just one term before they were to complete their undergraduate programs.
      Graduation for the members of our class came in June, 1944, with the formal exercises held out-of-doors on Deering meadow. The chemical engineering class consisted of 12 individuals, most of whom went directly to various involvements within the war effort. I was sent to Columbia University for a 4-month program, after which I was commissioned as an Ensign and sent to Harvard University and MIT to train for radar operation and maintenance. This latter was especially fortunate, because it gave me a start in developing an interest in automatic control.
      After active duty on various assignments, primarily in ports on the Atlantic coast and on ships in the Atlantic Ocean, I was discharged from the Navy in April, 1946, and became a graduate student in chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin. I feel strongly that the Technological Institute gave me a good foundation in chemical engineering, and I'm proud to have been associated with Northwestern, over more than fifty years.

II.  Early Experiences as a Faculty Member - (1951-1960)
      My direct involvement with the Technological Institute came to a temporary halt with my graduation, with a BS, in 1944, and did not begin again until August, 1951. During this seven-year period, I served two years as an Ensign in the Navy, attended graduate school for three years at the University of Wisconsin, where I received my PhD, and then worked for two years as a research engineer with the B.F.Goodrich Co., in Akron, Ohio.
      During this entire period, 1944-1951, a good deal had been happening at the Technological Institute as well. The return of many students who had been forced to interrupt their academic programs because of the war effort, combined with a larger than expected group of new students resulted in large undergraduate classes, but the faculty and staff were able to meet the challenge successfully, under Dean Eshbach's excellent direction.
      Within the Department of Chemical Engineering a number of significant changes took place. Dr. Brinker resigned as the Department Chairman, to take a position as Director of Research at Corn Products Company, and Professor V. C. Williams succeeded him. Within the next few years, the Department continued to grow and develop, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Significant personnel changes took place as well. Professors Donald A. Dahlstrom and William T. Brazelton joined the faculty, after completing their doctoral studies here at Northwestern, and Professor Sutherland left to take an industrial position. In 1950 Professor Williams also left to return to industry, and Dr. Stutzman was named Department Chairman to replace him.
      Late in 1950, although still employed at B.F. Goodrich, I began to realize that my long-term career objective - to become a university faculty member - had not yet been satisfied, with the result that I began to investigate opportunities in the teaching profession. After a good deal of serious consideration, I accepted an offer from Northwestern University and returned to the campus in August of 1951. My initial appointment was as a full-time research associate within the Department of Chemical Engineering. The Technological Institute was rapidly increasing its research activity, so my position was as a researcher on a fairly large project investigating the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere of a submarine, under the auspices of the US Navy. Fortunately, during the 1951-52 academic year a faculty position opened up in the Department, and I was appointed as an Assistant Professor, effective for the Fall of 1952.
      During the next several years I kept busy developing my research program and building the background required for a teacher of chemical engineering. My principal research interests were in applied mathematics, process dynamics and control, and computer applications. Early in this period, our departmental faculty was strengthened by the addition of Professor Robert Zinn to our group. His many years of practical experience in the chemical industry were invaluable to our Department, and I interacted with him regularly.
      My career seemed to develop very satisfactorily during those first few years in the Department. My research was progressing well and my classes were well-received. Unfortunately, in 1953 things began to change. Our well-liked and much-respected Dean, Ovid Eshbach, was approaching retirement age, so he resigned his position and was replaced by Donald Loughridge. As a young member of the Tech faculty, my interactions with Dean Loughridge were few, and most were quite satisfactory. However, several department chairmen, including my chairman and good friend, Leroy Stutzman, were having serious difficulties in working with the new dean. Problems continued to arise and to become more serious until December, 1955, when Professor Stutzman and four other Tech administrators resigned their duties, stating that they could no longer work with Dean Loughridge. Two days later, Dean Loughridge also resigned and ex-Dean Eshbach took over as acting Dean.
      The next year and a half went quite well, in spite of the confusion caused by the several resignations. Professor William Brazelton replaced Professor Stutzman as Chairman of Chemical Engineering, and he helped Dean Eshbach keep the Institute on an even keel until the middle of 1957. At this time, our new Dean, Harold B. Gotaas, arrived from the University of California, and our growth and development continued under his direction. Professor Brazelton was appointed as Assistant Dean, with primary responsibility for Tech's undergraduate program, with Professor Joseph Smith joining the faculty as the new Chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering. The Department continued to expand under Professor Smith's direction, and three new faculty were added, Professors Joshua Dranoff, John Slattery, and George Bankoff, all of whom have made excellent contributions, in both research and teaching.
      Over these years I was fortunate enough to be able to grow and develop professionally, as were most of my colleagues. My knowledge and experience involving process control and computer applications increased to the point where I was able to serve as a consultant at Vern E. Alden Co., Pure Oil Co., and at Argonne National Laboratory. Full-time summer employment at Vern Alden and at Argonne added to my store of practical experience in these areas. As my research program developed and my teaching kept up with new developments, my contributions to Northwestern were recognized and I was promoted to Associate Professor in 1966.
      By 1959 my interest and expertise in the area of chemical process control by computer had developed to the point where I decided to investigate the possibility of leaving the University and obtaining a position in industry, thus getting more involved with the development of computer control, which I could see was rapidly coming into use. After a serious investigation into the the available opportunities, I accepted an offer from Control Data Corporation, in St, Paul, Minnesota, and left NU to join CDC in July, 1960. Unfortunately, all did not work out as planned. My wife and I were on our way to Minnesota when we were involved in a serious auto accident. She lost her life, and I spent a number of weeks in the hospital and at my parents' home, recuperating from my serious injuries. During this period many of my associates from Northwestern were very supportive. Dean Gotaas sent Dean Brazelton to invite me to return to my old position at NU, which I did, in January, 1961. It was a wonderful vote of confidence from my Northwestern colleagues, and I've never been sorry that I returned to the campus. The Technological Institute has been a major factor in my life, and I am pleased to have been a part of its program for so many enjoyable years.

III. Later Experience - Faculty and Administration - (1961-1969)
      I came back to Northwestern in January, 1961, after spending several months recuperating from the serious results of my auto accident. It was a real pleasure to return. Professor George Thodos had succeeded Professor Smith as Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department, and he and the rest of the Tech faculty made me very welcome. Dean Gotaas was instrumental in expediting my return as well. He and Dean Brazelton helped me feel that I had never left the Technological Institute.
      Under Professor Thodos's capable direction, the Department continued to grow and develop. Our newly-arrived faculty group, Professors Dranoff, Slattery, and Bankoff, contributed a great deal to the increase in research and graduate study which took place during the early 1960's, while our undergraduate program also thrived. It was truly a time when Tech moved toward being a major factor in education and research. My personal situation also improved greatly in 1962, when I married Lillian Fort, a Glenview friend who had been widowed a few years earlier. Her two children and my three combined to make us a happy family.
      These years were a time of change for me professionally as well. My interest and involvement with computers continued, with several publications as the result. My interest in interactions with students resulted in my becoming the departmental contact for new and prospective graduate students. Tech's total graduate program was growing rapidly, due to the research activities of our new faculty, and there was an increasing need for cooperation between the Graduate School and the various Tech departments. My involvement with the admission of graduate students to Chemical Engineering brought me to the attention of the Graduate School, so that in 1993 Dean Moody Prior invited me to join his staff, on a part-time basis. It was an inviting opportunity to become involved in administration, so I accepted and was appointed as an Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, to work primarily with applicants for admission to graduate study. I found the assignment to be very enjoyable, since it gave me an opportunity to work with faculty and staff in all areas of the University, and to learn the details of many interesting programs. Since it was a part-time position, I continued to teach and carry out research within the Department of Chemical Engineering, thus maintaining my professional standing as an engineer. Truly, it was the best of both worlds, and I greatly enjoyed being able to be involved in two different areas of the University.
      My tenure as an Assistant and Associate Dean of the Graduate School was both enjoyable and educational. It was an excellent way to learn more about the entire University. Under Dean Prior, and later working with his replacement, Dean Robert Baker, I was responsible for coordinating the various aspects of admission to the Graduate School. We had the authority to approve or deny the admission of each applicant, but we did not act without the recommendation of the Department or Program which the applicant wished to enter. As a result, regular interactions with many individuals were necessary, most of which were pleasant and very interesting. I was able to learn a great deal about the rest of the University and to become acquainted with many other faculty members during my service as a Graduate School administrator.
      When I first became associated with the Graduate School, our offices were located in an older frame house on the SW corner of Clark Street and Orrington Avenue. In 1965, construction began on the new Rebecca Crown Center, which was to consolidate most of the administrative offices of the University, including those of the Graduate School. When the building was completed, in 1966, it was decided to combine the undergraduate and graduate offices of admission and to house them, together, in one of the offices in the new administrative center. I was in charge of graduate admissions activity at that time, so the consolidation gave me more responsibility, but it separated our operations from the rest of the Graduate School, which had been assigned its space in a different wing of the new building. This arrangement continued from 1967 until 1970, after which graduate admissions were again housed in the office of the Graduate School.
      My interest in computer applications was utilized within the Graduate School by my being assigned part of the responsibility for the development of a system for maintaining the graduate admissions records on the University's central computer. It was a significantly different procedure than might have been developed today, but it enabled us to keep the necessary data on file and to prepare regular status reports, which were sent to Departments to keep them informed as to the characteristics of their several applicants and the status of the admission process for each.
      During this period I was active both in the Department of Chemical Engineering and in the Graduate School. Most of my mornings were spent at the Graduate School office, evaluating admission applications and carrying out related activities (such as meetings with faculty of various departments and programs). My afternoons were spent at the Tech Institute, where I taught one course and met with individual graduate students to discuss their research activities. My usual graduate student group consisted of from six to ten students, many of whom were PhD candidates. In addition, regular attendance at professional meetings and graduate administration societies, along with some outside consulting, left little time for other activities, but somehow my wife (who was a teacher in the Glenview schools) and I found time to spend with our five children, seeing them through college and into their respective careers. It was a busy time for us all, but we enjoyed it greatly. We were fortunate to have been a part of Northwestern University during this period.

 
     
 

SOME RECOLLECTIONS
by
S. George Bankoff

     I came to Northwestern in September l959, after spending a year at Cal Tech as an NSF Fellow. I had been Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department at Rose Polytechnic Institute (now Rose-Hulman), Terre Haute, Indiana. Joe Smith, the Chairman of Chemical Engineering at Northwestern, had only been there for a couple of years. He had been on my doctoral committee at Purdue, and he had come out to Cal Tech to interview me. I was late in getting my Ph.D. but I had already been a subgroup leader on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago, and had six years of experience with duPont, and so I came in as a full professor. Joe was an outstanding researcher, and quickly garnered important national awards. He was also an impressive administrator, and, in fact, had been brought in partly to clean up the department where the administration had gotten very lax, and the research output was quite weak. In fact, one senior professor (whom I never met) was working full time as chief engineer of an architect-engineering firm in Chicago, while theoretically full-time on the NU faculty. In my opinion, Joe did an excellent cleanup job. Joe later went to the University of California, Davis. He wanted to retire in California, his native state, and he wanted his daughters to marry Californians (or at least Westerners), so that he could visit his grandchildren easily. (It actually worked out that way.)
      By the time I arrived (September l959) the offending faculty member was gone, and within a year he brought in John Slattery, Josh Dranoff and myself. John came from Wisconsin where he had done his Ph.D. under Bob Bird, and he was very much interested in the mathematical analysis of fluid mechanics, and particularly in non-Newtonion fluids. Josh had come from Princeton, and had interests in photochemical reactions and ion exchange. I was interested in boiling heat transfer and taught a new graduate course in applied mathematics in chemical engineering. After that it was a very stable department. Only three persons were hired (Hugh Hulburt, John Butt and Dick Mah) and only one left (Smith) over a nearly 25 year period. The profession was then all-male. I remember only one female undergraduate student, and no female graduate students, in the sixties. She was quite good, as well as being rather attractive, but she couldn't find a job as a chemical engineer. She finally took a job as chemical librarian with one of the big chemical companies. The chemical engineering faculty got along well with each other, and we turned out a number of students who have since made their marks in the profession. The Dean was Ben Gotaas, who loved to talk and to visit with people, but was actually quite shrewd in his judgments. He would drop by unannounced, and just gossip and visit with key faculty, and I am sure he kept a very good finger on the faculty pulse in that way.
      In l959 Smith and Thodos were very active researchers, and the new hires added considerably to the research volume. All in all, the reputation of the department started to move up, and it has been going up ever since. We have had a succession of chairmen on a rotating five-year (or less) basis, so that we never had to contend with a long-term autocratic person. In those days the chemical engineering undergraduate laboratory covered the basic unit operations, and was a large area with three stories of unobstructed head room, since nearly industrial-size equipment of various types was used. Nowadays the equipment has been miniaturized, and is much better instrumented, with computer data-acquisition, and, in some cases, control.

 
     
 

THE DEPARTMENTS OF ENGINEERING DRAWING, ENGINEERING GRAPHICS AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
by
Raymond A. Kliphardt

     The continuum suggested by the title may be thought to be incorrect by some readers, but I believe the record reveals its historic value. The author is the only person who was part of all the phases of the mutations. Portions of his personal saga serve as a framework for the succession of events. The reader whose interest is limited to the Department of Engineering Sciences may skip to the seventh paragraph.
      Dean Eshbach gave me my start at Northwestern in the Spring of 1943 after my medical release from the United States Navy. He didn't offer me a position by name or salary, but sent me to Professor George Maney with the assurance that there was plenty I could do at Tech. George Maney was Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department and widely known for definitive work on indeterminate structures, the slope deflection method. He was the principal investigator of several research projects for the War Production Board. My buoyant walk from the Dean's office to that of the Civil Engineering Department came to an abrupt pause when George Maney stated flatly that he hired his own people. Perhaps at least partly because of his serious difficulty with ulcers, he quickly relaxed, showed me around the Civil Engineering Laboratories and explained the ongoing research in spirally bound reinforced concrete columns, reinforced concrete railroad ties, and fibercrete. The next day I was at work preparing specimens, reducing test data, plotting stress-strain curves and enjoying the start of a forty-four year experience at Northwestern. A few weeks later Professor Maney, with some evident chagrin, asked me what day I had started and what monthly salary he had agreed to pay me.
      At that time, the freshmen of Tech had a year of instruction in Engineering Drawing in courses listed as Civil Engineering 101, 102, and 103. They were taught primarily by Maurice B. Lagaard and Arthur Hathaway. They were joined starting in 1944-45 by H. Loren Thompson, who had an appointment in Civil Engineering, and also taught Hydraulics. Teaching on temporary appointments were Edwin Bruno, Charles Clinton Henderson, Emerson Raymond and Earl Reed, all of whom were practicing architects. A few years later Herbert A. LaRoy taught the Engineering Drawing courses. They were all listed as Lecturers in Civil Engineering.
      Several weeks after the start of a quarter, probably in 1943-44, the students in a freshman class in Plane and Spherical Trigonometry mutinied against the instruction they were receiving. Their faculty member probably would be diagnosed as a sufferer of Alzheimer's disease today. For reasons I was never told, the solution decided upon was to have me teach the course for the remainder of the quarter. There was no adjustment in my research work nor salary, but I had a great time and apparently successfully turned a bad situation around. The Department of Mathematics was interested in offering me an appointment as Instructor. The Tech Institute countered with a better offer and I started as Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering in 1945-46. For the next three years I taught courses in Mechanics and Strength of Materials. The work in Engineering Drawing continued as stated above.
      Starting in 1948-49 two changes occurred that are part of this history: (l) The work in Engineering Drawing was expanded, removed from the Civil Engineering Department and organized in a separate department, the Engineering Drawing Department, with Maurice B. Lagaard as Chairman. The courses offered in the new department consisted of three required courses: ED 111 Elementary Engineering Drawing, ED 112 Descriptive Geometry, ED 113 Machine Drawing, and two elective courses: ED 114 Structural Drawing and ED 311 Architectural Drawing; (2) The other change was that I was appointed Registrar of the Technological Institute for two years and discontinued teaching and research for that period due to the requirements of that position. This situation was created by several factors. Franklin Snyder, President of Northwestern University, extended an open invitation to veterans who were former students to return to their respective schools without any controls of admission. An explosion of unpredictable scheduling problems was anticipated and about 1200 undergraduates did enroll in the Tech Institute in 1948-49; for the first time the Tech Building had too few classrooms. Also, Vernon G. Lippitt, who had served as assistant to the dean, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and departed on short notice the previous summer leaving only sketchy plans for the upcoming year's schedule. Louise D'Esposito, who had been Registrar, continued her record-keeping and office management duties; there were six full-time clerks in the office in those pre-computer days. I was also named Chairman of the Delinquency Committee (later renamed the Committee on Scholastic Standing). This started what may be the longest committee involvement of any faculty member, as I continued on that committee after the chairmanship transferred to successive persons responsible for undergraduate registration and until retirement.
      In the Fall of 1950 I returned to teaching in association with those teaching in the Engineering Drawing Department although Maurice Lagaard and I retained our appointments in Civil Engineering for several years. (H. Loren Thompson had left in the late 1940s.) I stated before that I taught 'in association with' those teaching in the Engineering Drawing Department as the program was split and I was to teach and develop only the Descriptive Geometry course while the others taught the other courses. This did not promote camaraderie in the department, but probably there have been more significant divisions in department faculties.
      Many significant developments occurred in the next twenty years. Because no personal diary nor log was maintained for specific dates, events are reported here according to their appearance in the year-by-year BULLETIN of the Technological Institute. In 1953-55 Donald H. Loughridge was Dean of the Technological Institute and Ovid W. Eshbach was listed as Professor of Engineering Science. That is the first appearance of that discipline in a professorial appointment at the Tech Institute. He retained that title until he passed away although he was Acting Dean from 1955-57.
      In 1953-54, the first listing of the Science-Engineering curriculum appeared. The program consisted of existing courses selected from several Tech and L.A. departments and it was advised by members of the engineering faculty. Its purpose was expressed in the three excerpts that follow.
      "This curriculum has been established to meet a recognized need for basic study in engineering with more education in science than is possible when specialization is chosen in the traditional branches of engineering."
      "Students are encouraged to choose elective subjects in the upper years with a view toward graduate study in science or engineering. A minimum of one-third of the elective courses must be in one field of physical science and a minimum of one-third in engineering subjects."
      "A program wisely chosen may prepare a student for graduate study in either science or engineering or immediate employment in the field of his interest. The curriculum is particularly adapted to those who plan careers in research and development and anticipate changing opportunities incident to further developments in modern science."
      Robert R. Banks was listed in 1956-57 as Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Science Engineering. He had primary faculty responsibility for the Science Engineering curriculum and the advising of students.
      Miklos Hetenyi was listed as Professor of Engineering Science starting in 1956-57 although he had been listed as Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics starting in 1947-48 and never participated in the Science-Engineering program nor later in the Engineering Sciences department.
      By 1957-58 Harold B. Gotaas was Dean of the Technological Institute, Maurice B. Lagaard was Emeritus, and I was named Chairman of the department whose name was changed from Engineering Drawing to Engineering Graphics. The new name reflected the development of additional course work in nomography, graphical analysis and graphical reduction of experimental data. John R. Rossenga joined the Engineering Graphics Department and participated actively in that development until he left in 1961. The additional courses were elective and starting in 1956-57 one course, 735 A20, was the only one required of all students in Tech. It was called Analytic Graphics and was primarily descriptive geometry. It was taught with three lectures and one two-hour laboratory weekly. The emphases were on spatial visualization and problem solving.
      In 1958-59 the names Abraham Charnes, Professor of Applied Mathematics, John R. Bowman, Professor of Engineering Sciences and Associate Dean, and Ernest D. Klema, Professor of Nuclear Engineering give the first suggestion of the future direction of Engineering Sciences. In 1960-61 Ernest D. Klema was Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Chairman of the Engineering Sciences Department. Ivar Stakgold was listed as Associate Professor of Engineering Sciences. The department taught courses in Applied Mathematics and System Analysis, Metallurgy and Materials Science, Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Graphics. I joined the above group, the Engineering Graphics Department was discontinued, and the Engineering Graphics program continued unchanged except for being listed with the departmental code 760.
      In the following years added strength was brought to the Department of Engineering Sciences. In 1961-62 J. Wallace Givens joined as a Professor with joint appointment in Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Robert R. Banks dropped his affiliation with Civil Engineering, was listed as Professor of Engineering Sciences, and Paul J. Persiani was appointed Lecturer. By 1962-63, Roy Axford was added as Associate Professor of Engineering Sciences, but his field was Nuclear Engineering; Earl W. Barrett and Gene E. Birchfield joined the department although their appointments were in Atmospheric Sciences; Albert Grau and Arthur Wouk were added with joint appointments in Engineering Sciences and Mathematics; Ivar Stakgold's appointment was changed to joint with Engineering Sciences and Mathematics. Atmospheric Sciences courses were added to the offerings of the Engineering Sciences Department.
      The Materials Sciences Department started in 1959 an undergraduate program option in Engineering Science to supplement its earlier graduate program. Materials Science courses were added to those listed by the Engineering Sciences Department in 1964-65. There were also joint appointments in Materials Science and Engineering Sciences for John O. Brittain, Morris E. Fine, John E. Hilliard and Donald Whitmore.
      William E. Olmstead joined the department with a joint appointment in Engineering Sciences and Mechanical Engineering in 1964-65. In 1965-66 Marvin Shinbrot was listed with a joint appointment in Engineering Sciences and Mathematics; J. Bruce Wagner was listed with a joint appointment in Materials Sciences and Engineering Sciences. The next year, Adi Ben-Israel was listed with a joint appointment in Engineering Sciences and Industrial Engineering; Ivar Stakgold was Chairman of the Committee on Applied Mathematics.
      In 1967-68 an option in Applied Mathematics was detailed with Ivar Stakgold Chairman of the committee.
      In 1968-69 I was Acting Chairman of the Engineering Sciences Department and the faculty expanded in several directions. There were Dudley Childress (Biomedical Engineering), Donald Eggen (Nuclear Engineering), John I. Hubbard (Biological Sciences), Elmer E. Lewis (Nuclear Engineering), Lyle F. Mockros (joint with Civil Engineering and Biomedical Engineering). These faculty appointments and those throughout the sixties laid the foundation for the later developments of independent programs in Nuclear Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics.

 
     
 

HISTORY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AT NORTHWESTERN
by
Raymond J. Krizek
(From Civil Engineering News, Summer l985)

     The Department of Civil Engineering at Northwestern University has a long and distinguished heritage. As Northwestern expanded in the 1870's from a 20-year-old liberal college to a full-fledged university with the establishment of the Medical College, the Union College of Law, and the College of Technology, undergraduate work in civil engineering was initiated in 1873. Although beset shortly thereafter by some financially difficult years which saw the demise of the College of Technology, course work in civil engineering continued within the College of Liberal Arts until the College of Engineering was re-instituted in 1909 in Swift Hall, offering BS degrees in Civil Engineering and Mechanical/Electrical Engineering. In 1927 the Department of Civil Engineering was formally established, and during the ensuing six decades it has become one of the most prestigious departments in the country. Described on the following pages is a brief history of the evolution of the Department of Civil Engineering, the growing pains it has experienced, the proud tradition it possesses, and the esteemed status it has attained.
      (A section on the College of Technology and the history until 1927 have been omitted).
      In 1927 William Henry Burger was named the first Head of the Civil Engineering Department, and he was also appointed Secretary of the School of Engineering. By 1929 Northwestern's School of Engineering had an enrollment of 305 students, which was comparable in size to the engineering schools at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Stanford. However, in the early 1930's, enrollment in the School of Engineering began to decline. High tuition prevented many students from attending without scholarships, and Northwestern could not provide the depth and breadth of engineering course work needed to compete with Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Purdue. A three-man committee, consisting of W. H. Burger, Head of Civil Engineering, H. S. Philbrick, Head of Mechanical Engineering, and G. A. Maney, Professor of Structural Engineering, was formed to study the problem. In a report submitted in 1933, they found that the percentage of time devoted to course work in engineering at Northwestern was only one-quarter to one-third that spent at other universities. On the other hand, the time dedicated to physics and mathematics was approximately 200% and 50% higher, respectively. The committee proposed that course work in physics and mathematics be completed in the first two years of the four-year curriculum , with the remaining two years allocated to providing sufficient technical course work so that the degree of Engineer could be conferred after completion of the four-year curriculum. The fifth year of study would then be considered postgraduate work in a specialized field. However, Dean Bauer firmly believed in the value of more generalized education and the committee's recommendations were not implemented immediately.
      In 1937 the Engineering Council for Professional Development, a national organization representing the engineering profession of the United States, conducted a national survey of engineering schools. The Council was critical of the fact that the four-year curriculum contained too many nonprofessional courses and determined that only after a fifth year of study would students at Northwestern receive the same course work that students at other schools obtained in four years. Because most students did not return for a fifth year, the Council felt that the Northwestern program was deficient and therefore denied accreditation to the School of Engineering for 1937-1938. In November of 1937, Professor George A. Maney replaced Dean William Bauer and set forth to implement the needed modifications to the engineering program.
      The Engineering Council was invited back to discuss improvements to the engineering program at Northwestern, and the meetings resulted in two major changes. The first was the faculty decision to adopt a four year curriculum, as prescribed by the Council, and the second was an authorization by the trustees to hire additional faculty and to improve laboratory facilities. The Council promised that accreditation would be returned once these changes occurred. Curriculum changes which resulted from this meeting included substantial increases in the number of structural design and foundations courses and the introduction of several courses in municipal engineering and water power. A Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree was replaced with Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, and Industrial Engineering after completion of the four-year program. Finally, the number of required Liberal Arts courses was decreased. In addition, a laboratory was proposed for use by the faculty to develop research projects. In October of 1938, the School of Engineering at Northwestern received a two-year conditional accreditation.
      On March 20, 1939, after three years of negotiations during which Walter P. Murphy remained anonymous and was represented by his attorney, E. E. Cabell, Northwestern University received a gift of $6,735,000 from the Walter P. Murphy Foundation; of this amount, six million was spent to construct and equip The Technological Institute, which housed the Departments of Chemistry and Physics and the Departments of Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering. The structure was completed in 1942. In 1939 Ovid W. Eshbach became the first Dean of the Technological Institute and George A. Maney replaced William Burger as Chairman of Civil Engineering, a position he held until his death in 1948. In the transition year (1939) between the School of Engineering and the Technological Institute, there were 17 faculty and 256 students.
      Walter P. Murphy died on December 16, 1942, leaving to Northwestern University his entire estate after payment of bequests to relatives and friends. The resulting twenty-million dollar endowment was to be used solely for the development, maintenance, and operation of the Technological Institute. The Board of Trustees was given full responsibility for managing the endowment and using the funds for any expenditure necessary to create an Institute "second to none in America."
      A condition of the bequest was that the Institute be operated on a "work-study" principle, where students would alternate three months of course work on campus with three months of work in cooperating industries. The students in the cooperative education program would spend their freshman year and the first two quarters of their sophomore year entirely in classes. Civil Engineers spent nine weeks of the first summer at a surveying camp. During the Spring Quarter of the sophomore year, the students would be split into two groups; the first group would spend the quarter working in industry, while the other group continued with classes. The groups would then alternate between classes and industry each quarter until the second quarter of the fifth and final year. Upon graduation, the students would have spent twelve quarters in class and six quarters in industry.
      The laboratory facilities in the Technological Institute, made possible by the Murphy endowment, contained state-of-the-art testing equipment. The Civil Engineering laboratory housed a transverse-universal testing machine with a capacity of one million pounds in compression or tension and a hydraulic press with a capacity of 5 million pounds in compression. In addition, the laboratory contained a large variety of other machines and instruments for testing materials in torsion, fatigue, and impact. Also included were laboratories in soil mechanics, hydraulics, sanitary engineering, concrete testing, and highway construction.
      World War II brought several changes to the Department of Civil Engineering. Although civilian enrollment was low, the Navy began a program to train officer candidates in specialized fields of engineering. The Navy students were on active duty, in uniform, and under military discipline, but they took classes with the civilian students. The Navy paid all expenses, including tuition, fees, textbooks, room and board, and uniforms. Civil Engineering research was also influenced by the war, as was most of the research performed at Tech.
      After the war, enrollment in engineering increased due to returning World War II veterans. To handle the influx of students, the Civil Engineering faculty was increased from nine members in 1947 to twenty-five in 1948. It was during the mid-to-late 1940's that graduate education and research in the Department of Civil Engineering really began to manifest itself in the work of the faculty; this was many years before the national thrust in this direction. For example, the team of Philip C. Rutledge (who served as Chairman from 1948 to 1953 after the death of Professor Maney) and Jorj O. Osterberg combined their technical expertise and the impressive array of custom designed and built testing equipment in the soil mechanics laboratory to give Northwestern University in the 1940's one of the strongest programs in the country in the relatively new discipline of geotechnical engineering, and in the brief period during the late 1940's and early 1950's several Ph.D. and about forty or fifty MS students were graduated. The thrust for the development of the hydraulics laboratory was provided largely by Wallis S. Hamilton, who designed and built much of the equipment that is still used today while doing contract research for the US Navy. In its heyday the hydraulics lab was emulated by the faculty from other universities and personnel from TVA, and this prevailed until administrative decision dictated that research in fluid mechanics would be centered in other departments. Complementing these efforts during the same years was a strong doctoral program in structural engineering under the leadership of Frank Baron and an excellent curriculum in theoretical and experimental mechanics in a separate sister department headed by Miklos Hetenyi.
      However, in the early 1950's, the number of engineers graduating from colleges nationwide began to decline. Enrollment in Civil Engineering, in particular, was disproportionately low, and scholarship grants and other promotional activities were proposed to improve the situation. During this period, the faculty and staff in the Department of Civil Engineering decreased significantly. High salaries offered to graduates by industry and government made it difficult to recruit well-qualified graduate students and faculty.
      In a different vein, the 1950's proved to be a changing point for all departments within the Technological Institute. Donald H. Loughridge, a physicist active in government service, became Dean of the Institute with a mandate to develop strong graduate and research programs. Accordingly, the major criterion for new professors at Northwestern was their competence in research, whereas in previous years emphasis was placed on practical knowledge and engineering experience. However, the administrative skills of Dean Loughridge proved wanting and his tenure lasted only a few years, culminating with the mass resignation of all department chairmen (except one) in Tech. Former Dean Ovid Eshbach then resumed control of Tech and exerted a stabilizing influence until Dean Harold B. Gotaas assumed the reins in 1957. Notwithstanding these few tumultuous years, the Department of Civil Engineering moved ahead in the accomplishment of its goals under the leadership of Merrill B. Gamet from 1953 to 1955. In 1955 John A. Logan assumed the chairmanship and was instrumental in adding Seng-Lip Lee, Olgierd Zienkiewicz, and George Hermann to the faculty to develop strength in structures and mechanics.
      The space age, which surged into the national limelight in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik, brought a commensurate change in the educational perspective at Northwestern. Harold B. Gotaas, a civil engineer from the University of California at Berkeley, became Dean of the Technological Institute and initiated an aggressive move toward the introduction of more scientific philosophy into the engineering curriculum. Under his leadership and aided by the Murphy endowment and the strong national trend toward increasing research activity at universities (evidenced, for example, by the establishment of the National Science Foundation), all departments in Tech made great strides toward improving their programs and several new fields of study were initiated. Advancements in the Department of Civil Engineering during the early Gotaas years were enhanced by the chairmanship of John Logan, a close friend and professional colleague of Dean Gotaas (both were environmental engineers). Together they built one of the strongest environmental engineering groups in the country during the 1960's. Professor Logan chaired Civil Engineering until 1962, at which time he left to become President of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
      Among the other accomplishments in the Department during the late 1950's and early 1960's was the initiation of a modern transportation program and shortly thereafter a planning program. The central figure in this innovative move was Donald S. Berry, a South Dakota native (as was Gotaas) who also came from the University of California at Berkeley. Professor Berry set the tone for the transportation and planning programs and hired a number of faculty who were compatible with this new ideology that was being manifested throughout the country. Upon the resignation of John Logan in 1962, Donald Berry became Chairman of Civil Engineering and served until 1968. These were prosperous years for the Department, as the wave of research interest and funding was reaching its peak.

 
     
 

CIVIL ENGINEERING AT NORTHWESTERN 1943-1969
by
Donald S. Berry

     The first graduating class at the Northwestern Technological Institute was in 1943. The Civil Engineering faculty in 1943-1944 included two professors (Maney in structural engineering, and Rutledge in soil mechanics), two associate professors (Gamet in sanitary engineering, and Wyly in structural engineering), four assistant professors (Lagaard and Hathaway in engineering drawing, Hartenberg in engineering mechanics and H. L. Thompson in structures), and 12 lecturers. Lecturers were not listed in some years. Two of the lecturers with Ph.D.'s were full-time teachers and continued on to become full professors (Hamilton and Osterberg). Much of the teaching in civil engineering faculty at this time involved core courses taken by all engineering freshmen and sophomores, such as three required graphics courses, and engineering mechanics courses like statics and dynamics. Prof. Maney was Department Chairman. Faculty with professional titles totaled only eight in 1943-1944.
      After the end of World War II, the faculty was increased in size to handle the students returning from wartime service. 1947-1948, after the death of Prof. Maney, two full professors were added to the faculty - Kessler in sanitary engineering and Baron in structural engineering. The total number with professional titles was 14. The total for 1949-1950 was also 14.
      In the early 1950's, after Dean Eshbach retired, Dr. Loughridge became Dean of the Technological Institute. He alienated the department chairmen with his methods of operation, and four of the Department Chairmen resigned. The problems were resolved with the resignation of Dean Loughridge and the appointment of Dr. Eshbach as Interim Dean.
      This was followed by the appointment of Dr. Ben Gotaas as Dean of the Technological Institute in 1956. Dr. Gotaas came to NU from the University of California at Berkeley where he had been Chairman of Civil Engineering and an international leader in public health and environmental engineering.
      Ben Gotaas was an inspirational leader who stressed the need for expanding graduate study and sponsored research, while still continuing undergraduate engineering and coop programs. The Department of Civil Engineering began an expansion program under the leadership of Dr. John Logan, Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department who was hired during the Loughridge regime. This was continued under the Chairmanship of Dr. Donald Berry (1962-1968), and Dr. Jorj Osterberg (1969 on).
      Substantial changes were made in the undergraduate program. Surveying camp was dropped in the late 1950's and the last surveying course was dropped in the 1960's. Engineering drawing requirements were reduced. A new science and engineering group of core courses was adopted. Groups of technical courses were selected for each of the several areas of civil engineering (structural engineering, sanitary engineering, soil mechanics, fluid mechanics and transportation engineering). Engineering mechanics groups were selected jointly with mechanical engineering. Fluid mechanics and biomedical engineering were shared with other departments. Urban and regional planning was identified as another area of specialization.
      Graduate programs of courses were developed for each of the areas of specialization. Faculty were recruited for these areas and intensive efforts were made to secure funds for sponsored research and to help support graduate students, and for expanding knowledge in these areas of specialization.
      In 1962, the Civil Engineering Department Chairman mailed a letter to many other universities to contact potential graduate students. He pointed out that the Civil Engineering faculty at Northwestern was made up of young men (with the oldest being 51). The letters pointed out that emphasis was being placed on expanded graduate programs, and that new faculty was being recruited to provide the best possible graduate training.
      During the 1960's 23 new faculty members were hired (Achenbach, Bazant, Cember, Fleming, Franklin, Gemmell, Grieves, Hemman, Herrmann, Keer, Kondner, Krizek, Mockros, Morlok, Mura, Satterly, Shuldiner, Parmelee, Peterson, Quon, Rossow, Stopher, and Worall). Nine of these 23 were still on the faculty in 1994 (Achenbach, Bazant, Cember, Gemmell, Keer, Krizek, Mura, Mockros and Rossow) after some 30 years.
      In 1969, the number of faculty members in the Department of Civil Engineering was 26. There were four faculty members in structural engineering, six in engineering mechanics, five in environmental engineering, three in fluid mechanics, three in soil mechanics, three in transportation engineering, and two in city and regional planning. This total for 1969 compares with a total of only 12 in 1955-1956 when Dr. Gotaas arrived at NU.

 
     
 

TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AT NORTHWESTERN
by
Donald S. Berry

     In the early l930's Franklin Kreml, formerly a police officer in Evanston, established the Traffic Safety Institute at Northwestern University and began training police officers for traffic duty. In l936, financial assistance was provided by the Automotive Safety Foundation so as to provide more staff and provide grants for supporting students for a nine-month training program for traffic police, and also provide for short courses in accident investigation and other aspects of traffic police administration. This program was broadened to include two-week courses for traffic engineers. George Barton, a traffic engineer for the Chicago Motor Club, joined the staff of the Traffic Safety Institute. He also began as a consultant to cities and villages.
      In l940, the Northwestern University Traffic Safety Institute issued the first edition of the Accident Investigation Manual For Police. The chapter on "Determining Vehicle Speeds from Skidmarks" was written by me, who was a traffic engineer with the National Safety Council. Kreml was co-author of the chapter. George Barton's consulting firm expanded during the late l940's and the early l950's, and the firm was moved to separate quarters in Evanston in the early l950's. George and his associates began teaching a graduate course in evening hours in the Civil Engineering Department of NU. (Note: Barton's sister was married to John Sanderson, also an NU graduate in Civil Engineering [Swift School], who was the engineer who supervised the construction department of Northwestern University).
      In l954 and l955, Frank Kreml organized the Transportation Center at NU, with some financing from the transportation industry. The Center's functions included developing a Transportation library, developing multidisciplinary graduate programs in transportation in the management area, developing in-service training courses in transportation management, development of research programs in transportation, and helping other departments establish appropriate graduate courses and programs. Civil Engineering was asked to develop a graduate program in transportation engineering, and some financial assistance was provided for supporting a professor for three years.
      I was added to the faculty of Civil Engineering in August l957. My first participation was to attend a one-week course on probability and statistics given by Dr. Robert Strotz. I had helped develop programs of graduate study and research in transportation and traffic engineering at the University of California, Berkeley during the years l948-l956. I was a friend of Ben Gotaas who was teaching at UC Berkeley before he came to NU as Dean of Engineering.
      A full-time lecturer was also added (John Hugh Jones from UC Berkeley), and a full complement of graduate courses was offered, with help from Industrial Engineering, economics, sociology, geography, and the School of Commerce.
      In the l957-58 academic year, two graduate courses per quarter in transportation engineering were offered in the late afternoon or evening hours to facilitate the enrollment of part-time graduate students who were employed in the Chicago area. In addition, the international Road Federation provided fellowship funding for students who were employees of transportation agencies of foreign countries so they could come to Evanston and could attend a nine to twelve-month program of graduate study in transportation engineering. As many as ten per year were supported in this manner. Many came as graduate students; some came as special students.
      Over the first ten years graduate students came from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinadad, Uraguay, Venezuela, and Viet Nam.
      The early graduate programs included courses in Highway Planning and Economics, urban transportation planning, traffic engineering, geometric design of highways, urban and regional planning, probability and statistics, operations research, transportation systems analysis, transportation economics, transportation systems management, and economics of location.
      Many students completed graduate programs while employed part time with the Illinois Division of Highways, consulting firms, and the City of Chicago. The government of Israel sent many students to work on a two-year program of classwork and half-time employment with a consulting firm in Evanston where they did design work on Israeli freeways.
      I taught short courses in several foreign countries such as South Africa, Israel, the Philippines, and Thailand. I also was Chairman, Department of Civil Engineering from l962-l968. In l965, I was Chairman, Highway Research Board of the National Research Council.
      Research was an important part of the program, with all graduate students required to do thesis or dissertation research. Funding for research in the beginning was provided by the Illinois Division of Highways.
      In the five years from l966 to l970, 57 MS and 20 Ph.D. degrees were given in transportation engineering; nine MS degrees were given in l959. The first Ph.D. was given to Matthew Betz in l96l (he now is a Provost at Arizona State).
      The graduate programs in transportation have changed considerably since l970, with more emphasis on transportation planning, travel forecasting, etc.

 
     
 

THE FIRST THIRTY YEARS
by
Gordon J. Murphy

     In the spring of 1952, I visited the Northwestern campus and applied for admission to the Ph.D. program in electrical engineering. Because I was married and was expecting to have a child within a few months, I required more financial support than was provided by the fellowships and teaching assistantships that were then available. Accordingly, I requested an instructorship, which was not unreasonable because I would be entering the university with an MS degree, two years of teaching experience, and one and one-half years of industrial experience. A letter of admission arrived soon, together with an offer of a fellowship in a letter from John Calvert, who was chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering at that time; unfortunately, the Department of Electrical Engineering had no instructorships. Because I had been very impressed by the university, I explored the possibility of taking an industrial position in the vicinity and undertaking a Ph.D. program at Northwestern on a part-time basis. At the same time, however, I applied for graduate admission and an instructorship at the University of Minnesota.
      I was offered an attractive research position at Cook Electric Laboratories, with the freedom to attend classes at Northwestern in pursuit of the Ph.D. degree. Although the offer was tempting, accepting it would have meant relegating my Ph.D. studies to a secondary status, which was not desirable. Fortunately, before the deadline for a decision on accepting the Cook offer arrived, I received a letter from the University of Minnesota, in which I was informed that I had been awarded a full-time instructorship in automatic control and admitted to the graduate school as a part-time Ph.D. student. I then promptly informed Cook that I would not be able to accept their offer, and I embarked for Minnesota in September.
      Before I completed my Ph.D. program in March of 1956, I was offered an assistant professorship at the University of Minnesota, which I accepted. In early 1957 a colleague and close friend on the faculty at Minnesota, Professor LeRoy T. Anderson, who knew of my sentiments about Northwestern, gave me some interesting information. He had just learned that John Calvert had resigned the chairmanship of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Northwestern and that a friend of LeRoy's, John A. M. Lyon, had taken that position. I asked LeRoy to ask Lyon whether there might be a faculty position available in his department for the fall of that year. When an affirmative answer was received, I applied immediately.
      I was invited by Lyon to visit Northwestern to meet the faculty and be interviewed. During my visit to the campus I learned that the Dean of Engineering, Donald H. Loughridge, had recently resigned. The former dean, Ovid Eshbach, had come out of retirement to serve again, temporarily, as Dean of Engineering while a replacement for Loughridge was sought. An appointment to the position had just been accepted by Harold B. Gotaas, who was a professor of civil engineering at the University of California in Berkeley. Gotaas was to assume his duties at Northwestern on a full-time basis in the fall, but he was already beginning his work there during occasional short visits to the campus. My visit had been scheduled to coincide with one of his, so that I could meet with him as well as with the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering.
      During my visit I learned that the Department of Electrical Engineering was probably the strongest engineering department at Northwestern, and the university desired strongly to see it complete the shift from emphasizing engineering practice, which had been common practice in engineering departments prior to the Second World War, to emphasizing applied mathematics and physics, particularly as related to research. This appealed to me strongly, since it was in concurrence with my own interests. Another thing I learned was that the Technological Institute, the building that housed the engineering departments and the departments of chemistry and physics, had been built approximately fifteen years earlier as a result of a very large gift to the university from Walter P. Murphy, who was not related to me, for the express purpose of developing an engineering school "second to none".
      I was very favorably impressed by the attitude of the upper administration concerning the future of engineering at Northwestern as well as by the new dean and the faculty, and I believed that they had been with me. I returned to Minneapolis, therefore, with optimism and enthusiasm. In a short time I received in the mail an offer of an associate professorship, at what I considered an attractive salary, which I accepted immediately.
      When I announced at the University of Minnesota that I had accepted the position at Northwestern, three of my graduate students asked whether they could transfer to Northwestern to continue working with me. I encouraged them to apply for admission to the graduate school at Northwestern. All three were admitted and given assistantships.
      Although my teaching at Minnesota ended in June, I stayed in Minneapolis through the summer to complete work on a research contract on magnetic circuits administered by a colleague on the faculty. I had been awarded an NSF grant for research on sampled-data systems, but it was not to begin until September. As soon as I had accepted the appointment at Northwestern, therefore, I requested that the NSF transfer my grant there, which was done.
      In September I arrived on the Northwestern campus. The faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering consisted of ten people: Lyon, the chairman; Robert E. Beam; Richard W. Jones; Rudolph Frerichs; Roger R. Jenness; James E. Van Ness; James S. Aagaard, Charles W. McMullen; Donald S. Gage; and myself.
      Beam was a co-author of a widely used textbook on microwaves. He had had a large research project on microwaves and antennas, which was virtually destroyed in a Tech-wide dispute with the former Dean, Loughridge, which I was told had recently resulted in the resignations of the chairmen of the Departments of Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical and Industrial engineering, and then of Loughridge himself. As a result of this unfortunate experience, it would develop, Beam would never again participate actively in sponsored research. Consequently, he fell out of favor with the administration; because of his broad knowledge and engineering competence, however, he retained the respect of the faculty until his death in about 1987, at which time he was a professor emeritus.
      Jones was the author of a textbook on motors and motor controls. He had recently begun to work in the field of automatic control, and had just become interested in the application of the principles of automatic control to physiological systems.
      Frerichs was a physicist, who had recently transferred to the Department of Electrical Engineering from the Physics Department. He was widely known for his research on cadmium-sulfide photocells, which he had begun in Germany and which he had continued in the United States. I believe he had a contract from the army for further research.
      Lyon had an interest in electromagnetic theory and in operational mathematics, and Jenness concentrated on analog computers.
      VanNess had received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern a few years earlier. His major interests were electric power systems and motors, and he had a minor interest in control systems. He later served as chairman of the department from 1969 through 1972.
      At the same time that I joined the department, Aagaard, who had just earned his Ph.D. degree in the department, was appointed as an assistant professor. His interest was in the area of electronic circuits.
      McMullen and Gage were also young faculty members. McMullen's interest was in electronic circuits, and Gage's was in the emerging field of solid-state devices.
      I came to Northwestern with a strong interest in automatic control theory, having industrial experience in inertial guidance. My first textbook, on automatic control theory, had been published recently and had already been adopted widely, and I had an NSF grant for research on sampled-data control systems.
      It is possible that there were other research contracts and grants in the department at that time, but I do not recall any. Prior to Loughridge's arrival as dean, there had apparently been little emphasis on research. The impression I received was that the Technological Institute had been an excellent engineering school in the old tradition of teaching engineering applications, and that it was in the process of changing into a research institution.
      Shortly after my arrival on the campus, I received an invitation from Gotaas to visit him in his office. Much to my surprise, he informed me that he had reviewed the offer he had given me and concluded that the salary was not as high as it should have been. He then told me that he had increased my salary to what he then thought was the proper amount. The increase was not staggering, but it was not insignificant, either. As a result of this incident, my respect for the integrity of the dean and the upper administration of the university was solidified.
      Over the next few years I created and taught new graduate courses on nonlinear control systems, sampled-data control systems, time-varying control systems, linear systems, and statistical control theory. The program in automatic control attracted increasing numbers of graduate students and had become an important feature of the department. Jones, who had begun to work in the field of automatic control recently, shifted increasingly out of the mainstream of control theory and into applications in physiological systems. Van Ness, who also had had a minor interest in control systems, moved deeper into the field of power systems. The remaining faculty members continued to work in the same fields as before. Meanwhile the faculty had been augmented by the hiring of Morris E. Brodwin in 1958. He came to Northwestern, in the field of electromagnetics, from The Johns Hopkins University.
      In the spring of 1959, Lyon surprised the faculty by announcing that he would leave the university in June. He had accepted a faculty appointment at the University of Michigan. At his departure, Jenness became the acting department chairman, and a search for a replacement as chairman began. During that year, John E. Jacobs, who had been with the General Electric X-Ray Company, was hired, and he joined our faculty in the fall of 1960. In the spring of 1960, my second book on automatic control was published, and the decision was made by the faculty and the dean that I should become chairman of the department. After receiving assurance from Gotaas that I would be allowed to hire some additional faculty to strengthen the department, I accepted and began my tenure in June of 1960, having been promoted to full professor with an effective date of September 1.
      During the summer of 1960 I visited several universities to seek from the faculties recommendations of outstanding graduate students and then to interview the best prospects.
      At the University of Illinois in Champaign, I spoke with Mac van Valkenberg and S. Louis Hakimi, among others. Hakimi had been one of van Valkenberg's students and had become an assistant professor in the department the preceding year, after receiving his Ph.D. degree. Van Valkenberg recommended a few of his graduate students, and I spoke with all of them. I was particularly impressed by one of the students from Taiwan, named Sik-Sang Yau, who planned to finish his Ph.D. thesis in approximately a year, as I recall. As the time for his completion approached, I invited him to visit Northwestern to present a talk at our seminar and meet our faculty. He accepted the invitation. After he returned to Champaign, our faculty discussed our evaluations of him and concluded that we wanted to encourage him to join our faculty. We therefore made him an offer of an assistant professorship to be effective after he completed the requiremnents for his Ph.D. degree. He accepted the offer and in due course became a member of our faculty. This was a particularly significant acquisition for us, as is evidenced by the following sequence of events.
      Yau's Ph.D. research had been in the field of network theory, and naturally we had him develop and teach courses in that area. Several years after he arrived in Evanston, it became apparent to me that we needed to develop a program in digital computers, and we had no one on our faculty with much background in that area. I asked Yau to create and teach an undergraduate course in that field, and he willingly and enthusiastically undertook that challenge. In a short time he became so interested in digital computers that he changed his field of research from network theory to computer theory, and he developed other computer courses as well. In 1973 he became the second chairman of the Computer Science Department that had been formed in 1970, and when the Computer Science Department was merged back into the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1978, he became chairman of the combined department.
      Gradually during the 1960s, other faculty members in the department became involved with digital computers also. Beam, who had been teaching an undergraduate course on digital circuits strengthened that course, and I began to teach it also. In about 1964 we hired Julius Tou, who was becoming well known in the field of digital control theory. This helped strengthen our position in digital computers significantly, as well as our program in automatic control. By 1969 there was a strong program in digital computers in the Electrical Engineering Department, and a number of faculty members of other engineering departments who had interests in computer applications in their fields requested and were given joint appointments in the Department of Electrical Engineering.
      Meanwhile, in 1962, I believe, I encountered Hakimi at the IEEE General Meeting in New York. In the course of a discussion with him, I came to believe that he would be receptive to an offer to join our department. Since he was rapidly developing a very good reputation in the field of network theory, I proposed to our faculty that we invite him to present a talk at one of our seminars and meet with various faculty members for evaluation. Our reaction was favorable, and that fall he joined our faculty. He, too, proved to be a particularly valuable addition: he served as chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1973 until Yau took over that responsibility when the Computer Science Department was merged with the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1978.
      In 1960 we had hired a new Ph.D. from the University of Michigan named Martin A. Plonus, whose research area was electromagnetic theory and who had written to us to inquire about the possibility of an appointment. He later wrote a textbook on electromagnetics, which was published in 1978, bringing additional recognition to the department. In the same year, a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical Engineering was given to Gilbert K. Krulee, a psychologist who had an appointment in the Department of Industrial Engineering and was interested in linguistics.
      Another physicist, named Carl E. Kannewurf, was added to the faculty of the department in 1963. He had recently received a Ph.D. degree from the Physics Department at Northwestern and had a strong interest in the properties of electronic materials. As it developed, he later became very active in strengthening the ties between the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Materials Science Department.
      A year later, while I was visiting Purdue University to present an invited seminar on automatic control, I met a young faculty member there named Zenonas V. Rekasius, who was gaining recognition in the field of automatic control. I invited him to visit us for consideration of a faculty appointment; after the usual evaluation process had been completed, he joined our faculty and helped to strengthen our work in automatic control.
      In 1966 the second edition of my first book on automatic control was published. By this time the department had become well known internationally, especially in the field of automatic control. There was also substantial strength in electromagnetic theory, and the work in the application of control theory to physiological systems that had been begun by Jones had attracted the interest of Grodins and Gray in the physiology department, among others, and was gaining national recognition. This area was further strengthened by the work of Jacobs, who concentrated on the application of other aspects of electrical engineering to biological and medical systems. As a result of their work, within a few years the first federal grant to establish a program in biomedical engineering was received by the department. This program was further strengthened by the addition to our faculty of Franklin Offner, who had built a company that manufactured dynograph recording instruments, which were used for making electrocardiograms, among other things, and had recently sold that company to Beckman Instruments. In the late 1960's Jones published a book on the analysis of physiological systems by application of control theory, further enhancing recognition of this program.
      Also during the 1960's, Colman Goldberg was hired to provide additional strength in the field of solid-state devices.
      Throughout the 1960's research activity in the department increased very significantly. Various other faculty members had secured individual grants and contracts, and my NSF grant had led to a multi-year grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Then, in about 1967, I obtained one of about five major research contracts awarded by the Defense Department with funding shared by the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force under the Joint Services Electronics Program. Other universities that were awarded contracts under this program included MIT, Harvard, the University of Illinois at Champaign, and, I believe, the University of California at Berkley. The scope of research to be undertaken under this contract was very broad and extended to virtually every member of the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering. Other members of the Tech faculty who participated included Abraham Charnes and George S. Bankoff. I served as director of this program in addition to continuing as chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering.
      It became apparent in the late 1960's that the department had become overly theory-oriented. In an attempt to balance the emphasis on theory, Max Epstein was hired from The Illinois Institute of Technology. He had a strong interest in electronic circuits and acoustic waves, and in experimental engineering.
      Sometime in the late 1960's Jenness published a textbook on analog computers, even though he was about to retire. As I recall, both Jenness and Jones retired in 1968, and Frerichs retired in 1969, bringing to an end the first thirty years of the Technological Institute.
      During the last several years of the decade conditions had begun to change for the worse at the university. Along with most other universities in the country, we began to adopt a welfare mentality in regard to government support of our research program. Inevitably, this resulted in a lot of research that served little purpose other than to secure promotions and salary increases for faculty members, while driving up the cost of significant research to the taxpayers.
      During these same last years of the 1960's, conditions at Northwestern were deteriorating in another way also. Because of displeasure with US involvement in VietNam, some students at Northwestern became disruptive, as was the case throughout the country. A lot of the respect and high regard for the university administration I had had in my first year at Northwestern was destroyed by the total capitulation of the administration to the demands of a small group of students who had forcibly taken over the administration building, threatened to destroy the computer housed there, and issued "demands". Also, in yielding to student pressure, the university agreed to institute a procedure requiring the faculty to provide time near the end of every course for the students to complete anonymously an evaluation form on which the students "gave the professor a grade", in addition to supplying information on the amount of time required per week, the quality of the textbook, the value of the homework, and several other matters. This topic was brought before the University Senate and debated at length. In spite of substantial opposition, a motion to institute the procedure was passed, on the basis of assurances that it was a matter of appeasing the students and that the information on these evaluation forms would never be used in determinations of faculty tenure, promotion, nor salary increases.
      Within a few years, of course, these student evaluations were being used for those very purposes. Students who believed that too much had been demanded of them in a course, or that the grades given them by the professor were lower than the student wished, tended to give the professor a low "grade". Some professors, concerned about tenure, promotion, and salary increases, began to demand less of the students and give higher grades. This led inevitably to severe grade inflation and a decrease in the knowledge gained by students in many courses.
      Because of my relatively conservative views, I found, too, that I was increasingly at odds with outspoken liberals on the faculty of the department. Thus, for a number of reasons, I was no longer comfortable serving as the chairman of the department, and in 1969 I resigned that position, electing to remain on the faculty as a professor of electrical engineering and computer science.
      Undoubtedly I have overlooked some significant factors in the evolution of the Department of Electrical Engineering through the decade of the 1960s. Some of the dates I have presented are probably slightly inaccurate, because they were extracted from memory rather than from documents. I hope that I have not overlooked any of the faculty who made substantial, significant contributions to the reputation of the department; if I have, I apologize with the defense that these events have been recalled purely from memory after a lapse of from twenty-five to thirty-seven years.

 
     
 

SOME THOUGHTS AND RECOLLECTIONS
by
Nicholas G. Polydoris

     The story of Walter P. Murphy going to the University of Chicago to see someone about giving a gift, and then wandering into Northwestern and immediately being welcomed with open arms was a popular rumor. I remember talking to Dr. Miller who had some variation on this story, but this was always the story we heard around the Tech. I was at a luncheon meeting after President Miller had stepped down from the top job, and we were sitting across from each other. He verified the story as I knew it saying that the boys at University of Chicago dropped the ball and Northwestern picked it up.
      In the early 40's, Tech school had open houses and invited Evanston and New Trier High School students to visit. There would be someone talking about cars, etc. I remember as a young man coming to this open house and listening to a professor talk about the V-8 engines made by Ford. These open houses were really great for introducing the school to the local people.
      When I attended school, Co-op was a compulsory component for everyone. The ability to work at one or two different companies gave one a nice insight as to what he or she would like to do. Since everyone was on Co-op, we were all in the same boat and it was a very pleasant experience. I have always felt that Co-op is a very strong component in the development of our students. They could work at a company, they could screw up, and it would not damage their careers. They could learn without any permanent harm to their resumes. The Co-op jobs tended to be in areas where Northwestern grads had worked. To the best of my recollection, the Co-op companies I worked for were Streeter-Amet, Underwriters Laboratories, Holabird, Root, and Burgee. At each company there were other Northwestern Grads, and it was nice to have something in common with them. I fondly recall a few luncheons and my first beer in a bar during these jobs.
      In those days we published a magazine called "Northwestern Engineer." I happened to have a number of articles published. I think we had a circulation of 25,000 sent to all the alumni. It concentrated on subjects students were interested in. We also ran our own particular alumni magazine. I always thought this was a terrific publication. The publication involved engineering alumni with pictures, which I thought was a good idea.
      We had an engineering party once a year which (during the years I ran it) I called a cocktail party with no golf, no tennis, but we had drinks, conversation, just for about 4 hours such as 5:30 - 9:30. We had as many as 250 people show up.
      When the students work with Tech alumni in some format like we used to do with the engineers, it gives every student a chance to talk to an alumnus or alumna and it gets them involved with alumni activities on a regular basis, 2 or 3 times a year.

 
     
 

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
by
Christina Enroth-Cugell

     To define the field of biomedical engineering precisely is difficult, but at least two components are easily recognized. One is biomedical tools, that is, the development of instruments, devices and systems that contribute to the quality and sophistication of patient care and to the techniques used in clinical and research laboratories. A second area may be described as the interaction -- in the classroom and in the laboratory -- between engineers and life scientists who together seek detailed, quantitative descriptions of the dynamic properties of biological systems.
      The origins of biomedical engineering at Northwestern can be traced back to 1943 when Paul E. Klopsteg, President of Central Scientific Company, made a donation to Northwestern for the purpose of making possible "certain developmental activities at the University." Several passages in the document that outlines the purpose and administration of these funds clearly show that Klopsteg foresaw the potentials of interaction between physics and engineering on the one hand and biology and medicine on the other, in teaching as well as in research. The passage which suggests that it would be valuable to introduce "a course in physical laboratory methods, and the use of instruments and apparatus in the measurements and control of physical phenomena, with reference to experimental problems in chemistry, biology, medicine and other sciences" constitutes but one example of Klopsteg's suggestions for biomedical engineering endeavors at Northwestern. Somewhat later, Paul Klopsteg became Professor of Applied Sciences and Director of Research at Northwestern's Technological Institute, and in 1945 he became involved in prosthetics research (1), one form of biomedical engineering.
      However, if asked today when and how Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern's School of Engineering took hold, the nineteen fifties and Richard W. Jones, professor of electrical engineering at Northwestern from 1941 to 1971, immediately come to mind. A flavor of the spirit in which Professor Jones initiated biomedical engineering in Northwestern's Engineering School, can be gleaned from a passage in a talk he gave in 1966 at the meeting of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation:

"To many individuals the ideas to which we have referred" (the interaction between engineering and life sciences) "connote instruments, recorders, and computers, devices that have appeared in profusion in clinical research. Of possibly greater importance, however, are the concepts, the theoretical structures, that diffuse between disciplines to profoundly affect our ways of thinking about biological processes. This flow of ideas has led to many refinements in our view of physiological systems, and to the introduction of mathematical models and what might be described as theoretical physiology."

     It was in this field of "theoretical physiology" that biomedical engineering at Northwestern started and grew during the first few years. Medical instrumentation "joined the club" somewhat later and the two components then flourished side by side.
      Shortly after the end of the second World War the chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department, Dr. John F. Calvert, arranged a series of demonstrations of the analog computer facilities on the Evanston Campus. These demonstrations were directed towards the Medical School faculty because Dr.Calvert felt that there might be some areas of common interest between the two schools. Among the members of the Medical School faculty who attended were Professors John Gray and Fred Grodins of the Department of Physiology; Professor Jones was one of the participating engineers.
      Drs. Gray and Grodins were involved in quantitative physiological studies (something rather unique in those days) of the mammalian respiratory system. They had acquired a large amount of data pertaining to the effect of changes in the external environment upon the physical variables of the different components of the respiratory system, and they hoped that computers might help them understand the flow of signals through the system as a whole. One of Professor Jones' fields of expertise was feedback control, and the interaction with Drs. Gray and Grodins led him "to become interested in the feedback aspects of the respiratory system inasmuch as it appeared to have many similarities to industrial regulators and servos" (1). The collaboration between these members of the Engineering and the Medical School faculties led to a 1954 publication of a theoretical analysis of the respiratory system, treated as a nonlinear biological regulator (2).
      An even more important outcome of the early collaboration between these three outstanding scholars was an embryo that eventually matured into the present Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The road for biomedical engineering at Northwestern from a program to departmental status was long -- 25 years -- and at times rather bumpy.
      The beginning: The Physiological Control Systems Laboratory. In 1957 an ophthalmologist (the late Julia Apter), then working towards a master's degree in the Physiology Department at the Medical School, drew Professor Jones' attention to two studies; the topic of both these papers was the response of the human papillary reflex to light which was temporally modulated in a sinusoidal fashion. To quote Professor Jones (1): "These ground-breaking studies seemed to open up a whole new field in which sinusoidal techniques from engineering offered new ways of characterizing physiological behavior, and even predicting the onset of instability." The interaction with Gray and Grodins and the potential of applying engineering approaches to biological problems prompted Professor Jones to encourage his graduate students to choose life-science oriented thesis topics. And so, by the academic year 1958-59 several of his graduate students in electrical engineering conducted experiments on the human papillary reflex, eye fixation and accommodative reflexes, as well as on animal photoreceptors.
      The group operated on a shoestring budget based on a modest faculty research grant from the University. Two of the lab tables on which "home made" visual stimulators and recording equipment were mounted are still used in the present Biomedical Engineering Department. They are labeled: "Physiological Control Systems Laboratory" which was the name given to this very first phase of biomedical engineering at Northwestern. Another relic from this period is a "tech-wide" announcement of the first meeting held on Oct.1, 1959 by The Physiological Systems Group for the purpose of discussing micro electrodes and measurements of signals from retinal neurons, and the presence of noise in retinal signals.
      In 1983 Dudley Childress organized a symposium at Northwestern to honor Professor Jones. Peter Dallos, one of the first to receive a Ph.D. degree in Professor Jones' biomedical engineering program made some remarks that better than any statements I can make reflect both the atmosphere that existed within the Physiological Control Systems Group, and the major reason for the early growth and success of biomedical engineering at Northwestern, namely Richard W. Jones. I quote:

     "Northwestern was a very different place 25 years ago than what it is now. Graduate programs were small appendages to undergraduate training, some professors loudly proclaimed the immorality of taking federal money to support research, and publications by professors were only occasional and by graduate students almost unheard of. Disciplinary lines in the Technological Institute were tightly drawn. Within this low-key, small-scale, somewhat complacent atmosphere the seeds of an entirely new mode of operation were germinating. Among these was the realization by one of the electrical engineering professors that living systems are made up of a jumble of biological control loops, and that studying these was a major challenge. Thus a new avenue of study opened up for graduate students: the mathematical and engineering analysis of biological control systems. The time was ripe for these ventures to arrive in Evanston. The work of Wiener and Shannon was very fresh, Hodgkin and Huxley had just barely published their series of papers. Some of us graduate students were caught in the excitement, communicated by Professor Jones, about the new frontier of cybernetics.
      The first thesis efforts by C.C.Li and Andy Meyer were on mathematical analysis of neural coding. Emphasis, emanating from Professor Jones, soon shifted to the visual system and Dan Green, Jay Warshawsky and myself analyzed various control loops for papillary reflexes, accommodation and eye fixation. Dr Enroth-Cugell was attracted to Evanston and set up a laboratory for visual neurophysiology. Bob Pinter was the first to take advantage of this development and he ventured into "wet" physiology to the great consternation and hilarity of the rest of us. He worked on the horseshoe crab, Limulus, which was inedible even for graduate students. From the initial efforts of one visionary professor and a few misfit graduate students grew one of the largest bioengineering programs in the country.
      How was it to be one of Dick Jones' students? In one word, dignified. He treated us like colleagues, not as minions or slave laborers. He did not force his attention or criticism upon us, but was always available for consultation. His spoken and written communication was precise, and his use of the English language inspiring. He is the only man I know who could describe a given pole-zero configuration in poetic language. I still find myself using certain sentence constructions that I learned from his finely crafted classroom lectures. Even he, however, could not prevent the rest of my sentences from being rough translations from the Hungarian.
      He instilled in us the necessity of completing a project including the publication of results, but insisted on dotting all the i's before sending out a manuscript. He taught us the importance of publication but discouraged the submission of bits and pieces. He favored putting together the complete story and did not approve of the now fashionable habit of printing the "least publishable unit of research".
      Dick was a perceptive supervisor of research but he also knew when not to ask questions. I was putting together my research apparatus to measure human eye movements before any grant support or financial backing was available for building equipment. Consequently, I used to range the dead storage rooms and depots of Tech after the midnight hour to "requisition" what was needed. Soon an entire room was filled with shiny brass constructions and jerry-rigged electronics. Dick did not ask where it all came from. I suspect that he knew."

     Today Peter Dallos is a Professor in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders and The Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern. He is a world leader in his field, auditory physiology, and his laboratory attracts investigators from near and far. In 1966 another early "graduate from the Physiological Control Systems Laboratory", Dudley Childress joined Northwestern's Department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Department of Electrical Engineering. His activities have been concentrated on the development of modern technological systems for disabled individuals. He too is a world leader in his field and he has contributed immensely to the development and success of his branch of biomedical engineering.
      Although biomedical engineering originated in the Electrical Engineering Department, Professor Jones felt quite strongly that similar cooperation between life scientists and other engineering disciplines would be equally valuable. He appeared before the faculty of each department in the Engineering School, describing the activities in the Physiological Control Systems group and suggesting to his fellow engineers that "problems and opportunities for cooperative investigations between other engineering departments and the life sciences were equally great." (1). At first interest was minimal but with time these efforts bore fruit and biomedical-type projects were soon under way in biofluid mechanics, diffusion and transport, biomaterials and biomechanics, thus making the program a truly interdepartmental one.
      One of the many strengths of Professor Jones was his conviction that if biomedical engineering was to "fly" and become an important discipline at Northwestern, engineers and life scientists had to be thoroughly "blended"; both by working together in a research laboratory and to the extent that each partner had to have some knowledge of the other's field. Consequently he looked for one or several Northwestern biologists with an interest in the kind of studies that he and his students were already pursuing in the Electrical Engineering Department. At this time -- in the late nineteen fifties -- an engineering approach or training in physics and mathematics, were not considered important for biological research. There was very little interest in the new developments in the engineering school. However, during a scientific meeting in Washington DC in either the fall of 1958 or spring of 1959, Professor Jones met Dr. Fergus Campbell from the Physiological Laboratory of the University of Cambridge. Dr. Campbell, a physician specializing in ophthalmology, expressed considerable interest in the work in Professor Jones' group, and he was already knowledgeable in, not to say infatuated with, Fourier analysis and sinusoidally modulated stimuli as applied to the study of various visual functions. Dr. Campbell's enthusiasm had been ignited earlier by the work of two engineers. One of them, O.H.Schade (3), measured the human visual response to spatial sinusoidal modulation of the stimulus luminance. The other one, K.H.de Lange (4), used temporal sinusoidal luminance changes to study human vision. As a result of the contact between Professor Jones and Dr. Campbell, the latter spent one quarter as a visiting professor in the Physiological Control Systems Laboratory in the fall of 1962, and he thereby became the first biologist to receive an appointment in a Northwestern engineering department. During his brief tenure in the Electrical Engineering Department as a representative of the "bio" component of biomedical engineering he did experiments with the students working on the visual system. The value of his participation was enhanced by his ability to converse with the students in their own language, and thus he helped them shore up their confidence in the future of the unorthodox field they had chosen. He also gave a course in vision which was the very first biology course at Northwestern specifically designed for engineering students.
      In 1959 Professor Jones obtained a research grant from The National Institutes of Health to continue his work on various aspects of the visual system. It was the very first grant application submitted to the National Institutes of Health by an engineer and the study section which reviewed it was initially somewhat suspicious. One of the projects in Professor Jones' overall program was mathematical modeling based on experimentally determined dynamic properties of single visual neurons. To accomplish this Professor Jones needed someone trained in visual neurophysiology who was willing to collaborate with engineers. By coincidence I then held a research position in the Ophthalmology Department on the Chicago campus, and I had just been awarded a research grant from The National Institutes of Health to study individual cat retinal ganglion cells, that is, the output neurons of the retina. I gave a seminar and spent a day with Prof. Jones' group and shortly thereafter was invited to set up my laboratory in the Electrical Engineering Department instead of in the Medical School, an offer which I gratefully accepted. Experimental collaboration with Professor Jones and serving as an unofficial graduate student advisor in matters biological was a most valuable learning experience for me. I became the first life science faculty member permanently located in the Engineering School.
      As the new decade dawned it became abundantly clear that the engineering school's biomedical program, which Professor Jones had almost single-handedly initiated, was recognized far beyond Northwestern University, both in this country, in Europe and even "down under." In the beginning of 1963, "Science" published a lead article entitled "Systems Theory and Physiological Processes," jointly authored by Richard Jones and John Gray. In England, at the University of Cambridge, one of the members of the Department of Physiology had been charged with compiling a pamphlet to guide British students in their search for institutions where they could pursue graduate study in quantitative physiology with an engineering flavor. Northwestern's Control Systems Laboratory was included in that booklet with Professors Jones and Gray mentioned as possible advisors. In Sydney, Australia, an electrical engineer heard about Professor Jones' group and came to Northwestern to obtain a Ph.D degree under Professors Jones and Gray.
      The Biomedical Engineering Center. In the early nineteen sixties there were important administrative developments. In 1960 the University made a formal commitment to biomedical engineering by establishing a Biomedical Engineering Center, thus greatly enhancing the presence of this field at Northwestern. Professor John Jacobs was appointed to the Department of Electrical Engineering as the Director of the Center. Under his leadership a group of faculty members applied for and were awarded the nation's first Biomedical Engineering Center Grant from The National Institutes of Health, as well as an NIH Training Grant in Biomedical engineering. The Center provided seed funds for new projects in various departments on both campuses, thereby bringing more graduate students into the field. A Biomedical Instrumentation Laboratory was established in The Medical School to support research there. Initial support for new faculty members, salaries for visiting faculty members, as well as funds for inviting seminar speakers also became available. The Center played an important role in establishing connections between the engineering school and clinical units such as the Childrens Memorial Hospital and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Professor Jacobs' own field of expertise was medical instrumentation and his arrival at Northwestern initiated a boom in this branch of biomedical engineering on both campuses.
      From some of Professor Jones' written recollections about the early years of the Physiological Control Systems Laboratory to the day of his retirement in 1971 (1), it is clear that although he was frustrated at times with some administrative attitudes towards the fledgling biomedical engineering program, his efforts did receive very considerable University support. One clear expression of this support was the new facilities given biomedical engineering in 1963 when a new wing in the North East corner of the Technological Institute building was completed. A large proportion of those involved in biomedical experimental research were given contiguous laboratory and office space, and space was also assigned to the offices of the Biomedical Engineering Center. Thus, from the fall of 1963 almost all of the third floor was "biomedical engineering territory." This does not, however, imply that biomedical engineering was restricted to that space as we entered the nineteen seventies.
      The development (and decline) of a life science curriculum for engineers. During the early years of the nineteen-sixties graduate students engaged in interdisciplinary research were urged to take some of the life sciences courses that were available on the Evanston campus. But these courses were almost totally descriptive and thus did not serve engineering students very well. An alternate plan, taking courses in the Medical School, was met with little favor as noted by Prof Jones: "Strong arguments were put forth by the administration to have engineering students go to the Chicago Campus for Medical School courses even though they were not of the character desired, and the travel problem seemed severe" (1). There was little understanding at the administrative level of the need for a life science curriculum designed for and controlled by the engineering school. Professor Jones' suggestion that one, or ideally several, life scientists with a strong quantitative background be appointed to an engineering department, even if they did not have an engineering degree, was steadfastly opposed. Somehow these difficulties were circumvented and a life science curriculum suitable for engineers slowly developed. In 1962 Professors Gray and Grodins offered a course on the Evanston Campus aimed at engineering graduate students and delivered in engineering language. The title of this course, which covered the respiratory and circulatory systems, was "Homeostatic Physiology". Professors Gray and Grodins offered this course on an entirely voluntary basis. Shortly after the "Homeostatic Physiology" course was introduced another course was added to the emerging life science curriculum in the engineering school. Dr. J. Randall, a biophysicist with an interest in a quantitative approach to biology, joined the faculty of the Physiology Department. He developed a course entitled "Cell biophysics", that was given on the Evanston Campus. It admirably prepared students with minimal life science backgrounds for the "Homeostatic Physiology" course. When Dr. Franklin Offner became a professor in the Electrical Engineering Department in 1963, another quantitative biology course, membrane biophysics, became available to engineering graduate students. My own course, covering basic neurophysiological concepts, was given for the first time in 1963. Although not presented with an "engineering-math" orientation, it was specifically aimed at the engineering students who worked on different aspects of neural function. In 1965 Dr.Robert Gesteland, an M.I.T trained engineer and neurophysiologist, was appointed jointly to the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Biology, and another highly quantitative biology course, this one dealing with all of the mammalian sensory systems, was added to the electrical engineering curriculum. In 1962 Dr. Peter Dallos was appointed to the faculty of the Audiology Department in the School of Speech and in 1966 he also became a member of the Electrical Engineering Department. His physiological acoustics course was yet another biology offering that served engineers very well. By this time Electrical Engineering was no longer the only department within the Technological Institute participating in the biomedical engineering program. In 1967 Professor Lyle Mockros of the Civil Engineering Department began his contribution to the biologically oriented graduate curriculum, with a course in biofluid mechanics. Together all of these courses provided a foundation for the highlight of the nineteen-sixties "engineering-biology" courses, "Control Systems in Biology", taught by Professor Jones. Thus, by the middle of the nineteen-sixties a reasonable choice of quantitative biology courses for biomedical engineering graduate students was available in spite of administrative reluctance to support the development of such biology courses within the engineering school. Disciplinary lines within the Technological Institute were indeed tightly drawn in those days.
      In 1961 both the Electrical Engineering Department and the Physiology Department on the Chicago Campus added a Biomedical Engineering option to their Ph.D programs. In 1969 the Graduate School approved an interdisciplinary masters and a doctors degree program in biomedical engineering to be administered by a committee appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. In the spring of 1971 an interdisciplinary undergraduate program in biomedical engineering was approved by the Tech Curriculum Committee.
      In spite of the fact that biomedical research had grown remarkably in several engineering departments, and that by 1965 a reasonable choice of quantitative biology courses had been "patched together" on the Evanston Campus, several faculty members felt that to secure stability of the curriculum and future growth in research, a Department of Bioengineering and Biophysics should be established in the engineering school. Such a department was envisaged as having the autonomy to appoint biologists and biophysicists, who might not have an engineering degree, to its research faculty and to oversee the curriculum. However the Central University Administration did not support this suggestion at that time and no action with regard to the establishment of a Biomedical Engineering Department was taken in the nineteen sixties. An independent full-fledged department of Biomedical Engineering was established in 1985.
      Regrettably, by the end of the nineteen-sixties a large part of the curriculum created earlier had disappeared. Drs. Grodins and Randall had left Northwestern, Dr. Gray had chosen not to continue teaching on the Evanston Campus, Dr. Gesteland gave up his affiliation with the Engineering School and Professor Jones retired in 1971. Thus the struggle to assemble a suitable life science curriculum for engineering graduate students had to begin once again, and, now the task at hand included the creation of a biomedical engineering undergraduate curriculum, not just options in other engineering departments. Such curricula were developed and "non-engineer" quantitative physiologists were appointed to the Engineering School during the nineteen seventies, but the details of these and subsequent developments are beyond the scope of these historical notes.
      In conclusion, when the decade of 1970 began, Northwestern's biomedical engineering youngster was very much alive, had acquired experience from the "school of hard knocks" and was thus prepared for, and did exhibit, continued growth and maturation.

References:

  1. Jones, R. W., 1983. "Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern; the early years". Recollections prepared in booklet form by Professor Jones at the occasion of the symposium held in his honor October 28-29, 1983.

  2. Grodins, Gray, Schroeder, Norins & Jones, 1954. Journal of Applied Physiology,7,pp.283-308.

  3. Schade, O.H., 1956. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 46, pp.721-729

  4. De Lange, H., 1957. Doctors Thesis, Technical University of Delft, Holland.
 
     
 

THE FIRST THIRTY YEARS
According to
Morris E. Fine

     I first visited Tech in 1950. My friend from Minnesota, Don Whitmore, had joined Chemical Engineering in 1948 to teach metallurgy. Also Willis Chandler, another Minnesota friend, was in Mechanical Engineering to teach foundry. They knew of my interest in an academic career and arranged for me to see Dean Eshbach while I was in Chicago for an ASM/AIME-IMD meeting. Don was actively trying to convince the University Administration to start a Metallurgy Dept. Dean Eshbach told me a new Department of Metallurgy would have to wait for a new building to be built across Sheridan Road which would house Metallurgy and the Earth Sciences. Such a building was actually planned, there were drawings of Tech showing two buildings across Sheridan Road, but, of course, they were never built. I don't know the circumstances for this decision.
      During the period between 1950 and 1953 Don successfully convinced the University Administration to start a Graduate Department of Metallurgy. By that time Ovid Eshbach had stepped down as Dean and Donald H. Loughridge was Dean. One should not underestimate the amount of effort that Don Whitmore put into starting the new Department. A convincing proposal had to be prepared along with a complete curriculum and descriptions of courses.
      Don Whitmore recruited me. He arranged that I meet Loughridge at a Physical Society meeting in New York in the Fall of 1953. I was impressed by Loughridge's vision for an engineering school and the future of Northwestern because of the Murphy gift. I subsequently visited Northwestern in Feb. 1954. At that time President Miller told me of his vision to make Northwestern an outstanding research university. I accepted the University's offer of Full Professor without tenure but with the promise that I would be considered for tenure after a few quarters so my teaching could be evaluated. I arrived in September 1954.
      After I accepted the position and before I arrived, Don wrote me that he was taking a year's leave of absence to return to MIT to complete his ScD. Don also informed me that Jack Frankel had joined the Department in the Spring of 1954 because of his background in Nuclear Engineering.
      When I arrived, Loughridge asked me to be Acting Chairman and one of my first duties was to assist in recruiting a Department Chairman. In going through the files I noted there had been correspondence with a number of truly distinguished people with no success. I arranged for several candidates to visit including two on MIT's faculty but Loughridge could not convince any of them to leave their well established positions to take leadership of a fledgling department. I was appointed Chairman the following year and granted tenure. Loughridge was very supportive of the new Graduate Department of Metallurgy. Don received his ScD from MIT in 1955 and returned to Northwestern as Associate Professor.
      Shortly after I was appointed Chairman and Don returned from MIT, I decided with the concurrence of the faculty to put the Chairmanship on a rotating basis. I had a number of reasons. Don had worked very hard to establish the Graduate Department of Metallurgy and I thought he deserved a turn as Chairman. The strongest science department was Chemistry and they rotated Chairmen. Bob Burwell who was then Chairman explained their policy at a Department Chairman's meeting shortly after I arrived at Northwestern. I knew of other departments (not at Northwestern or Minnesota) where I considered their chairmen had stayed in the job too long. This has remained a policy of the Materials Science Department and has contributed significantly to the success of the department.
      When I first arrived at Northwestern in September 1954, I met Fred Riske, a machinist who had been hired by Don Whitmore before he took off for MIT. Fred had already set up an office with a nameplate for me (room 104, renumbered 1394) located on the first floor just north of the main entrance to Tech. This office was shared with Jack Frankel.
      The first Metallurgy Department laboratories were located in the basement of Tech in three large rooms under the front main corridor. There were two large rooms for metallography, a sample preparation room and a microscope room (rooms 1 and 2, renumbered B388 and B384). A third room (55, renumbered B396) was just north of these and had been a student lounge, the student lounge having been moved to the fourth floor where it is now located. An X-ray lab was in room 208, renumbered 2381. The metallographic sample etching facility did not have a hood (a mistake by the building architect). Also the former student lounge, although a very nice room, did not have the facilities needed for a research laboratory and the x-ray lab was an inner room without adequate ventilation. One of my first duties was to arrange for a hood, have needed services installed in our research lab and air conditioning in the X-ray lab. Then as now I was impressed with the very high cost of building modifications. The initial estimate for bringing a modest amount of power, water, and drains into the former student lounge was $40,000, a large amount of money in those days. I scaled down the request, argued with B & G (George Reichert) over a large "contingency" in the estimate, and finally the job was done for $25,000.
      The first faculty member hired in the Metallurgy Department after I came to Northwestern was John Brittain who arrived in the Spring of 1955. He had received his Ph.D. with Max Gensamer at Penn State and then moved to Columbia with Max. The decision to forgo a senior appointment for Department Chairman freed funds for two assistant professors, Jack Kauffman, for solid state physics and Tony Kelly for dislocation theory and x-ray diffraction. Tony had done seminal research on X-ray microbeam determination of dislocation density with Peter Hirsch at Cambridge and built a microbeam unit for Paul Beck at the University of Illinois. In 1954-55 Tony was with Cottrell at Birmingham and we recruited him from England. Jack had finished a thesis on irradiation damage with Koehler at Illinois. The original faculty who developed the early Department were then John Brittain, Jack Frankel, Jack Kauffman, Tony Kelly, Don Whitmore, and myself.
      Realizing there would be no summer salary for me was an important motivation for writing a proposal to ONR during the 1954 Winter break. This was a study of phase transformations using elasticity and internal friction measurements. Soon after submitting the proposal, Prof. Pol Duwez of Cal. Tech., a friend of Loughridge, visited and informed me that the Air Force Office of Scientific Research was beginning to support research at universities and suggested I send an information copy to AFOSR. I did this. AFOSR discussed my research proposal with ONR and my first AFOSR grant was the result. Jack Kauffman and John Brittain obtained research grants soon after they arrived as did Don Whitmore when he returned from MIT. A report given to the faculty in the Fall of 1956 mentions $60,000 annual research support from contracts and grants.
      The first graduate student in the Graduate Department of Metallurgy was Ann Wilfert who arrived in the Winter of 1955 and received her MS in 1956. Jack Frankel was her advisor. By the Fall of 1955 there were 9 graduate students. The first Ph.D.'s were awarded to Charles Chiou, Mike Meshii, and Soji Nenno in 1959. Nenno had finished earlier but had to return to Japan to put finishing touches on the thesis after his final exam. His finished thesis was temporarily displaced among Kauffman's papers at home. Nenno had originally applied to the University of Chicago to work with Charles Barrett, but since Chicago didn't have a program in metallurgy, Barrett directed Soji to Northwestern. Other students came from Japan the next year on Nenno's recommendation.
      When I arrived the only X-ray apparatus in the Department was a Hilger unit with a changeable target. It had a soft vacuum, i.e. it had to be pumped down prior to operation and had not been used because of leaks in the vacuum system. I spent many, many hours trying to obtain a stable beam and Hilger sent two engineers to Northwestern to try to fix the vacuum system. The system could not be made to work. Fortunately Loughridge provided funds to purchase a GE XRD 3 X-ray diffractometer and it arrived in time for me to teach an X-ray course, 750 C61, to a class of 11 in the Fall of 1956 before Kelly arrived.
      While the Metallurgy Department was primarily a graduate department, it had responsibility to teach materials courses to undergraduate students in other departments. The Science Engineering undergraduate program provided an opportunity for students to major in metallurgy. I taught a course in corrosion-oxidation for the first and only time in the Fall of 1956 as an inducement to John Tesk and Bob Blumenthal to major in metallurgy. Bob Bowman, Lyle Schwartz, and John Wilkins were also early undergraduate metallurgy majors.
      Loughridge's term of office was stormy and difficult for the Technological Institute. An undercurrent of dissatisfaction was not apparent to me when I visited in February, 1954. Friction between he and the faculty led to the resignation of the Chairmen of the Chemical, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical-Industrial Departments and subsequently the resignation of Loughridge. I was not involved in the controversy and took a neutral position. The other Chairmen purposely did not involve me in the affair. Shortly before the controversy became public Leroy Stutsman, the Chairman of Chemical Engineering, came to see me to inform me what was going on. The Chairmen besides myself had presented President Miller with a detailed case against Loughridge. I never knew the particulars but the general complaint was that he took actions detrimental to Tech without due consideration and with insufficient consultation with others. I do recall that at the periodic meetings of the Department Chairmen major issues were usually not discussed. Reminiscent of Parkinson's writings, I remember a long discussion as to whether University accounts could be used to purchase lab coats.
      One of the sources of friction between Loughridge and some of the faculty members was that he was a practicing physicist and not an engineer. He came from the University of Washington where he was a Professor of Physics. He had also been associated with the Manhattan Project and later the US Atomic Energy Commission. On coming to Northwestern one of his major priorities was building up Physics. There was a search on for a Murphy Professor of Physics. There had been a very popular local candidate for the Deanship, John Calvert who was Chairman of Electrical Engineering. Calvert left soon after Loughridge arrived. Being an Electrical Engineer, Eshbach had been very successful in building a strong Electrical Engineering Department. It was the strongest department in Tech with a very high level of external research support for the time, including the Aerial Measurements Laboratory, a contract research laboratory. Prior to Loughridge's arrival the University policy was to allow one day per week extra pay from a contract or grant in lieu of consulting. This was common practice in EE as well as by a number of faculty members in other departments. Loughridge administered a sudden change in University policy disallowing the extra day's pay. This change in policy I was told had been decided by the Presidents of the Big Ten Universities and President Miller asked Loughridge to implement it. The resulting drastic reduction in pay to the faculty members affected led some to give up their contracts and grants and others to leave the University. A rather large project in Chemical Engineering to manufacture vitamin B from Millorganite was terminated at the insistence of Loughridge because he deemed it inappropriate for the research oriented engineering school he was attempting to develop. Testing for industrial clients along with abuse of the one day a week consulting policy were also discouraged. One of Loughridge's pet projects was to try to convince the University Administration to replace the existing heating plant with a nuclear reactor. These and no doubt many other factors led to the Chairmen and Dean resignations. In a letter to me in August, 1963, Loughridge stated referring to when he was at Northwestern, "research and graduate work was very poorly understood there." That was not the whole story.
      After Loughridge's resignation Eshbach returned as acting dean and did a marvelous job of cooling things down and putting Tech on an even keel. A search committee was appointed to nominate a slate of candidates for dean. The committee consisted of Bob Beam, Chair, John Logan, John Lyon and myself. The committee considered many names and took an Eastern trip to visit potential candidates. John Logan brought Ben Gotaas to the attention of the committee and also told the committee that Alice Gotaas would be a big plus for Tech. Ben's name was on the final list submitted to President Miller and subsequent to a visit, fortunately for Tech, an offer was extended to Ben that he accepted.
      One of Jack Frankel's major interests was in developing a unified materials course covering all kinds of materials. He was a disciple of Daniel Rosenthal at UCLA who was Jack's thesis advisor. Rosenthal had developed such a course at UCLA. Jack convinced several Tech departments to substitute this course, 750 B01, for the required metallurgy service course. While at Northwestern, Jack wrote "Principles of the Properties of Materials" which was published by McGraw-Hill in 1957. By that time Jack had returned to UCLA but the book was based on the lecture notes he developed for his course at Northwestern and was written while he was at Northwestern. This course and Jack's thinking were key elements in developing materials science at Northwestern.
      Early faculty meetings tended to be stormy because Jack Frankel liked to debate and be argumentative just for the love of a lively discussion. Our policy was to adjourn to the Nautical Inn on Dempster in Skokie where discussions became much more amicable. I don't remember the subject of any of the arguments so obviously there was substantial agreement on how the Department should develop.
      The original chairs in the Tech Building were covered with orange leather upholstery. We had to order additional furniture and probably under Tony's influence we ordered green covered chairs. When they arrived Eshbach was acting Dean, and he wanted to send them back because they didn't conform with the standard decor. Since Tony is Irish and orange chairs were inappropriate we got to keep the green chairs.
      The metallurgy faculty members continued to be highly successful in obtaining research funding and space soon became a big problem. Gotaas told us not to let lack of space keep us from obtaining research contracts. So we wrote proposals even though we didn't know where the research would be done if funded. Very few of our proposals to AFOSR, ONR, DOE and NSF were turned down and we were faced with the problem of finding space. Gotaas's instructions were to look around for underutilized space and then make a request to him. In order to keep from losing friends this procedure was not followed. We generally were able to find storage space which could be converted to lab space. One such lab is the current temporary mail room under lecture room 2. It had been used to store surveying equipment. Merrill Gamett graciously found some space in Civil Engineering for the surveying instruments. Aerial Measurements Laboratory was moved to an off campus site and this also freed up some space. The Metallurgy shop was located in space vacated by them.
      Gotaas was a strong believer in the departments rotating their chairmen, a policy in force at U. Cal.- Berkeley. He supported the Metallurgy Department's policy to rotate chairmanship and most other Departments in Tech adopted this policy as well. Gotaas tried to introduce a faculty load policy similar to that at Berkeley at that time. This took four courses a quarter to be a full load. Teaching was reduced for other activities such as administration or research according to well defined criteria. Almost any research or scholarly activity would reduce the course load to three under this plan. Bob Banks who also came from Berkeley coined the term "Berkeley points." This was a difficult policy to enforce. There continued to be a large variation among "loads" for individual faculty members. Gotaas referred to those who didn't put in the level of effort he thought they should as "coasting on their oars."
      Almost from the beginning the Metallurgy Department moved to broaden itself into being a Materials Science Department. My letter of acceptance dated March 1954 suggests starting a materials science program in cooperation with other departments. My education and experience pointed in this direction. The first paper published from the Department was by Charles Chiou, my first graduate student, and myself and was on Mn3O4 following previous research I did at Bell Laboratories. Frankel's course has already been mentioned. The research in the Department covered metals, ceramics, and electronic materials. As a new Department I believed we should do something different than a traditional metallurgy department, many of whom were struggling with low enrollment. The faculty members of the Department were of the same mind and the Tech Catalog of 1956 states that an undergraduate student taking most of the undergraduate course taught by the Department would be prepared for the field of materials science. Soon thereafter discussions with the Dean were started and the change in name to Materials Science was approved by the University Trustees in January 1959. We were the first such department in the USA. On advice from Earl Parker at Berkeley, Gotaas recommended that we use the name, "Metallurgy and Materials Science" because a new name might give us problems in recruiting students. The Department followed this advice for a short time, but the official name was "Materials Science."
      In 1954 many graduate students were supported on fellowship for their full programs to the Ph.D. Under Gotaas the fellowships were named Murphy Fellowships, to honor Walter P. Murphy. Other students were supported as TA s or RA s on contracts or grants. The Cabell Fellowships were restricted to terminal year graduate students, the policy in force when I arrived. Gotaas tried to reduce the number of fellowships given to first year foreign graduate students. This met resistance.
      A serious blow to the Metallurgy Department was Tony Kelly's leaving in 1958 for Cambridge, England where Alan Cottrell (whom Don first and I later had approached to be Chairman of Metallurgy at Northwestern) had just become the Professor of Metallurgy. Since Tony taught both X-rays and dislocation theory and the Department was doing well, Gotaas gave us permission to add two new faculty members and Hans Weertman and Jerry Cohen were brought on board. This has to be one of the best recruiting success stories anywhere.
      In mid-August 1959, President Miller while on vacation received a letter from Rear Admiral John E. Clark, Acting Director of ARPA announcing the competition for establishing "interdisciplinary laboratories concerned with basic research in materials." Bill Baker, my former boss at Bell Labs several times removed, whom I met in Washington, told me he had put Northwestern on the list of approximately 70 Universities to be contacted. Julius Harwood who was then head of Metallurgy at ONR but assigned to ARPA to help establish the Interdisciplinary Laboratory (IDL) program, also was instrumental in having Northwestern University included. He called to tell me that a letter inviting us to submit a proposal would be coming soon with a short deadline. I arranged with Miller's secretary for the letter to be given to me as soon as it arrived. A proposal due in late September was requested. Pierce Selwood, in Chemistry, Arnie Ewald, in Physics, and I as Chairman formed an unofficial ad-hoc committee to prepare the response. Actually the discussions started before the letter arrived. It stated that funds for buildings and facilities were contemplated. The Materials Science Department was poorly housed and needed an electron microscope. Physics and Chemistry were desirous of some expensive equipment, especially a big magnet for Jules Marcus and an EPR unit for Malcolm Dole. These were important incentives. Miller told me that the University policy at the time was not to accept Government money for buildings. He was desirous of changing this policy and considered this proposal a good vehicle for approaching the University Trustees to change it. The proposal to ARPA, dated Sept, 28, 1959, contains some statistics of historical interest.
      In August 1959, the level of support for basic research in materials from Government sources including Physics and Chemistry was estimated to be $430,000 (approximately $3,000,000 in current dollars). The number of graduates in the Materials Science Department were 30 with 3 post doctorates. We proposed to set up a "coordinated interdisciplinary interdepartmental basic program of education and research in materials." A cornerstone of the preproposal was the establishment of 20 interdisciplinary laboratories or central facilities. A 55,000 sq. ft. net addition to Tech east of the existing building was proposed to house the Department of Materials Science and the expansion of Physics and Chemistry in this field. An increase in number faculty members in the Materials Science Department from six (Hans Weertman and Jerry Cohen had already accepted our offers but had not yet arrived) to 16 was offered, along with 1 1/2 to 3 in Electrical Engineering, 1/2 to 1 1/2 in Mechanics, 1/4 to 1/2 in Chemical Engineering, 1/4 to 1/2 in Civil Engineering, and 0 to 1 in Mechanical Engineering. Increases in Physics and Chemistry were also included giving a total increase from 18 to 40. The total proposed budget was $2,000,000 per year steady state budget excluding the cost of the building.
      Our proposal made the final list and a site visit was arranged for early in the following Winter. Prior to the site visit Serge Gratch in M.E. and Rudy Frerichs in CE were added to the committee. We were one of 10 to 15 finalists from approximately 55 universities who had submitted proposals. The site visit including research presentations by the faculty members involved went well and in a letter to President Miller from Brigadier General A. W. Betts, Director of ARPA dated February 24, 1960 Northwestern was requested to send representatives to Washington to "assist us in establishing an appropriate scope and basis for entertaining a formal proposal from you." This trip was made, an understanding was reached, and a final proposal dated April 25, 1960 was submitted. In the proposal, space for materials in the new addition to Tech was scaled down to 45,000 sq. ft. net. The number of central facilities was reduced to 18. The total faculty number in materials was scheduled to grow to 35 including 14 in Materials Science and 6 in other Tech Departments. The agreed upon annual steady state budget for the Center was $1,250,000 with an additional annual use fee of $235,000 for 10 years to partially pay for the cost of the addition. Northwestern was one of three universities to receive grants to establish materials research centers in 1960. The others were Cornell and Pennsylvania. The contract is dated June 20, 1960. It was for three years and called for an annual renewal proposal also for three years.
      Faculty members who proposed research for support through ARPA were John Brittain, Jerry Cohen, Jack Kauffman, Hans Weertman, Don Whitmore and myself in Materials Science; Martin Bailyn, Bob Cashman, Arnie Ewald, Rod Hines, Jules Marcus, and Edson Peck in Physics; Lou Allred, Fred Basolo, Dick Bowers, Malcolm Dole, Ralph Pearson, and Pierce Selwood in Chemistry; Morris Brodwin and Rudy Frerichs in Electrical Engineering; Jorj Osterberg in Civil Engineering and Serge Gratch in Mechanical Engineering. Their research presentations were key to our winning the competition because we were not as well known in materials research as many other schools even though at that time we were the only school with a Materials Science Department that was already doing in a small way what ARPA was seeking to accomplish.
      A statement on materials design included in the proposal may be of interest in view of the present desire to increase the amount of 'design' in the engineering curriculum. "Lastly, this basic information may be used in the area of materials synthesis, the 'design' of new materials, which need not await complete knowledge of the field but can be carried out with more fundamental studies and may point out areas in need of further study."
      Following instructions from President Miller, the Chairman reported to the Dean of Tech even though Physics and Chemistry were in the College of Arts and Sciences. Miller wanted the Center to be in the academic chain of command for better integration into the academic functions of the University. Dean Leland of CAS was very cooperative and I had direct access to him. The proposal called for the Center to be administered by a committee of 5 including the Chairman. The others on the initial committee were Ewald, Frerichs, Gratch, and Selwood. The proposal stated that "While individual laboratories of the Interdisciplinary Center, general and special, will be associated with existing departments, it shall be the responsibility of the committee to maintain the interdepartmental and interdisciplinary character of the individual components of the Center." Cutting up the "pie" among the departments was vigorously resisted.
      The ARPA contract was for expansion of the University activities in the materials sciences. Any withdrawal of University funds would pose a problem in the annual reports to ARPA. The Center chairman did not have any control over departmental budget allocations and preventing withdrawal of funds for support of the materials sciences proved to be a problem. This problem was discussed with Vice President Payson Wild who gave the Center a modest discretionary budget.
      Gotaas decided that the Administrative Committee of the Materials Research Center would be advisory to the Chairman rather than a decision making body. He thought rule be a committee would be unworkable. All major decisions were taken up with the Committee and I can't remember a case while I was Chairman when there was not unanimity. The Committee represented materials science as a whole and the individual members were not parochial to their departments. In one case a Department Chairman of Physics was upset that a member from his department had been part of a unanimous decision to not fund a particular research and threatened the committee member. I called Dean Leland who took me out to lunch (including drinks) and subsequently settled the matter amicably.
      The original concept for the Center was to include a graduate program administered by the Center. One graduate student advised by Selwood actually enrolled in this interdisciplinary program but the Chemistry Department was opposed to Center administering a graduate program. The Dean of the Graduate School, Moody Prior (Bob Baker was Associate Dean), took the side of Chemistry and the Center's graduate program was a casualty. While I was initially upset, I eventually realized the Materials Science Department was better off, allowing it freedom to develop a complete graduate program. This was featured in our reports to ARPA.
      The Materials Science Department prior to the Materials Center had not developed any activity in polymers. Malcolm Dole in Chemistry was a world renowned researcher and teacher in the field and Serge Gratch in Mechanical Engineering had developed a program in polymers. Serge soon left to join Ford Motor's Research Laboratory after receiving several offers in series each at a higher salary. The Chemistry Department decided that polymers had become primarily an applied field and they did not wish to develop it further. An arrangement was made for Malcolm to have a joint appointment with Materials Science. This arrangement between the two Deans was made much easier because the Geology Department wanted to give Hans Weertman a joint appointment because of his interests in glaciology and continent drift. Soon Bill Graessley joined the Chemical Engineering Department and then it was decided that polymers would be the joint responsibility of the Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Departments. Bill Graessley and all subsequent faculty members in polymers in Tech were given joint appointments in the two Departments. This has gone very smoothly with benefit to everyone concerned.
      Soon after the Materials Research Center began with me as Chairman, Don Whitmore rotated into Chairman of the Materials Science Department. During the first years of the Materials Research Center I came to the conclusion that the Center and I would be better off with a rotating chairman policy. I very much wished to spend more time on teaching and research and not lose touch with my field. I also believed rotating the chairman would be better for the long term health of the Center. I began discussions with Gotaas and then ARPA and was able to convince them of the wisdom of my decision. Northwestern was the only IDL to adopt a rotating chairman policy at that time. After I had served four years, Malcolm Dole became Chairman of the Materials Research Center. I served as Associate Chairman for a year to ease the transition. During that year Malcolm had an extended illness requiring surgery and I was Chairman again for a time.
      One of the burdens of the Materials Research Center is putting out an annual report. Julia Weertman was editor of the first report. The first reports had standard informational covers. Later I decided to introduce some art and I hired an art major student to design a stylized version of a dislocation for the cover. Prints of research result photographs were used for report covers in following years. One year Malcolm had Bill Kobes make a stylized sketch of me for the cover as a surprise. The picture was not flattering.
      The Materials Research Center staff included an Assistant Chairman and Colonel Gerald Ward was the first appointee. Col. Ward had supervised construction of air fields in Europe and the Far East and in the early years of the Center he assisted in planning the construction of the new space which had begun just west of the Lake Michigan shore as it existed at that time. Jorj Osterberg advised on the foundation. It floats like a boat but on sand without pilings. The whole structure is anchored to the older part of the Tech building. We made sure there would be adequate electricity for a long time in the future. Heavy bus bars go through the laboratories.
      The University decided to build a much larger structure than that needed for the Materials Science Department and the Materials Research Center expansion. Space for Industrial Engineering and Nuclear Engineering was included. The Industrial Engineering space included a machine shop with a wood parquet floor but by the time the construction was finished the Industrial Engineering Department had gone in the direction of management sciences, and operations research. The "shop" became offices for graduate students to do "desk top" research. Many faculty members got offices with beautiful lake views but of course many other faculty members, particularly in Chemistry and Electrical Engineering, lost their lake views.
      In finishing the offices a number of decisions needed to be made such as location of the blackboards. Gerald Ward and I decided on their location without consulting the faculty members who were moving in. This would have been a time consuming and tedious process and office assignments frequently change. Of course, the blackboard was always located in the wrong place. Gerald and I took a lot of flack. Offices for Materials Science Department faculty members were interspersed with some Physics and Chemistry offices in keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the Center. Gerald was in charge of the move for the materials faculty and had worked out a schedule coordinating the moves with the telephone installations. The Center office in the old building was highly inadequate, so I decided to move before telephone installation. Gerald was upset with me.
      In 1961 an International Conference on the Chemical Physics of Nonmetallic Crystals was held in our new space before we moved in. Gerald Ward was in charge of local arrangements. It was not his fault that some of the Swedish attendees swam in Lake Michigan sans clothing and were seen by some graduate student wives. Poor Gerald took abuse from some of the foreign visitors over obtaining proper receipts to substantiate travel funds requested. The policy was no receipts, no funds. The Conference was supported by NSF and DOD and our business office wanted no future problems with auditors. One irate attendee threatened to take the matter up with the US State Department. Gerald who had been on General Lauris Norstad's staff suggested he go directly to President Kennedy.
      Ben Gotaas liked to discuss matters that were on his mind with individual faculty members who were not involved. I can remember many such discussions with Ben up to the time he retired as Dean. He was a very fair minded person who always wanted to do the right thing for his faculty members without malice or prejudice. He also was very active in recommending faculty members for honors and awards. Ben was a strong battler for what he thought was right and for Tech to get its fair share. There were a number of sources of irritation between Ben and the University Central Administration. There were problems with central recruiting of undergraduate students. Ben thought Tech could do a better job on its own. Cross tuition was paid from the Murphy Endowment income for CAS courses taken by Tech students, but there was no such cross tuition for CAS students taking Tech courses. After much effort this was arranged but it was not a major source of funds. There was resistance to a program in applied math in Tech. The established University policy was that there would be only one math department. Ben won that one too and Ivar Stakgold was brought in to establish a program in applied math. Other writers will say more about Ben Gotaas's efforts and battles to make Tech into a better engineering school.
      For many years there was only one Murphy Professor in Tech namely Nick Heytenyi. Ben Gotaas thought others should have this distinction as well. George Thodos and I became Murphy Professors. Ben had continued his very active and distinguished research program in environmental engineering while he was Dean. He was clearly deserving of the Murphy Professor rank. Unknown to Ben we recommended him to Payson Wild for this rank. This was endorsed by both Payson Wild and President Miller and sent to the Trustees for approval, Ben became a Murphy Professor. He was the first member of Tech to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
      It was my privilege to have been Chairman of the Materials Science Department and then Chairman of the Materials Research Center in their beginning years. The success of Northwestern University in the materials field is due in large measure to the foresight and pioneering spirit of the early faculty members to pursue materials broadly rather than a collection of narrow fields.

 
     
 

MY YEARS AT NORTHWESTERN
by
Lyle H. Schwartz

     The Northwestern University of 1954, the one I first came to as a young, uncertain student, was far different from that of today. Try to picture a charming, ivy league-type setting, nestled in the quiet suburb of alcohol-free Evanston (home of the Women's Temperance Union). The campus was fully surrounded by an iron fence - most of which was torn down years later during the student protest days of the Vietnam War-Kent State Massacre. Northwestern was best known in nearby Chicago as the home of young coeds who aspired to and often won the Miss Photoflash beauty contest. Social life was dominated by the "Greek" fraternities and sororities and the nearest thing to a student union was the basement cafeteria in Scott Hall.
      The Technological Institute building was relatively young in those days; women and minority students were rare, and the typical white male engineering student, recognizable by the slide-rule hanging from his belt, was known derisively by his counterpart in other schools as a "Tech-Weeny."
      In those days, engineering students took five courses per quarter - four technical and one liberal arts to round out our education. Those "fifth" courses were some of the best offered on campus, tailor-made for the engineering students with somewhat lighter reading loads, but oh-so-well taught. I recall courses on cost-accounting, Keynsian Economics, Pavlovian Behavioral Psychology, and especially that wonderful course on American History taught by Clarence VerSteeg (yes, the same Dean VerSteeg who was so influential in so many ways over the next four decades in the development of Northwestern as a University of distinction).
      I also remember taking courses which no engineering school would consider offering today, but which helped mold my bent for metallurgy as well as a hobby developed later in life - courses on foundry, on welding, and on machining. In those days, no self-respecting engineer could be developed without such exposures to actually making things as well as to courses on how things worked.
      Two courses, in particular, influenced my decision to focus on materials (I began in Industrial Engineering - a choice based not on knowledge of the field, but rather an intention to be an "engineer working in industry"). I did very badly in my first, required, course in mechanical drafting - and then learned that I would have to take a second, more demanding, course in drafting if I stayed in I.E., so I was exposed to Introduction to Materials (a course still taught to most engineers throughout the world). For me, the source was a revelation. The professor, Jacob Frankel (who left NU several years later), used his own draft textbook which he delivered to us on mimeographed sheets. (You can tell how very long ago that l955 event was by the lack of photocopy capability). Frankel had a provocative teaching style which matched my needs and I loved the challenge of the material. I was hooked. In those days, of course, there was no possibility of doing an undergraduate degree in materials or metallurgy, for that matter. In fact, the graduate program in metallurgy didn't really begin until the next year. Fortunately, providence intervened in the person of Morrie Fine, and the experimental program called Science Engineering. With Morrie's help as advisor and the flexibility that that program offered, I was able to take a major in physics, a minor in mathematics, and still fit in most of the beginning graduate level courses offered in materials. Although I was to participate actively in later years in the development of the undergraduate curriculum in materials science at Northwestern, I still feel in my heart-of-hearts that my own undergraduate experience was nearly ideal as a preparation for graduate study in materials. On the other hand, if I had gone on to industrial work with that background, I would have been an embarrassment as an engineer!
      Undergraduate engineering education on the l950's and l960's required a co-op experience - six quarters of work in industry or a research lab, expanding the baccalaureate experience to five years. I've always regretted the decision to make co-op optional, as I felt that the experience, at its best, could be the defining elements for the undergraduate. Today, as more and more schools search for ways to expose their students to real world engineering examples, and step back somewhat from the all-theory educational experience we achieved in the late seventies, co-op like industrial exposure at graduate as well as undergraduate levels is increasingly more common.
      It's hard to believe in these days of multimillion dollar Federal research programs and hundreds of graduate students and post-docs, but in the mid-l950's very few faculty in Tech did much research and that which they did was funded by occasional grants from some young Federal agencies, a few nearby industries or small research stipends from the University. In a very dramatic way, things changed in l959-l960 when spearheaded by the vision and drive of Morrie Fine, Northwestern became one of the first three Interdisciplinary Materials Research laboratories. The team of faculty Morrie assembled from physics, chemistry, civil engineering (applied mechanics) and metallurgy won out over many competitors because of the true commitment to interdisciplinary research in that newly developing field dubbed "Materials Science." For me, this new program and the opportunity to work with Jerry Cohen, who was one of the first hired because of this grant, were the principal reasons for staying at NU and majoring in materials.
      I could to into detail about the influence that program had on stimulating cross-departmental interactions, one of Northwestern's great strengths today, on setting the stage for the many subsequent research centers which developed in all parts of the university, and on the extraordinary range of technical accomplishments which that Materials Research Center developed, but I'll leave those details to others. Instead, I want to note the impact of the Federal funding on research space. The contract from the government including funding which allowed the university to add the two eastern-most wings to Tech. Those "new" wings, now some 23 years old, completed the original design for Tech and opened up experimental facilities for materials and biosciences, rapidly developing areas which had been dispersed throughout the old wings of Tech. I remember this period with some poignancy, as the occupation of the new wings occurred while I was completing my Ph.D. thesis work in l962-63, and I elected to keep my equipment in the old building rather than risk the almost certain disaster which I knew would accompany disassembly and reassembly of equipment. I did move my office, and that was just in time. I and my fellow grad student occupants of the fifth floor cubbyhole over the elevator shaft were particularly relieved to escape the roaches which seemed to especially love to nibble on the spines of our books. To this day, I'm reminded of those days whenever I chance to glance at the roach-eaten cover of "Little-Cottrell", my first primer on materials science, which occupies a place of prominence on my bookshelf. One of the most unfortunate aspects of Federal support of science and engineering at universities in the current era is the virtual lack of support for the physical facilities in which that part of the Federal government's R&D is carried out.
      During most of the l960's, as the field of materials science and engineering developed, academic departments all over the country experimented with undergraduate programs which built in most cases on preexisting programs in metallurgy or metallurgical engineering, Northwestern's program had been targeted at graduate education, with a few undergraduates encouraged to major in materials while obtaining that flexible science engineering degree. In the late l960's the department agreed to pursue a formal undergraduate program, and I was privileged to be given the charge by Jerry Cohen (then department chairman) to pull it all together. We worked to develop new courses, to modify old ones, to create undergraduate laboratory facilities and, most importantly, to recruit students who would major in MSE. I felt then, as I do now, that the most important product we could offer prospective converts to MSE was the openness of the faculty and their genuine interest in working with students. I hope that that warmth and student involvement has not been lost in the more demanding recent years in which finding funds to support research has become such a time-consuming aspect of academic life.
      From recognition as the home base of Miss Photoflash to recognition as one of the outstanding engineering schools in the Nation, the transition is amazing. When I put on my class ring each morning, I feel a special sense of pleasure in the knowledge of Northwestern's great success in engineering and a good deal of nostalgia for the friends and colleagues of those many years. But uppermost, I feel a special sense of pride for my small part in that transition to greatness.

 
     
 

HISTORY OF MATERIALS SCIENCE
AND ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
by
Thomas O. Mason
Prepared for the 25th Anniversary of the Department in 1979.
Only the portion to 1969 is included and a new ending has been added
.

     The occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University affords an opportunity to review the history of the Department's first quarter century. Any and all who have been associated with the department through the years will derive benefit from the following account which is derived largely from the contributions of the past and present department chairmen. Naturally, not every name associated with the department through the years can be mentioned in the following, condensed history. It is to the myriad of students, staff and secretaries, whose names will go unmentioned, but who played nonetheless a significant role in the development of the department that the following account is dedicated.

The First Materials Department in the US
      In the Fall of 1953, Professor Whitmore, then a professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Northwestern contacted a fellow Minnesota graduate by the name of Morrie Fine, who at that time was a research scientist at Bell Labs. Northwestern had finally decided to initiate a Graduate Department of Metallurgy and Professor Whitmore wanted to know if Dr. Fine desired a faculty position. After a discussion with Dean Loughridge, Dr. Fine visited the campus in February of 1954 on a beautiful day which reached nearly 70¡ F. In retrospect, Dr. Fine often wonders that if his visit had been on a typical dreary, cold winter day, that his career would rather have continued at Bell Labs. At any rate, a professorship was offered and Dr. Fine planned to join the faculty in the Fall of 1954.
      Meanwhile, Jack Frankel, due to his expertise in Nuclear Engineering, was asked to join the department in the Spring of 1954. The summer of 1954 found Professors Frankel and Whitmore both in the Boston area. Professor Whitmore was on leave of absence at the time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Together with Professor Fine, these three plotted the future Department of Metallurgy.
      On arrival at Northwestern University in September 1954, Professor Fine was asked to assume the acting chairmanship and to attempt to attract a permanent chairman. When attempts failed in 1955, Professor Fine was asked to assume chairmanship of the Department. When Professor Whitmore returned from MIT, he and Professor Fine agreed that the chairmanship would be rotated among members of the department. This is a practice that has been successfully employed by the department to the present day.
     The next faculty arrival was John Brittain. Prior to coming to Northwestern, he was a postdoctoral researcher with Max Gensamer at Columbia University. Acquaintance was made with Professor Fine at various AIME meetings and on visits by Professor Fine to the Gensamer laboratory. Professor Brittain began at Northwestern in the Spring of 1955.
      As a result of foregoing a senior person for the chairmanship of the fledgling metallurgy department, permission was granted to add two assistant professors. These were Jack Kauffman, who at the time was a Ph.D. student under Koehler at the University of Illinois, and Tony Kelly , who had done postdoctoral work with Paul Beck, also at the University of Illinois, but was then at Birmingham. Professor Brittain's opinion of Dr. Kelly was that he had outstanding promise of a truly distinguished career. This brought the Department to five full-time faculty with 19 students, and over $100,000 of sponsored research according to the annual report of 1957-58.
      Here are some interesting facts about the department during its early years. Departmental facilities consisted of two metallographic laboratories, an X-ray laboratory and a former student lounge which was converted to laboratory space by Buildings and Grounds. Additional laboratories were picked up as time went on by converting storage space or by prying space away from other departments. It is interesting to note that space limitations have always plagued the department since its earliest years.
      One interesting fact is that the first graduate student who arrived in the Winter of 1955 was also the first degree recipient in 1956. This was Ann Wilfert who received her Masters in 1956. The first Ph.D.'s were awarded to Soji Nenno, Charles Chiou, and Mike Meshii in 1959. Although space prohibited the teaching of an undergraduate curriculum, almost immediately a Metallurgy option was offered for undergraduate students in Science Engineering. Some comments are appropriate regarding the faculty and staff during those early years. One of the earliest departmental secretaries, Mary Elliott, joined and remained with the department until the early 1960's. Two other familiar names, Clarisse Nelson and Dot Johnson were also added as project secretaries. During this time, faculty offices and labs were literally scattered throughout the old portion of the Technological Institute. Following lively debates, faculty meetings were adjourned to drinks and dinner at the Nautical Inn on Dempster Street.
      Soon after the formation of the Graduate Department of Metallurgy, it became obvious that a broader charter was necessary to cover the total field of materials science. The mid 1950's saw the rapid growth of the semiconductor industry and physical ceramics emerged as a field unto itself. Departmental research already covered metals, ceramics and electronic materials. After much discussion among the faculty and with Dean Gotaas, the name of the department was formally changed to the Graduate Department of Materials Science in a memorandum dated December 23, 1959. This is particularly timely in view of the ARPA-IDL materials program which was announced in August of 1959. Northwestern University was the only university at that time which had such a department.
      In 1958, after Tony Kelly left for Cambridge where Allan Cottrell had just become Professor of Metallurgy, the department was permitted to add two new faculty members. This was because Professor Kelly had been responsible for both X-rays and diffraction theory. In the words of then Chairman Fine, "Lady Luck really smiled on the department." The two selections were Jerry Cohen and Hans Weertman. Dr. Cohen was a student of Mike Bever at MIT and did part of his thesis with the help of Bert Warren and also had worked with Professor Guinier in France. Dr. Weertman had achieved an outstanding reputation while at the Naval Research Laboratory although he was on leave at the time with the Office of Naval Research in London. Professor Cohen joined the Department in December 1959 and Professor Weertman joined the Department in January 1960. This brought to six the number of faculty in the Department of Materials Science.

The Advent of the Materials Research Center
      Perhaps the most significant event in the department's history was the establishment of the Materials Research Center. In August of 1959, the University received a letter from the Advanced Research Project Agency inviting a proposal for participation in the ARPA Interdisciplinary Materials Laboratory Program. Professor Fine chaired the ad-hoc committee to prepare an appropriate response. Together this committee proposed a "Coordinated Interdisciplinary Interdepartmental Basic Program of Education and Research in Materials," in part consisting of "Approximately 20 Interdisciplinary Laboratories" (Central Facilities). A 55,000 square foot net addition to the Technological Institute east of the existing building, was proposed to house the department plus the expansions of Physics and Chemistry departments in the area of Materials Science. The department was proposed to increase from 6 to 16 with approximately $2 million steady state budget excluding the cost of the building.
      Northwestern University was one of 10 to 15 finalists chosen from 55 universities which had submitted preproposals. After more correspondence and a site visit involving research presentations by the faculty, the university was selected along with Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania in February of 1960 to submit final proposals to ARPA for the IDL program. The Technological Institute addition was scaled down to 45,000 square feet net, the Materials Science Department was to grow to only 14 faculty, the number of Central Research Laboratories was scaled down to 18, and a steady state level of support of $1,250,000 was agreed upon. In addition, ARPA agreed to pay an annual building use fee of $235,600 for 10 years to partially defray the cost of the building addition, bringing the annual budget to $1,587,000. In 1960, Professor Fine became the Chairman of the Materials Research Center and Professor Whitmore rotated into the Department Chairmanship.
      The effect of the Materials Research Center on the department was instantaneous and dramatic. Much of the department's research equipment was added in the first years of the Materials Research Center including most of the optical microscopes, the first transmission electron microscope, and much additional X-ray equipment. In the expansion, Professors Freise, Hilliard, Johnson, Meshii, Schwartz and Wagner were added to the department. For polymers, Malcolm Dole was given a joint appointment. In addition, Bill Graessley joined the Chemical Engineering Department and was also given a joint appointment. Valuable additions were made to the staff as well. After the new addition was occupied, Al Nelson came to the metallographic facility, Lenny Morrison was first hired for the machine shop but soon went with Professor Cohen for the X-ray diffraction facility. Fred Riske convinced his close friend Dick Bartels to join the machine shop in the luxurious new facility in the Tech addition. Jim Hahn also joined the machine shop at this early period of MRC history. In 1961 the International Conference on the Chemical Physical of Non-Metallic Crystals was held at Northwestern in the new quarters before the department moved in.

Years of Growth
      The years immediately following the initiation of the Materials Research Center resulted in a dramatic growth in the Department of Materials Science under the MRC Chairmanship of Professor Fine and the Department Chairmanship of Professor Whitmore. The faculty increased from 6 to 14 and the number of graduate students tripled. With the addition of Professors Dole, Graessley and Johnson, polymer and ceramic activities were developed to complement the ongoing metallurgy activities within the department.
      Professor Wagner's excellent research program in electronic materials and Professor Meshii's electron microscopy capabilities helped strengthen the department's scientific reputation and broaden the scope of operations. Many of the department's most distinguished alums received their graduate training during the early 1960's and the department's reputation in no small measure was enhanced by their efforts.
      Professor Hans Weertman inherited the Department Chair from Professor Whitmore in 1965. He considers the most significant accomplishment of his chairmanship to be the fact that numerous faculty were offered prestigious positions elsewhere but all elected to stay at Northwestern.
      During this period Professor Waber arrived from Los Alamos to work in the area of corrosion and Professor Davidson was added to the polymer group. The MS Industry Program was initiated, largely through the efforts of Professor Cohen. Lively faculty meetings, discussions were enjoined concerning the merits of adding the words "and Engineering" to the department's title.
      Here are some interesting facts about the department during these years. Professor Meshii (with Dr. Cottrell of Argonne) organized an international conference on lattice defects that was held at Argonne and jointly sponsored by the department. The Physics and Chemistry Departments bid to take over space in the subbasement was successfully deflected. The department was, however, unsuccessful in blocking the construction of the exit from Tech to the Biology building that passed directly through Professor Wagner's lab. A department safety committee was first established. The comprehensive exam was first waived for those students who had maintained a good grade point average and the language requirement for the Ph.D. was reduced to translating two or three papers in the candidate's field of expertise with the aid of any dictionaries. This was the last weigh-station on the way to eliminating the requirement entirely.
      In 1968 Professor Brittain rotated into the Department Chairmanship. Professor Whitmore became director of MRC. Professor Dole took emeritus status in 1969 to accept the Robert Welch Chair of Baylor's Department of Chemistry. During 1969-70 Professors Walter S. Owen, who was also Dean, and Stephen H. Carr in polymers joined the faculty of the department.
      During the period 1954 to 1969, the Materials Science Department became established as one of the prime graduate departments in materials in the United States. This is due significantly to the excellent graduate students who enrolled in the department and their successes after they left Northwestern.

 
     
 

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AT NORTHWESTERN
by
Gilbert K. Krulee

INTRODUCTION
     My first visit to Northwestern was in the summer of 1959 in response to a letter from Bob Lehrer, the chair of the department. I met Lehrer, Jack Mitten, Al Rubenstein as the core faculty in IE at that time. I also remember meeting Gordon Murphy who was very active in the field of control theory, along with Dick Jones, professor in Electrical Engineering, who was pioneering in his effort to develop a program in Biomedical Engineering. I should add a note on the rationale of Lehrer's interest in having me in the department. It was a matter of adding a competence in ``Human Engineering'' to complement the existing resources of the department. Soon after, I received an offer at the level of Associate Professor which I accepted. My actual tenure began in January, 1960. Before continuing, let me try to review some of the circumstances leading to the formation of the department in 1958 and then review how the department has evolved over the ensuing years.

ORIGINS
      The field of Industrial Engineering has its origins in manufacturing and the problems of managing those activities more efficiently. Indeed, its original home was as an option in Mechanical Engineering, a pattern that was typical of Industrial Engineering at many universities. More specifically, the roots of these programs can be traced back to the work of Frederick Taylor and his pioneering work in ``Scientific Management''. As one landmark, there is an early work by Taylor on ``Shop Management'', published in 1911. By the 1940s, it had become fashionable to make fun of Taylor particularly because of his emphasis on time and motion study, stopwatch techniques, and individual incentive systems. On looking back, it would appear that Taylor was ahead of his time and that he did his best with very limited tools and in the absence of adequate theoretical foundations.
      At any rate, the first activities in Industrial Engineering were based in Mechanical Engineering which offered an option in Industrial Engineering during the early 1950s. Ray Lindenmeyer was the key person at that time. It is significant that he also ran the ME machine shop laboratory and supervised courses that used that laboratory. This was a period in which undergraduates were expected to have ``hands on'' experience and this certainly applied to the program in Mechanical Engineering.
      To a significant extent the impetus for change and expansion in Industrial Engineering was sparked by the remarkable success of the new field of ``Operations Research'' which was an outgrowth of efforts during World War II. It is significant that this work in Operations Research was quite different in orientation from the earlier work in Industrial Engineering. First, it made extensive use of mathematical techniques. These included statistics and experimental design but there was also a significant emphasis on the topic of ``optimization'' as sparked by the early works in linear programming. Second, there was a focus on larger and more complex systems. While Taylor tended to limit his attention to one ``man'' with one ``machine'', the work in OR would model, in principle, any productive system, including a complete productive enterprise. Third, as a side effect of this use of more abstract tools, the close tie to Mechanical Engineering was broken. From the OR perspective, one might just as well apply these new techniques to problems in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or to problems in non-engineering fields, such as hospital management, banks, schools, etc.

THE EARLY TIMES
      Ben Gotaas came to Northwestern in 1956 and one of his first efforts was devoted to establishing a new department of Industrial Engineering, building upon the existing option in Mechanical Engineering. To chair this new department, he recruited Bob Lehrer who came from Georgia Tech. Bob had been educated as an industrial engineer but was certainly aware of the new developments which were then taking place. One key appointment was to hire Jack Mitten who came from Ohio State. Jack's graduate degree was in Industrial Engineering but his specialty was in Operations Research. Indeed, he is best known for his research in the field of Dynamic Programming. Another key appointment was to hire Abe Charnes from Purdue, who was a pioneer in Linear Programming and Optimization Theory. Interestingly enough, since Charnes was a mathematician, his primary appointment was in the newly formed department of Engineering Sciences which later became the current department of Applied Mathematics. Abe also had a joint appointment with IE.
      Although Bob Lehrer gave strong support to works in OR, he had a broader vision of what should be included in the newly formed department. By this time, major developments had taken place in the area of ``human relations,'' with regard to an understanding of the human side of an industrial enterprise. This was one of the great weaknesses of the original work in scientific management. Indeed, Taylor was often criticized not so much on technical grounds but on his inability to cope with the influence of labor unions or to understand how individuals could be motivated. At any rate Lehrer decided that the department needed competence in ``Organization Theory'' as representing the new emphasis on human relations. To this end, he hired Al Rubenstein as the senior person in organization theory. Al came to Northwestern from MIT by way of a PhD from Columbia. There was a third area in which Lehrer felt the need for some competence. That was in ``Human Engineering'' which was another discipline that emerged from World War II. And I was hired to be the key person in that area. This completed Lehrer's vision for the new department. In this fashion, the IE Department began its work at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. I want to make some observations about some of the implications of these early appointments and the emphasis on OR, Organization Theory, and Human Factors  Human Engineering. Traditional engineering departments have close ties to work in mathematics and the physical sciences, such as Physics and Chemistry and more recently in Physiology. Although, IE continues its ties to the field of mathematics, there is an increasing emphasis on the social sciences. For example, Economics is of considerable importance to work in OR and it is more than a coincidence that Art Hurter, a key member in IE, has a PhD in Economics. With respect to Organization Theory, there are ties to Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology and Sensory Psychology. As a consequence, IE has linkages to a number of social science departments in the university while most engineering departments maintain equivalent ties to the physical sciences. What all departments seem to have in common is their emphasis on mathematics.

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS
      Let me now try to review developments over the ensuing years: departmental chairs, faculty additions, and program developments.

CHAIRS
      Bob Lehrer was the first chair of the department and, in many respects, deserves credit for its foundation and for the overall breadth of its activities. For a variety of reasons, the OR activities have been the most successful perhaps because they are easily defined and because of their relationship to mathematics. As a result, they have the feel of the ``hard'' sciences and of applied science which is less obvious with the activities in Human Factors and Organization Theory. At any rate, Bob was not wholly comfortable with the evolving characteristics of the department and with what he perceived as a growing lack of balance. He resigned his position as chair in 1963 and returned to Georgia Tech. Later he became dean of their school of Industrial Engineering, continuing in that position until his recent retirement. He was succeeded by Loring ``Jack'' Mitten, the senior professor in the area of OR. Like many professors, Jack was more committed to research activities and soon resigned as chair. Then in the middle 60s, he left for the University of British Columbia where he is currently located. I succeeded him as chair in 1965 and continued until 1970. In retrospect, one of my main objectives was to work out an acceptable equilibrium between all segments of the department. This was complicated by my growing involvement with computer science leading to the formation of that department in 1970. I shall have more to say about this under the heading of Faculty Developments.

FACULTY ADDITIONS
      I will review these developments with respect to the three programmatic emphases that originally characterized the department. In the area of organization theory, there has been only a single addition, Charles Thompson, who is also a graduate of the department (PhD). Thus, this area has been staffed for some time by Al Rubenstein and Charles Thompson with no changes taking place whatsoever. In the area of Human Factors, often referred to as Systems Design, there has been little change. Gus Rath came to the department in the early 1960s. With my departure from active involvement in the department, that has left Gus as the only person in this area, although Charles Thompson is also a relevant faculty member. Not surprisingly, most of the faculty growth and change has been in OR and the department is often perceived as heavily involved in OR. In the area of Optimization, we have had a number of distinguished professors, including Adi Ben-Israel, Elmore Peterson, Jim Falk, and Bob Bixby. Unfortunately, all have received attractive offers from competing institutions and have left.
      One of the more critical areas in the department is that of statistics. But it has also been a difficult area to staff. The first appointment in this area was Sidney Singer from Johns Hopkins. He later took a position in industry. He was followed by Marilyn Sorum, from the University of Minnesota. She too left for a position in industry. Two more influential faculty members were Erhan Cinlar and Stan Pliska both of whom combined an interest in statistics proper with activities in Stochastic Processes. Unfortunately, after having been very influential in the affairs of the department, both left. Erhan is now at Princeton and Stan is at the University of Illinois - Chicago. Currently, Ajit Tamhane is the key faculty member in the area of statistics. Not long after he came to Northwestern, there was formed a new department of statistics in the College of Arts and Sciences and Ajit has an active role in that department. This helps to stabilize our activities in statistics through the development of a larger community of scholars with shared and supporting interests and through the availability of a broader set of course offerings. In the main areas of OR, there have been several important additions to the faculty. These include Art Hurter, Phil Jones, Mark Spearman, and Wally Hopp. I mention these four first because they share an interest in economic issues and in applications in areas that have some relationship to manufacturing and design. Unfortunately, Phil Jones has just left for a position at Iowa State and Mark Spearman will soon be leaving for Georgia Institute of Technology.
      For a brief period during the middle to late 60s there were also some additions in the area of Information Systems. These included Ben Mittman who came as Director of the Vogelback Computing Center and Mike Flynn whose interests were primarily in Computer Architecture. Ben has recently retired and Mike moved on to Stanford. Perhaps it will be appropriate to include some explanation for this development and for its eventual disappearance from the department. Soon after I joined the department in 1960, I became interested in the growing use of computers and in the powerful impact they were likely to have on the engineering profession. As a consequence, I convinced Bob Lehrer that we should develop a year-long (i.e. three quarter) sequence in Information Systems. At that time, there was only a single course available in Tech, taught by Jim Van Ness in Electrical Engineering. Moreover, its primary emphasis was on numerical analysis and there seemed to be room for other courses with more of an emphasis on information systems and data processing. Accordingly, a sequence was introduced and it was taught initially by Bruce Johnson and myself with assistance from Dave Kuck who was then a graduate student in our department. Dave later moved on to a very distinguished career at the University of Illinois. Bruce was part of the OR faculty and he had strong interests in computer simulations. Bruce later left for Rutgers. Since there was not yet in existence a department of computer science, it seemed reasonable to add faculty to IE in this area, particularly since we were attracting a substantial number of graduate students with an interest in majoring in Computers and Information Systems. However, when the new Department of Computer Science was formed in 1970, the relevant faculty moved on to the new department. To continue with this review of faculty additions, in the area of Mathematical Programming, the senior person is Bob Fourer. Other faculty who have joined the department in recent years and who add strength to the OR activities are Collette Coullard, Gordon Hazen, Sanjay Mehrotra, Yehuda Bassok, Maria Rieders, and David Simchi-Levi. Finally, among the faculty additions, I need to include Don Frey, the retired CEO of Bell and Howell. I won't attempt to assign Don to any single area of the department. But he has an important influence on all of the department's activities, particularly in areas that involve applications of IE methods to the broad field of manufacturing.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTS
      I have referred to the activities of the department under the three headings of OR, Organizational Theory, and Human Factors. From a historical perspective, I believe that these headings are descriptively accurate about the early years although they have been gradually replaced by a different and expanded set of headings. These can be described as follows.
      First, in the early 70s, the department changed its name from Industrial Engineering to Industrial Engineering and Management Services. Why the change? To some extent, there was an attempt to make clear that the department represented the new industrial engineering rather than the older and somewhat discredited (i.e. overly practical) work in industrial engineering. There was also the emphasis on greater breadth and greater reliance on an appropriate theoretical foundation. Second, in describing the undergraduate core areas, the department lists five. These are ``probability, statistics, and simulation; operations research; production and economics; applied behavioral science; and systems analysis and design''. The older operations research has been broken up into the first three areas. Organization theory and Human Factors have been combined into a single area of Applied Behavioral Science. To some extent Systems Analysis and Design represents an opportunity to build bridges among all of the specialized areas. At the graduate level, there have been evolutionary developments. The current catalog lists the following as the areas most closely related to the original OR: Applied probability, economics and production, optimization, statistics, and decision theory. Organization theory still receives a separate listing along with systems analysis and design.
      Of particular interest, there now exist several new programs, one at the undergraduate level and three at the graduate levels. Each of these has an interdisciplinary flavor and an attempt to relate the activities of the IE/MS Department to problems in manufacturing. These include:
1. At the undergraduate level, there is a new degree in manufacturing engineering which ``prepares students for careers as specialists in manufacturing firms. It also provides a solid technical foundation for a career in manufacturing management.''
2. At the graduate level, Al Rubenstein pioneered in the development of a master's level program: Master of Engineering Management, which is designed for engineers working on a parttime basis. Al has also been responsible for the development of the CITT program - Center for Information Technology Transfer - which is interdisciplinary in nature. It involves members of the EE/CS Department as well as members of the Department of Communications in the School of Speech.
3. In cooperation with the Kellogg School of Management, there now exists a 2-year program: Master in Manufacturing Management. This is also an interdisciplinary program designed to emphasize applications of material from Industrial Engineering and the School of Management to problems in manufacturing.
      I would like to conclude this historical review with two broad comments about the special interdisciplinary characteristics of this department. At the undergraduate level, the department has always been blessed with a substantial enrollment. Although the enrollment at the freshman level is small, it continues to grow until graduation. Since a general engineering program does not exist at Northwestern the IE/MS Department tends to attract students who want a broad technical background in order to move on to a variety of careers, often in manufacturing. Similarly at the graduate level, this department attracts students from a variety of engineering backgrounds who want to apply their technical backgrounds to a variety of settings including manufacturing as well as management. The challenges for this department continue to focus on maintaining a complex equilibrium among the variety of specialties supported by the department and to maintain its interdisciplinary linkages to other programs in Engineering as well as in Management.

 
     
 

HISTORY OF
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
by
Arthur P. Hurter

      The Department of Industrial Engineering was established January 1, 1958 by Dean Harold B. Gotaas and the University Board of Trustees. Robert N. Lehrer served as the first department chair, a position he held until 1962. Professor Lehrer reported that Dean Gotaas' vision and enthusiasm for the unique opportunities for an innovative industrial engineering effort were infectious and that the resources available at Northwestern, both tangible and intangible were outstanding.
      The vision that drove the formation of the Industrial Engineering Department at Northwestern was that the future would belong to those who could realistically exploit the full range of technologies: hardware, software, behavior, and common sense. The initial educational and research programs, based on this philosophy, were developed by the key initial faculty recruits: Ray Lindenmeyer in manufacturing technology, Loring (Jack) Mitten in analytical modeling and operations research, Gil Krulee in man/technology interactions, and Al Rubenstein in organization theory. These few faculty were supported by faculty in other areas including Abraham Charnes in Engineering Science and Gordon Murphy in systems and control theory.
      The fledgling department almost immediately attracted outstanding Ph.D. students and quickly outgrew its original headquarters located on the second floor of the "old" Technological Institute building between the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Departments. Fortunately, plans were already in the making to expand the original Technological Institute building by adding what are now the South East and the North East wings. This expansion in 1963 provided room for the growing Department of Industrial Engineering on the first and second floors of the North East wing.
      With strong support from Dean Gotaas and from Professor Charnes and outstanding effort on the part of the overworked faculty, our department grew not only in space but in numbers of students and course offerings as well. This core faculty, supplemented by the additions of Professors Hurter and Rath in the middle 1960's, was dedicated to academic excellence in both research and in teaching at all levels.
      The earliest BS in Industrial Engineering at Northwestern appears to have been awarded in 1935 but the first full sized class of BS degree recipients was in 1951. Prior to the establishment of the Industrial Engineering Department in 1958, an undergraduate program had existed as an option under the auspices of the Mechanical Engineering Department with some courses administered by faculty in the School of Commerce. By 1957, as many as 20 students received their BS degrees through this option. The earliest Ph.D.'s in Industrial Engineering were awarded in 1961. Of the three recipients of Ph.D.'s that year, one has since become a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
      The objective then was and to this day is to approach the traditional problem areas of industrial engineering using up-to-date methodologies developed for that purpose and borrowing heavily from the disciplines of mathematics, economics and other social sciences, as well as from engineering specialties. This approach requires a diverse faculty with expertise in many disciplines. Accordingly, early additions to the faculty were specialists in operations research, organization theory, manufacturing technology, economics, psychology, and computer languages.
      In 1963 the name of the department was changed to Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences. The argument made by the department faculty was that "Industrial Engineering," by itself, was misleading as a reflection of our general field of academic endeavor. "In the first place it implies that our educational and research programs are similar to those of the perhaps fourscore traditional Departments of Industrial Engineering, when in fact we offer not one course or program in classical Industrial Engineering specialties. Secondly, our present title does not in any was indicate our extensive engagement in the new fields (such as Operations Research, Systems Analysis, Computers and Information Systems, etc.) which have emerged over the last two decades and are now known under the appellation "Management Sciences." Although we presently are more like other Industrial Engineering Departments than we were in 1963, because they have incorporated Operations Research and Systems Analysis into their programs and we have developed a specialty in manufacturing, our emphasis remains on Management Science.
      The IE/MS Department grew and prospered throughout the 1960's (and the 70's and 80's). In 1983, at the time of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the department, faculty size had grown to 17, MS/PhD enrollment to 65, Master of Engineering Management enrollment to 95, and BS enrollment to 205. We were consistently ranked as one of the top five research oriented IR/MS/OR Departments in the United States.
      The period of the late 1960's was one of social unrest and, of course, NU and IE/MS were caught up in it. In 1969 the Technological Institute Building was closed for a number of days and classes canceled as members of the university community made their feelings about war and social injustice known. As a fledgling chairperson I vividly recall monitoring the IE/MS corridors at night in an attempt to thwart any attempts at vandalism - there were none that I can recall within the building. While this period was upsetting and detrimental to our work, other aspects of the period had a positive influence. Funding for research through US Government agencies like NSF. ONR, NASA, EPA seemed easier to obtain, perhaps because of more limited competition than seems to be the case now. Student activists caused us to think more carefully and to work harder on our undergraduate teaching assignments and our relationships with students.

 
     
 

RECOLLECTIONS
by
Joel D. Meyer

     Since Tech was separately endowed by the Murphy gift, Tech paid CAS for teaching to engineering students. The system was called cross tuition. This created considerable friction between the Tech and the Central Administration. For the Tech Engineering School, the Asst. Dean for Administration was the so-called keeper of the financial records of income and expense. He was constantly pressed by Dean Gotaas to verify the accuracy of the net deductions for cross tuition as reported in the Annual Cost Accounting Report for the Tech Institute, prepared by the Office of the Controller. This report was purported to account for every administrative charge accruing to Tech and in turn deducted from the Murphy Income Reserve fund. It was almost like the game of "Put and Take" for it appeared as though, for every class hour charged to CAS for course hours taught by Tech faculty, ten hours were charged to Tech for courses taught by CAS faculty for Tech students. Between the records kept by Assoc. Dean Brazelton, Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, and Central Administration, there was always a question as to whose records were accurate and few changes were ever made and these were minimal. And the suspicion went on...were we being taken for a ride? Whenever we thought we had a legitimate complaint for the various other charges made, we were told that we shouldn't complain for if they really charged us for everything they should...such as for all of the maintenance of the grounds surrounding the building, we would have even less in the reserve account. Until the day during Bruno Boley's regime when all of the accounting for charges against the Murphy account was totally retained by Central Administration, and we no longer saw the annual report, the internal discontent remained.
      In the never ending quest for space in which to expand for the purpose of carrying out their research in 1960, the Materials Science Department was about to procure an electron microscope and needed a place in which to locate it. Where else then in the men's washroom and locker room located at the north west corner of the building. Who would have thought that politics would rear its ugly head at the thought of removing a men's washroom in a building that had so many? The City of Evanston objected on the grounds that the building code required one washroom for every so many male attendees in the building (I don't remember the exact formula). Apparently they gave way on the grounds that we promise, as soon as the planned addition to the building was completed, we would return the space to its original intent. And this we did.
      Prior to 1961, proposals were made to The Advanced Projects Agency (ARPA) of DOD for a major addition to the Technological Institute. On the successful awarding of this contract two additional wings were erected and the Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, Industrial Engineering departments and the Materials Research Center were able to move into new and expanded quarters. ARPA repaid the University for part of the cost through an annual use fee for ten years. This was in addition to the overhead charge.
      In 1965 a major fire took place in a laboratory of the Electrical Engineering Department. It was this fire that gave us the confidence that the building was truly fire retardant, for although the fire destroyed the contents of a large laboratory and damaged the structure of the room, it fortunately did not spread beyond the enclosure of the lab.

 
     
 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE LIBRARY
by
Robert C. Michaelson

      The Technological Institute Library had its roots in small departmental libraries: an Engineering Library in Swift Hall, and Chemistry and Physics departmental libraries. In addition, materials on engineering and science were taken from the collection in Deering Library, Northwestern's main library collection of the time. In all, about 20,000 volumes were gathered for the collection at the opening of the Technological Institute Library on February 16, 1942. (Its first Librarian, Hazel Walz, had been on duty for a month prior to opening date, setting up service routines and inventorying books). The Tech Library was then receiving 117 periodicals, which was increased to 128 by the end of the year: fifty-one in engineering, forty-seven in chemistry, twenty-seven in physics, and nine in general sciences.
      In its earliest years the Library was open from 8:30 to 5:30 Monday through Saturday, and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. It consisted of a reading room with seating for 140 students, and a double-tiered book stack with an estimated capacity of 75,000 volumes -- this proved to be optimistic -- and 40 carrels for researchers (when the Library first opened, access to the stack area was restricted to faculty and approved graduate students). This represented some expansion from the plans in the earliest architectural drawings, in response to a memo from the University Librarian Theodore W. Koch to University President Franklyn B. Snyder, on May 26, 1939:

"If the prophecy of an eventual enrollment of a thousand students comes true there will be needed accommodations for at least 300 readers..., and shelving for from fifty to a hundred thousand books... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Library contains 335,000 volumes, receives currently over 1,500 periodicals and has a library staff of twenty-six people, with two more to be added on July 1. Northwestern University has only 15,000 in Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics and receives currently 95 periodicals in these fields, and the three departmental libraries concerned are serviced by secretaries."

     Still, the Library did not have space problems when it opened, and the number of seats was adequate for the size of the primarily undergraduate Technological Institute of the time. Rather the chief problems mentioned in the first annual report were the difficulties in getting periodicals from Axis-controlled countries and the wartime tightening-up on supplies. Hazel Walz remained for less than a year and was replaced by Carmen Wilson Walsh, who was Librarian through 1946. By the end of the war, the Library had increased its holdings to about 24,500 volumes and 266 periodicals received. Some of this growth was promoted by war-related projects going on at Northwestern, which brought in publications; for example Library users included Army Signal Corps students and National Defense Research Committee researchers in chemistry and in physics.
      In 1947 Librarian David A. Webb began a subscription to the Engineering Index abstracting service on index cards, which came daily and thus allowed much more rapid access to the literature than the annual Engineering Index volumes. Although the service was canceled by Webb's successor George Bonn in 1949, as expensive and underutilized despite promotional efforts, this represented an early instance of what would be a continuing theme in the Tech Library: providing better access to information through new services. Bonn remained at the Tech Library for just three years, but during his tenure opened the stack area to all students. One result was increased circulation despite significantly declining enrollment as the number of students on the G. I. Bill decreased. Increased use of the stacks exacerbated the poor ventilation there, and an exhaust fan was installed. Bonn greatly increased the number of periodical subscriptions (there were 742 by the time he left in 1951) and added center-aisle shelving to the reading room, expanding its capacity by 2,000 volumes.
      Alan Krull, who was Librarian from 1951-1956, introduced a course on "Library Research" for upper-class engineering students (this had been suggested seven years earlier by Carmen Walsh but had not then been approved). Krull also instituted key access to the Tech Library after hours for all faculty and research personnel having departmental keys, as well as for Ph.D. candidates upon the recommendation of their department. Like Webb before him, he began to investigate ways to expand the capacity of the stacks. And some who were in Tech at the time may recall that he brought in an FM radio and played a classical music station in the Reading Room on Friday afternoons.
      In June 1956 John P. McGowan, who was to play a major role in the history of the Northwestern University Library, became Librarian of the Technological Institute. An inventory taken at about the time of his arrival showed that over 1,000 books were missing since the previous inventory in 1950; a control desk was placed as a check point at the exit from the stacks to try to minimize losses. Because of increasing crowding in the stacks, older periodicals were transferred to a storage area. In 1957 McGowan began plans to increase purchases of Russian materials.
      Also in 1957 Janet Ayers, known to everyone who used the Tech Library from that time on, was hired as the Library's first Reference Librarian "to make possible information service to assist faculty in contract research." Finally, McGowan's attendance that year at the Conference on Information Retrieval Systems held at Western Reserve University presaged his leadership in the later development of Northwestern's on-line information system NOTIS.
      By 1959, the Library held over 60,000 volumes and was at the limit of its capacity. McGowan invited an architect who specialized in library buildings to make a preliminary survey. Since the Trustees objected to any alteration to the Reading Room, planning centered on the possibility of constructing two additional tiers. McGowan left in 1959 for the Franklin Institute Library, and it was during Marshall Fisher's term as Librarian that the stacks were expanded by the addition of two tiers on top of the original stack area. Because the reading room and stacks were located over the main auditorium, without supporting pillars able to carry the weight of two additional tiers of books, special lightweight steel beams were used, and the walls of the addition were made of aluminum panels coated with baked enamel. This $250,000 addition officially opened on September 15, 1960, and was said to nearly double the capacity of the Library; it was expected to handle the needs of the Library for the next fifteen to twenty years.
      The application of information retrieval technology continued to be of interest. The June 3, 1963 report of the Technological Institute Library and Publications Committee indicates that Richard W. Trueswell, a Ph.D. candidate in Industrial Engineering, was preparing an analysis of the information service needs of Northwestern University Library to explore the feasibility of using data processing and computer techniques. Another important new technology is mentioned that year: it is reported that arrangements can been made at the Circulation Desk for Xerox reproductions.
      John McGowan returned to Northwestern to be Associate University Librarian for Engineering and Science in 1966. He immediately began a series of projects which ultimately transformed not just the Tech Library but all Northwestern University libraries; one of these projects, which led to the development of NOTIS, had an impact on all modern libraries. The administration of the engineering and science collections was removed from the Deering Library operations and a pilot project began to ascertain which parts of the operation could be adapted to machine and computer techniques. Dr. James Aagaard of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science faculty joined the project on a half-time basis, and the project also employed Velma Veneziano, who was one of a very rare breed at the time, a computer systems analyst. During 1967-68 the program moved into preliminary operational stage with the installation in Tech of a 2740 terminal linked to an IBM 360-30 computer in the old administration building. The Tech Library also developed a chemical information service using Chemical Abstracts tapes. On a more mundane technological level, coin and key operated photocopy machines were placed in the Tech Library in 1967.
      The expanded Technological Institute Library was still unsatisfactory in many ways: the added tiers in the stack area were stiflingly hot in summer, and the added space filled up much more quickly than had been hoped. Moreover, even if the stack space had been adequate, the seating space was not -- there was seating for only 11% of the primary user group, whereas standards demanded seating for at least 30-50%. Finally, in March 1968 a committee was appointed to develop plans for what would become the Seeley G. Mudd Library for Science and Engineering, incorporating the Technological Institute Library collection. The history of that committee's plans, of the 1975 $1.4 million grant from the Seeley G. Mudd foundation, and of the construction of the new library which opened in July 1977, are beyond the scope of this narrative.

 
     
 

PART OF THE PAST
by
Raymond A. Kliphardt

     Until the time of the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, both the Engineering Program at Northwestern University and the building that housed it were called the Northwestern Technological Institute. This was especially troublesome as not all the university departments in the Technological Institute (building) were administered by the Technological Institute (program). Also the admittedly awkward adjective "technological" was used because "Northwestern Institute of Technology" had an unfortunate acronym.
      A few facts about the original building as constructed in the 1940's may surprise many of today's occupants. Its floor space was more than adequate for the faculty, staff and students during the closing years of World War II. (This was a source of irritation to south campus departments, some of whom had misgivings about engineering as a university discipline.) For all its impressive Collegiate Gothic exterior and interior elegance by Northwestern standards of that day, it probably had less than a dozen telephones, a lesser number of women employees (all secretaries), and, to my knowledge, only one washroom for ladies. The elevators required a key to operate them and the initial theory was that only faculty and staff would have keys. Knowing the traditional ingenuity associated with engineering and the general spirit of students, one can easily imagine how long that theory survived.
      The engineering faculty of the 1940's, and perhaps engineering in general at that time, was in somewhat of an identity crisis. Engineers had often been self-made practitioners with baccalaureate degrees, enormous creativity and matching courage. They awed society with their accomplishments, but generally were thought of as rough and ready men of construction sites, steel mills, industrial plants, power generating stations or as operators of steam and diesel locomotives. Often on a university campus, at least in Evanston, they were regarded as neither gentlemen nor scholars.
      Everyone knows there were no electronic computers in the Tech building, as it was called. But how many can imagine the storms over slide rules? What specifications and recommendations to give to an incoming student to aid in his purchase of a "slip stick"; what content and scheduling of courses in the use of slide rules; the matter of requiring such courses, listing such as a prerequisite for other courses and the matter of credit toward graduation? The question of credit precipitated a proposition to offer a credit-bearing course in the use of the library. One Civil Engineering professor was known and respected by his students as he could operate his slide rule without the slide. Ovid W. Eshbach, the first Dean of the Technological Institute, was widely known as the editor-in-chief of the Engineering Handbook bearing his name. He, also, wrote a manual on the use of the slide rule.
      Changes in a variety of areas are of interest. For several departments, at least, Differential and Integral Calculus were in the curriculum but regarded as esoteric by the faculty. Large testing machines for student laboratories and for what would be regarded now as routine testing by the faculty occupied prime spaces and were prominently illustrated in brochures. Large areas of the building were designated and equipped for courses in shop practices, engineering drafting, kinematics, and design. Their reduction and demise even before CAD have long histories.
      The quality of teaching by the faculty was a prime consideration in appointments. Present awards for and recognitions of excellent teaching tend to lift it from being the least of a faculty member's activities but fall short of giving faculty classroom performance the importance it had in the early days.
      In the postwar years more and more faculty members were recruited with research degrees and reputations. Important discussions related to pure research, applied research, routine testing. There was an increasing shift from the empirical and manual to the theoretical-engineering was moving from an art to a science. The graduate program was expanded greatly; one might almost say that effectively it began in the late 1940's, but the facts vary widely by departments. In later years selection of a Dean brought many changes into focus. What about a Dean of Engineering who is not an engineer? Is that a contradiction, a recapitulation, a proper recognition of or necessity for the future of engineering, a correct approach to selecting the best person without regard to discipline?
      With this background of change, the curriculum was under constant and appropriate revision. The major constraint was that there was not enough time in a four-year program to include all the material for which a convincing case could be made. It was also clear that almost every course could be presented more effectively if it followed a group of other courses. All members of the faculty brought their own experience to bear in the discussions. To my knowledge, there were no surveys to collect the opinions of successful graduates as to the courses they had found most important in their later professional experience. Administrative judgments and practices related to appointment and promotion of faculty members influenced the curriculum. In the democratic environment of 'one man, one vote' smaller departments or course faculties became successively smaller as their specialties were voted out in a controlled but steady manner. To be sure, most faculty members on both sides of any curriculum content vote would say, and generally believe, that their position was based on what was best for the present and future students.
      There probably are other factors to be stated, but it is more useful to try to assess the changes in retrospect. On the one hand, it seems clear that the manual dexterity traditionally associated with engineers has declined. It may, also, be argued that persons with talents more essential in the modern world, are now included in the profession. Perhaps it would be difficult to make a strong case for reinstating the past forging, welding, and machining experiences. Yet, historically the Ancient Greek and Gothic architectures are hailed for their excellence because they were designed and executed by craftsmen who had thorough experience with their materials and tools. However, few would venture into a skyscraper whose design was based on intuition.
      The two-dimensional representation and analysis of three-dimensional objects and systems were significant goals of courses in graphics methods. The strident emphasis on standard and well-executed hand lettering was easy for the instructor and often deadly for the student. This emphasis diminished the effectiveness of courses in engineering drawing and wasted time that should have been spent otherwise. It probably will continue to be important in many engineering curricula to include opportunity for developing three-dimensional visualization and becoming fluent in standard representational schemes for communicating geometric specifications to others and with one's self when designing. The computer has taken over the dexterity aspects of producing drawings, completely taken over lettering chores, and can aid visualization. But the basic conception of a project probably will always require human imagination and visualization. Relatedly, one learns more about the movement of the links of a mechanism by plotting successive positions than from seeing them evolve automatically on his computer screen. And one develops at least another dimension of understanding of the forces in the members of a truss or other structure by graphical analysis. Again, the computer can take over and perform such analysis in later experiences but a basic opportunity to perform the task is important to many students.
      With all the agreements, disagreements and conflicting arguments, it is reassuring to learn from our good students that there is not much that can be done to interfere with their education. Another constant seems to be that even within any one department, the students are not homogeneous. A course which enlivens a term for one student may bring out a negative response from another. As much individual election as possible should be provided in all curricula.
      There is no box score of the curricular voting records of present or emeritus faculty members. It is probable that no one was inerrant nor clairvoyant. In hind sight it is clear that the program of earlier years would not adequately nor appropriately serve the present students nor be on line for the challenges of the twenty-first century. It was stimulating to participate in the past history of engineering education at Northwestern University and it is gratifying now to share confidence in the future development of the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

 
     
 

EPILOGUE
by
Jerome B. Cohen and Morris E. Fine

     The relative emphasis on basic science, applied science, and engineering in "Engineering" at Northwestern has changed back and forth over the years and, no doubt, will continue to do so. The statement, "..the demand for trained, practical, and reliable engineers...", appeared in the University Catalogue for 1873-74. The initial vision was, it appears, a highly practical College of Technology. The College of Engineering that developed under John Hayford emphasized the scientific underpinnings of engineering. In the 1920's President Scott began to move the emphasis more toward engineering. Scott came under the influence of Charles F. Kettering, who received an Honorary Degree from Northwestern in 1935, and became interested in Cooperative Engineering Education. Thus when the University responded to Cabell's invitation for a proposal for a substantial gift to establish a major engineering school, Northwestern's proposal included a strong component of engineering practice through a Cooperative Engineering Education Program. The University of Chicago, on the other hand, proposed a program that was much more oriented toward the basic sciences.
      After the Technological Institute was established Ovid Eshbach was recruited as Dean because of his experience with Coop and he effected a curriculum that included a high measure of engineering courses, although Ovid himself taught physics.
      World War II brought about very major changes in engineering education in this country. Developments in radar, nuclear energy, operations research, high octane aviation fuel (our Herman Pines was the inventor while he worked at UOP), etc. were brought about primarily by scientists and mathematicians. There was concern that engineers were not being educated enough in basics so they could easily move into new fields as they emerged. The development of solid state electronics mainly by physicists and chemists further fueled this change. Of course, design and rapid production of aircraft, ships and mobile land vehicles for WW II were engineering triumphs, but not as glamorous. The invention of the transistor was made possible because engineers had worked for a number of years on purifying silicon and germanium.
      In the Williamson and Wild history of Northwestern, there is the reference (p. 232) to a letter from President Snyder to Ovid Eshbach in March 1947 recommending that Northwestern's Tech be more like Cal. Tech. and MIT in giving more emphasis to the basic sciences. Of course, the Murphy gift and bequest were obtained for Northwestern because the University chose a different path, the coop plan, prior to Snyder becoming President. However, the change to a more scientific based engineering school occurred at Northwestern and at most other engineering schools as well. Besides formation of the Graduate Department of Metallurgy which occurred while Loughridge was Dean, the change at Northwestern occurred mostly during the tenure of Ben Gotaas, whom we considered to be a very good engineer. Shop courses, engineering drawing, and surveying were discontinued. Coop was made optional. The courses became more scientific and graduate education was greatly expanded. The expansion of graduate education in engineering was a National trend. Compared to pre-WW II, the ratio of Ph.D. to BS degrees in engineering increased by a factor of ten.
      Since then the pendulum has swung back to more emphasis on engineering practice. Currently applications of research, engineering know how and emphasis on management issues are in the forefront.
      The name of engineering at Northwestern is now the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science following a major gift from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. The 50 year old Technological Institute Building is undergoing major renovation to bring it up to current standards for a research and education facility. The Science-Engineering Library is housed in the Seely W. Mudd Building connected by an enclosed walkway to Tech. There is a Catalysis Center Building, also connected to Tech, with a Center for Quality Engineering and Failure Prevention on the third floor. It houses faculty members in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering. The MS and E. Dept. is primarily housed in a new Materials Life Sciences Building.
      Computer Science and Electrical Engineering have been combined into one Department. There is now a separate Biomedical Engineering Department. Recognizing the importance of management, Tech offers Master of Engineering Management and Master of Project Management Degrees. A Master of Manufacturing Management Program is offered jointly with The Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Further recognizing the importance of manufacturing, there is also a Master of Manufacturing Engineering Degree.
      The character of research is undergoing rather rapid change under pressure from industry and US Government funding agencies. Faculty are being asked more and more to do research with practical consequences and in partnership with industry.
      At the undergraduate level there are many needs for change for the future.
      Firstly, there are a number of subject areas that need to come into play that are not part of the current engineering curriculum. These include the life sciences, statistics and quality control, environmental problems, solid state and business principles. The understanding of the design process should pervade the entire four year education and thus it needs to begin in the freshman year. (Part of this design education should include learning to work in teams and with other disciplines.)
      These needs essentially imply a four year program with more breadth than now. Each discipline needs to consider which advanced courses are really needed in the first four years. Also less than two years of mathematics may well suffice as much of this subject is available on computer. Less chemistry is appropriate in many areas and the first mechanics course could be an engineering course rather than part of physics. Probably this more general course degree will be coupled with a fifth year master's program that could reemphasize specialization.
      These changes are essential for two reasons. In a technological society like ours, a case can be made that engineering education with its non-technical component is the true liberal education for any citizen. Being comfortable with numbers and knowing how to delve into technical problems are essential tools that we provide to that future citizen.
      Secondly, the world has truly grown smaller as a result of the information highway. A company can work with engineers anywhere in the world - and in many areas the salaries are much less than ours. Our engineers need to have an education that makes their cost justifiable.
      Continuing education will increase in importance: the pace of change in industry has become so rapid that continued learning will become essential for technical people in the field.
      Graduate education will change as well, especially at the Ph.D. level. The sharp decrease in the time between conception and production of a new product has bee