Joseph Sweetman Ames
Joseph Sweetman Ames (July 3, 1864 – June 24, 1943) was a
Joseph Sweetman Ames | |
---|---|
President of Johns Hopkins University | |
Succeeded by | Isaiah Bowman |
Preceded by | Frank Johnson Goodnow |
Personal details | |
Born | Manchester, Vermont, United States | July 3, 1864
Died | June 24, 1943 | (aged 78)
Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
Profession | Academic administrator, educator, physicist, author |
Ames was also an assistant editor of The Astrophysical Journal and associate editor of the American Journal of Science; editor-in-chief of the Scientific Memoir Series; and editor of Joseph von Fraunhofer's memoirs on Prismatic and Diffractive Spectra (1898).[5]
Career
Joseph Sweetman Ames was born in
Ames contributed to his field by publishing four textbooks, serving on the editorial staff of the Astrophysical Journal and Harper's Scientific Monthly, delivering Northwestern University's Harris Lectures on "The Constitution of Matter", co-authoring a book, Theoretical Mechanics, and holding the office of president of the American Physical Society, of which he was a charter member. His expertise also led to his being called to chair the Foreign Service Committee of the National Research Council, to direct the educational work of the United States Bureau of Standards, to lead a wartime scientific mission to France, and to head the executive committee of the
As a faculty member, Ames was considered an excellent teacher, able to explain complex principles of physics in terms a lay person could understand. Whereas Rowland was known for delivering lectures that prompted more questions than they answered, Ames' lectures displayed a mastery of the subject that was frequently commented on favorably by students and colleagues.[5] Both as a teacher and an administrator Ames supported academic freedom and objected to loyalty oaths then required of teachers in many states.[9]
At Hopkins, his gift for administration led to his becoming secretary of the Academic Council in 1915, Dean of the College Faculty in 1924, and Provost in 1926. In 1929, when the university searched for a new president, Ames was appointed. He assumed office July 1, 1929 and commenced an administration which spanned six of the most difficult years in the university's history, due to the economic hardships of the Great Depression. The university's deficit grew as the general financial picture worsened.[9] President Ames managed the university as efficiently as possible, coping with problems such as the "Goodnow Plan" and the new but troubled Institute of Law. He even dealt with the question of commercialism in Hopkins athletics, maintaining that charging admission to athletic events was "improper". Shortly after his retirement on June 30, 1935, gate receipts were abolished. Many years later, this action was reversed and admission charges re-instituted. During his Hopkins presidency, the William H. Welch Medical Library opened on the university's medical campus, and the Walter Hines Page School of International Relations was organized as a division of the university.[10]
When the Second World War began, as chair of the Foreign Service Committee of the National Research Council, Ames toured Europe studying scientific developments. Upon his return, he criticized the United States’ isolationist foreign policy, urging that war materials be sent to France as quickly as possible. He also urged that the United States immediately speed up development and production of warplanes.[9]
Towards the end of his life, Ames’ work in aviation gained further recognition. In 1935, he was made an honorary fellow of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences and received from the Smithsonian Institution the Langley Gold Medal for Aerodynamics. In 1939, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics presented him with a testimonial resolution. Perhaps the greatest honor bestowed on him was the naming of the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory in California. Ames died on June 24, 1943, after being in failing health for several years due to a stroke.[7]
Publications
- 1897: The Theory of Physics ISBN 978-1-112-24574-9
- 1898: A Manual of Experiments in Physics at Internet Archive
- 1898: The Free Expansion of Gases at Internet Archive
- 1900: ISBN 978-1-172-27730-8
- 1900: The Induction of Electric Currents (two volumes)
- 1904: Text-Book of General Physics via Internet Archive
- 1929: Theoretical Mechanics
References
- ^ Sweetman Biographical sketch Archived 2012-12-10 at archive.today, from the JHU Libraries Special Collections, MS.061.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ "Joseph S. Ames". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ a b c d Henry Crew (1944) Biographical Memoir of Joseph Sweetman Ames from National Academy of Sciences
- ^ a b c Johnson, Rossiter (1906). Wikisource. . . Vol. 1. p. 104 – via
- ^ .
- ^ French, John Calvin (1946). A History of the University Founded by Johns Hopkins. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 407–408.
- ^ a b c Macaulay, P. Stewart (June 2, 1935). "The President of Hopkins Retires". Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "Joseph S. Ames, '86, PhD '90, LLD '36". Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine. June 1943.
External links
- Papers of Joseph Sweetman Ames from Johns Hopkins University library
Further reading
- Kevles, Daniel (1970). "Ames, Joseph Sweetman". ISBN 0-684-10114-9.