Thomas Messinger Drown
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Thomas Messinger Drown | |
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| Born | March 19, 1842  Philadelphia |
| Died | November 17, 1904 Bethlehem |
| Resting place | The Woodlands |
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| Employer | |
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Thomas Messinger Drown (March 19, 1842 – November 17, 1904) was the fourth
Background
He was born in
His professional career was interrupted in 1881, when, after the death of his father, he devoted himself to family matters. He restarted his professional work in 1885 by accepting a professorship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3]
Massachusetts activity
He helped start MIT's
As a professor, Drown published a number of papers on metallurgy, mostly in Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He was a founding member of the Institute,[2] and served as its secretary, and editor of its Transactions from 1871 till 1884. He was elected its president in 1897.
Lehigh presidency
In 1895 he left MIT to become the fourth president of
A broad intellectual with interests in various fields, he nonetheless thought the key to Lehigh's success would be the school of technology. There he sought to broaden and deepen the offerings, increase the quality and quantity of laboratory space, equipment and apparatus, as funding permitted. Additionally, and in consultation with the faculty and the board of trustees, he created many new tiers of teaching, including the associate and assistant professorships. His idea was that this would create resources for top professors to be invited to Lehigh, and so help enlarge the curricula. During his tenure, the university's first emeritus professorship was granted (Harding of Physics), and first doctorate awarded (Joseph W. Richards). Many new degrees in the technical school were now being offered, such as Metallurgy (1891), Electrometallurgy, and Chemical Engineering (1902).[8] The curriculum leading to a degree in arts and engineering was established, as was the department of zoology and biology. New courses (majors, that is, or degree offerings, as it is now known) were also adopted in geology, and physics.
Dr. Drown eventually gained in popularity on campus, with his forward ideas, success, idiosyncratic pince-nez glasses and mustache. Faculty members eventually came to refer to Dr. Drown as "chief". Unfortunately, T. M. Drown would not live long enough to see all his ideas to fruition, as he died in office, following abdominal surgery, November 16, 1904, effectively ending his term.[9][10][11]
Williams Hall (1903), a Beaux Arts inspired Brick structure, was erected to house the growing departments of Biology and Geology, among other functions.
In 1908, Lehigh University opened up
References
- .
- ^ a b c Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ a b Henry P. Talbot (1930). "Drown, Thomas Messinger". Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- ^ Moynihan, Joan (March 2002). "Purity by the ounce: J. T. Baker's dissatisfaction with flawed research material refined the chemical industry". Today's Chemist at Work. 11 (3): 53–55. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Doherty, Bill (January 24, 2007). "Lehigh inaugurations bridge past, future". Lehigh University news.
- ^ "Tributes to Ellen Swallow Richards". Technology Review. 13: 365–373. 1911. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Yates, W.Ross (1992). Lehigh University. pp. 90–99.
- ^ Yates, W.Ross (1992). Lehigh University. p. 105.
- ^ Yates, W. Ross. "Sermon in Stone: Packer Memorial Church, An Historical Essay" (PDF). Lehigh University.
- ^ "President of Lehigh University is Dead". The Wilkes-Barre Record. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. November 17, 1904. p. 1. Retrieved February 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Signed photograph, from the Proceedings connected with the testimonial presented to Thomas Messinger Drown, M. D. by the Secretary of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, by members of the Institute, at Montreal, September 18, 1879.