2008 Woodie Awards
History: Resurrection of the school
Sheeraz Hyder
Issue date: 1/26/07 Section: Campus Life
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Harvey N. Davis, the third President of the Stevens Institute of Technology, inherited the position under probably the worst times of the Institute. In 1927, the previous President, Alexander Crombie Humphreys succumbed to cancer and Davis, a physics professor at Harvard, was chosen by the trustees to succeed him. In 1929, The Great Depression struck America and the Institute was not spared in its damaging effects. Davis and the trustees of the era fought tooth and nail during the 1930s to keep the Institute open and to expand the Institute from its current confines. No one was more active than Walter Kidde, chairman of the board of trustees from 1928 to 1935.
Davis led the Institute during a curricula enhancement that included the creation of several master's degree programs and laboratories for funded research. Davis was a strong advocate of an engineering undergraduate education based on the principles of a "small but good" college. Davis stressed that the undergraduate classes should focus on "fundamental science, humanities and fundamental engineering principles."
Though Davis supported the undergraduate curricula in general, he lobbied for a change in the designation of the M. E. - 'Mechanical Engineer' degree, which had been part of Stevens since its inception, to the more general 'Bachelor of Science', 'Bachelor of Applied Science', or 'Bachelor of Engineering' degrees. Davis had already quietly changed the name of Stevens in its catalogue to "A College of Engineering" from the more specific "College of Mechanical Engineering." However the trustees of that era rejected his proposal and that change would not come to fruition until the time of a later president.
The Humanities Department, such named in Davis's first year, was thoroughly reorganized during his administration. While there were offerings in English, history and the foreign languages, a social science - psychology - was added. William D. Ennis filled the first Alexander C. Humphreys Professor of Engineering Economics chair funded by Arthur Glasgow, an early partner of Humphreys.
Davis led the Institute during a curricula enhancement that included the creation of several master's degree programs and laboratories for funded research. Davis was a strong advocate of an engineering undergraduate education based on the principles of a "small but good" college. Davis stressed that the undergraduate classes should focus on "fundamental science, humanities and fundamental engineering principles."
Though Davis supported the undergraduate curricula in general, he lobbied for a change in the designation of the M. E. - 'Mechanical Engineer' degree, which had been part of Stevens since its inception, to the more general 'Bachelor of Science', 'Bachelor of Applied Science', or 'Bachelor of Engineering' degrees. Davis had already quietly changed the name of Stevens in its catalogue to "A College of Engineering" from the more specific "College of Mechanical Engineering." However the trustees of that era rejected his proposal and that change would not come to fruition until the time of a later president.
The Humanities Department, such named in Davis's first year, was thoroughly reorganized during his administration. While there were offerings in English, history and the foreign languages, a social science - psychology - was added. William D. Ennis filled the first Alexander C. Humphreys Professor of Engineering Economics chair funded by Arthur Glasgow, an early partner of Humphreys.
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