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IN THE DAYS OF MENDENHALL
[15]
THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHALL, third president, differed from his
predecessors in many respects, conspicuously in point of
background. He had arrived. Long before reaching the mature age of
fifty-three, he had achieved national and some international renown as
a scientist and an administrator. His career had been unique. Its
zenith came perhaps during the five-year period just prior to his
appointment by the Institute trustees. That was his term of office as
superintendent of the United States Coast & Geodetic Survey. The
activities of this and other governmental services were to be among
his major interests for the rest of his life.
Self-education, built on a common school training, raised
Dr. Mendenhall to the stature of one of the conspicuous men of science in his
generation. Born in a small Ohio town, October 4, 1841, he found no
opportunity for academy or college training. Yet, at the age of twenty
he was teachingin a high school. He advanced to the post of school
superintendent and, in 1873, was appointed professor of Mathematics
and Science in the newly-organized Ohio StateUniversity. Five years
later, when he was called away from the University, he was awarded the
Ph.D. degree. The call was to Japan and its Imperial University, where
he was to be professor of Physics. He taught there from 1878 to 1881,
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