Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 19

Stephen Van Rensselaer, its founder, was a man of great wealth, a graduate of Harvard, who had been commander of the New York state militia in the war of 1812. His interest in engineering was aroused while he was president of the Erie Canal commission. The Rensselaer school was opened under the leadership of Prof. Amos Eaton. It provided a one-year course in the elements of Civil Engineering, and the first class to receive degrees was that of 1835. The school was reorganized in 1850 by Benjamin Franklin Greene, and expanded into a three-year course. Civil Engineering was the only branch in which degrees were conferred prior to 1907.

Three other schools, all branches of New England colleges, also provided scientific instruction. A school of Applied Chemistry was organized at Yale in 1847, a school of Engineering in 1852. These were combined two years later, and in 1863 took the name Sheffield Scientific School, in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, who had provided a generous endowment and who continued to make frequent donations. Also in 1847, a scientific school was established at Harvard, and named in honor of Abbott Lawrence, its first benefactor. The Lawrence Scientific School provided courses in Engineering, Mining and Applied Chemistry. The Chandler School of Science and the Arts named in honor of its benefactor, Abiel Chandler, was established at Dartmouth College in 1851. It was incorporated into the college in 1893. In 1871 the Thayer School of Civil Engineering, also at Dartmouth, providing a course of six years' duration, was founded by the bequest of General Sylvanus Thayer.

Each of these three latter schools in the earlier years laid stress on theoretical rather than on applied science. At Washington University in St. Louis, there was also a school, known as the O'Fallon Polytechnic Institute, that gave day and evening courses in Mining Engineering. This was incorporated into the university in 1870.

The point of departure in American education came in the midst of the great civil conflict that has aptly been named

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Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999