Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 254

The gift was particularly significant because of the deep sorrow that had come to Professor Sinclair less than three months before. He and Mrs. Sinclair had made one of their frequent trips to California in August, 1913. Soon thereafter she became seriously ill. They started the homeward trip late in November but she died en route. The passing of this lovely character, who more than any other woman had been a part of Institute tradition, brought profound sadness to the teachers and students who had known and admired her.

At Commencement in 1915, it was announced that a chair of Mathematics had been named in honor of John E. Sinclair, though no disclosure of his gift was made. Dr. Levi L. Conant was named as the first incumbent. Professor Sinclair was delighted by the honor. "I imagine I feel much like the man who reads his own very flattering obituary notice, -- he wrote to Mr. Washburn, "puzzled, pleased, but very sure there is a mistake somewhere." The obituary notice became a reality all too soon, for on September 12, 1915, the fine old professor came to the end of seventy-seven years of glorious and constructive service to his fellow men. Perhaps no man ever connected with the Institute was paid such glowing tributes. They came from former students in many parts of the world as well as from his colleagues and friends at home. The reason was plain, for "Johnnie" Sinclair was more than an instructor. Dr. Haynes, in a fine tribute to him, wrote: "Clean-cut thinking in mathematics was not the only nor the most valuable lesson inculcated in that classroom. No teacher on the Hill has ever made a stronger appeal to the honest manliness in his pupils. He felt a grave responsibility not merely for the mental but for the moral growth of the young men." He also quoted from Professor Sinclair's address to the alumni at the time of his resignation in 1908: "1 hope no one of you will ever come back and say that I have merely emphasized my work with you, - that I did not place before you some higher idea than that. And as you go on with your work, may these impressions grow richer and richer, so that as I meet

254

webmaster@wpi.edu

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