Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 304

The resignation most deeply regretted on the campus and among alumni was that of Prof. Arthur D. Butterfield, which became effective July 1, 1920. He had been called to fill the newly-created position of educational director at the Norton Company, to engage in an industrial program that at the time was very promising. Colonel Butterfield had left an indelible mark on the Institute both as a teacher and as an organizer. After four years as assistant in Civil Engineering he had been called to the University of Vermont, where in the period from 1898 to 1908 he advanced to the professorship of Mechanics and Mathematics. He then returned to the Institute as assistant professor of Mathematics, later professor of Mathematics and Geodesy. His two years of distinguished service in the U. S. Air Corps brought high honor to him and reflected much credit on the college. His vigorous prosecution of campaigns for funds and his untiring service as alumni secretary were perhaps the major factors in the preservation and expansion of the Institute during its most serious crisis. To succeed him in the department of Mathematics the Trustees sought to reenlist Dr. James A. Bullard, who had left in 1916 to teach at the U. S. Naval Academy. Naval authorities were unwilling to release him.

George E. Gladwin, beloved member of the original faculty, came to the end of a long life September 16, 1920. He was ninety-one, and for several years had been under the tender care of his daughter, Miss Emma G. Gladwin, during which period many of his needs had been provided for by his former students. His service as professor of Drawing extended from 1868 to 1896; throughout nearly all of that period he was also secretary of the faculty. He was tireless in his sketching and painting even after his retirement, and had perpetuated every glimpse of the campus, including class trees, in his water colors. After his death, Charles G. Washburn undertook to raise a fund to provide a headstone and pay funeral expenses. Responses from alumni were generous. A surplus of $1,050 was turned over to the Institute to establish the

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