Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 305

Gladwin Memorial Fund, the income of which was to be used by the department of Drawing.

The years directly following the war brought a renaissance in education, accompanied by a searching for new and better college programs. The Institute faculty devoted much time to analyses of its curricula and carefully weighed various proposed changes and additions. One of the proposals that caused much discussion was the plan developed by Norton Company executives, a half-time school at the Institute for the purpose of educating men who might become foremen or shop executives. This won less favor with the faculty than with the shop committee of the Trustees, to whom it was referred. It was soon apparent to the latter group, however, that the available teachers could not carry the additional load, and that additions to the staff for this work would not be feasible, even if the faculty could be convinced that such an adjunct was desirable.

In the early months of 1921 the Institute had offered extension courses of its own design for the benefit of foremen and industrial managers in the Worcester district. Three evening courses for this group were advertised, only one of which caught the popular fancy. It was a series of lectures and discussions on heat, metallurgy, strength of materials, and mechanisms, conducted by Professors Plimpton, Roys and A. L. Smith. About one hundred attended the series. Other courses for the general public, on aeronautics, conducted by Dr. Ewell, and on the modern theory of matter, had less popular appeal. The following year the scope of extension work was increased to include lectures on concrete by Professor French, on electric wiring and installation by Prof. Francis J. Adams, on power development and distribution by various staff members, and on chemistry in the textile industry by Dr. W. L. Jennings.

Another innovation was introduced in the Electrical Engineering course by Prof. H. B. Smith in 1921. At the end of the third year, students were given the option of spending

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