Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 342

decided to name the room in honor of a teacher who had been an inspiration to these classes, so it became Sinclair Hall, and a bronze tablet was erected to John E. Sinclair's memory.

Among the changes and innovations introduced by President Earle during the first two years of his administration were the elimination of pattem-shop practice as part of the freshman curriculum, the reduction of practice and drawing periods to three hours, so that most of the students were free at four in the afternoon, the addition of an activities tax to ter-in bills, as students often had requested, and the development of a program of sabbatical leaves for teachers. The first series of Fuller lectures began in the fall of 1925, and the following year Freshman Week, a guidance period for newcomers, was inaugurated.

The monthly lecture course, proposed and financed by Henry J. Fuller, '95, was designed to give students opportunities to hear men of outstanding achievement in a variety of fields. The first speaker was Edward B. Craft, vice president of Bell Telephone Laboratories. He was followed by other leaders in business and finance. Another innovation, provided by Mr. Fuller in 1928, was the Yankee Ingenuity scholarship, generous award to the New England boy who should submit a project that displayed the greatest amount of the trait supposed to be possessed by Yankees. This novel idea immediately commanded widespread public interest.

In 1926, the Trustees established the policy of granting a limited number of honorary degrees. The first recipients of the title, Doctor of Engineering, were Charles G. Washburn, '75, George I. Alden, John E. Aldred, James Logan, Edward B. Craft and A. Atwater Kent, '00. In 1927, the degree was conferred upon William L. Darling, '77, Victor E. Edwards, '83, and William E. Wickenden, who shortly thereafter became president of Case School of Applied Science.

George 1. Alden lived but a few months to enjoy the wellmerited honor. He was eighty-three when he died, September 13, 1926, but he had lived to see many of his benefactions put

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