Ernest Payson Goodrich (May 7, 1874 – October 7, 1955) was an American pioneer in urban planning and engineering, the first president of the

Institute of Transportation Engineers The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobility and safety needs. ITE facilitates the application of technology and ...

, and the third head coach of the

Michigan State Normal School Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

football team (now Eastern Michigan University).

Early years

Born in

Decatur Township, Michigan Decatur Township is a civil township of Van Buren County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,916 at the 2000 census. The village of Decatur is located within the township. Communities * Roth Valley is an unincorporated commun ...

, in 1874, Goodrich first attended

and then the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in civil engineering.

Coaching career

Ernest Goodrich was the third head football coach for the

football team (now called the Eastern Michigan University Eagles), located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He held that position during the 1893 season, the third season the school fielded a football team. His coaching record at Michigan State Normal was 4–2. In addition to coaching duties, the 1893 yearbook refers to Goodrich as the first gym instructor to begin "systematic training for definite ends."

Engineering

Goodrich was active in transportation, planning, and engineering administration. Early in his career he was a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

for the United States Navy for four years. In 1905 he was the eighth recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Collingwood Prize, awarded to young engineers (under age 35) who make contributions to engineering knowledge. From 1910 until 1916 he was a consulting engineer to the Manhattan Department of Public Works. Later in his career he worked as a consultant in private practice and he drafted city plans for Huangpu and

Nanking, China Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China regi ...

, and port facility plans for Huangpu and for Bogota, Colombia. He was a planning consultant for the cities of Cincinnati, Ohio,

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, Newark, New Jersey,

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, and New Haven, Connecticut. In 1930, he was a founding member of the Institute of Traffic Engineers (now the

) and from 1930 to 1932 he served as the organization's first president. In 1951 he was the president of the American Institute of Consulting Engineers.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodrich, Ernest 1874 births 1955 deaths American civil engineers Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Eastern Michigan University alumni University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni People from Van Buren County, Michigan