Mortimer Elwyn Cooley (March 28, 1855 – August 25, 1944) was an American
mechanical
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
and
consulting engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
, US Naval officer, politician, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, who served as president of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1919–1920.
Biography
Youth, education and early navy career
Cooley was born in
Canandaigua, New York
Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex ...
as the son of Albert Blake Colle and Achsah (Griswold) Coole. After the local district schools and the
Canandaigua Academy he attended the Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Maryland, now the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
, where he graduated in 1878. At the academy Mortimer served on two practical cruises aboard and .
[Burke A. Hinsdale and Isaac Newton Demmon, "Mortimer Elwyn Cooley," in: ''History of the University of Michigan.'' Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1906, pp., 263-264.]
After his graduation in 1878 he first served on , cruising the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
and
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
seas, together with
Ira Nelson Hollis. In the year 1879–1880 he cruised the
North Atlantic on the screw gunboat . In 1880–1881 he was assistant at the Bureau of Steam Engineering in the
Navy Department, and in 1881 was appointed Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, lecturing Steam Engineering and Iron Shipbuilding.
Later career
After his resignation from the Navy in 1885, he continued working as Professor of at the University of Michigan. Since 1904 he was also Dean of its College of Engineering and Architecture, until his retirement in 1928. Beside his academic career he also continued to work as mechanical and consulting engineer for various military and civil offices.
Cooley was elected fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
,. He served as president of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1919–1920, and also as president of the
American Society of Civil Engineers
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
, and the Federated American Engineering Societies, later the American Engineering Council. in 1930 he was awarded the
Washington Award
The Washington Award is an American engineering award.
Since 1916 it has been given annually for "accomplishments which promote the happiness, comfort, and well-being of humanity". It is awarded jointly by the following engineering societies: Amer ...
.
In 1924, Cooley ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, but lost to incumbent
James Couzens.
He was married to Carolyn Elizabeth Moseley.
Selected publications
* Cooley, Mortimer E.
Annual report[s, and Final report] of the Block Singal and Train Control Board to the Interstate Commerce Commission'' Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1909-12.
* Cooley, Mortimer E.
Report on proposed Belle Isle bridge by the Consulting board, Bell Isle bridge division of engineering and construction, Department of public works'' Detroit, 1918.
* Cooley, C. M. E., and Mortimer Elwyn. ''The Cooley genealogy, the descendants of Ensign Benjamin Cooley, an early settler of Springfield and Longmeadow, Massachusetts; and other members of the family in America.'' Rutland VT, The Tuttle Pub. Co (1940).
* Mortimer E. Cooley & Vivien B. Keatley.
Scientific blacksmith, by Mortimer E. Cooley, with the assistance of Vivien B. Keatley'' Ann Arbor, Univ. of Michigan Press, 1947.
References
External links
University of Michigan
Mortimer Elwyn Cooley University of Michigan library
State of Michigan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Mortimer Elwyn
1855 births
1944 deaths
American mechanical engineers
19th-century American inventors
20th-century American inventors
American non-fiction writers
United States Naval Academy alumni
University of Michigan faculty
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
People from Canandaigua, New York
Presidents of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Engineers from New York (state)