Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, a railroad executive. The school was incorporated in 1871. The Sheffield Scientific School helped establish the model for the transition of U.S. higher education from a classical model to one which incorporated both the sciences and the liberal arts. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, however, its curriculum gradually became completely integrated with Yale College. "The Sheff" ceased to function as a separate entity in 1956.

History

After technological developments in the early nineteenth century, such as the

electric telegraph Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

, an interest was fostered in teaching applied science at universities. Harvard established the

Lawrence Scientific School The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is the engineering school within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, offering degrees in engineering and applied sciences to graduate students admitted ...

in 1846 and Dartmouth began the Chandler Scientific School in 1852. The stage was set at Yale for the transition in education beginning in 1846, when professorships of ''agricultural chemistry'' (

John Pitkin Norton John Pitkin Norton (July 19, 1822 – September 5, 1852) was an educator, agricultural chemist, and author. Biography Norton was born in Albany, New York, in 1822, where his father John Treadwell Norton, a successful farmer and engineer, owned a ...

) and ''practical chemistry'' ( Benjamin Silliman Jr.) were established. In 1847, the School of Applied Chemistry became part of a newly created ''Department of Philosophy and the Arts'' (later, the

Yale Graduate School The Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the graduate school of Yale University. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest graduate school in North America, and was the first North American graduate school to confer a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D ...

). Classes and labs were hosted in the Second President's House on Yale's

Old Campus The Old Campus is the oldest area of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the principal residence of Yale College freshmen and also contains offices for the academic departments of Classics, English, History, Comparative Li ...

until funding and a suitable facility could be found. Norton died in 1852 and was replaced by John Addison Porter. Applied chemistry was followed in 1852 by a professorship of ''civil engineering'' (

William Augustus Norton {{infobox person , name = William A. Norton , image = William A Norton portrait.jpg , alt = , caption = Portrait of Norton at Yale College , birth_name = William Augustus Norton , birth_date = , birth_ ...

) establishing a school of engineering. These programs made up the Yale Scientific School.

In 1853 and 1854, science and engineering courses were listed in the Yale College course catalog as offered by the Yale Scientific School. Porter elicited help from his father-in-law, Joseph Earl Sheffield, and in 1858, Sheffield donated over US$100,000 to purchase the old Medical Department building for the scientific school. This gift included two newly-renovated wings within the building. The old

Yale Medical School The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

building on the northeast corner of Grove and Prospect Streets was renovated and renamed (South) Sheffield Hall. (It was demolished in 1931 and was on the current site of ''Sterling Tower, Sheffield Hall and Strathcona Hall'' (SSS).) Sheffield's building reinforced the division of

Hillhouse Avenue Hillhouse Avenue is a street in New Haven, Connecticut, famous for its many nineteenth century mansions, including the president's house at Yale University. Both Charles Dickens and Mark Twain have described it as "the most beautiful street in Amer ...

into an upper, residential section, and a lower section devoted to education. In 1861, the school became the Sheffield Scientific School in recognition of his generosity devoted to "the promotion of the study of the natural, physical, and mathematical sciences." Sheffield was one of Yale's greatest benefactors and continued to support the school throughout his life, giving a total of about US$500,000. Yale also received US$591,000 from his will as well as his house, the Sheffield mansion, designed and originally owned by

Ithiel Town Ithiel Town (October 3, 1784 – June 13, 1844) was an American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the f ...

(demolished in 1957).Loomis Havemeyer, Samuel Dudley, The Engineering Heritage at Yale, 1852-1957, 1959. The school also benefited from the

Morrill Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or s ...

starting in 1863 and an agricultural course was begun. Land grant status, however, was transferred to the Storrs Agricultural School in 1893 after arguments by the state grange that the school was not a proper "farm school". A series of lectures, later known as the ''Sheffield Lectures'' was instituted by the school in 1866. Professor

Othniel Charles Marsh Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was an American professor of Paleontology in Yale College and President of the National Academy of Sciences. He was one of the preeminent scientists in the field of paleontology. Among ...

of the school led four Yale scientific expeditions in search of fossils in 1870-3.

Education and student life

The Sheffield School innovated with an undergraduate course offering science and mathematics as well as economics, English, geography, history, modern languages, philology and political science. Sheffield also pioneered graduate education in the United States, granting the first Ph.D. in America in 1861 as well as the first engineering Ph.D. in America to Josiah Willard Gibbs in 1863, and the first geology Ph.D. to William North Rice in 1867. Unlike Yale College students at the time, Sheffield students had "no dorms, no required chapel, no disciplinary marks and no proctors".Kelly, Brooks Mather, ''Yale: A History'', Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 1974. The Academical Department of Yale (''Ac'') and Sheffield (''Sheff'') became rivals. Loomis Havemeyer, alumnus and registrar at Sheffield, stated: "During the second half of the nineteenth century Yale College and Sheffield Scientific School, separated by only a few streets, were two separate countries on the same planet." The ''Ac'' students studied liberal arts and would look down on the practical ''Sheff'' students. Sheffield had its own student

secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

(aka final clubs or senior societies, some also known by their Greek letters) including the Colony Club, 1848 (now Berzelius), the Cloister, 1863 (now

Book and Snake The Society of Book and Snake (incorporated as the Stone Trust Corporation) is the fourth oldest secret society at Yale University and was the first society to induct women into its delegation. Book and Snake was founded at the Sheffield Scientif ...

), St. Anthony Hall, 1867 (now a 3-year society, also called Delta Psi), St. Elmo, 1889 (also a senior society), as well as Franklin Hall, 1865 (

Theta Xi Theta Xi () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on April 29, 1864. Of all the social fraternities today, Theta Xi was the only one founded during the Civil War. Its ...

), York Hall, 1877 (Chi Phi), Sachem Hall, 1893 (

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#List of Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in ...

), and Vernon Hall, 1908 (now

Myth and Sword Established in 1908, The Order of Myth and Sword is the last secret society founded in the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The organisation was first formed as "Vernon Hall", a three-year society bearing th ...

). The Yale Scientific Magazine was founded at Sheffield in 1894, the first student magazine devoted to the sciences.

Other buildings

In 1872–73, Sheffield Scientific School's first new building, North Sheffield Hall was built, designed by Josiah Cleaveland Cady, on what had been the gardens of the Town-Sheffield mansion. This was followed by Winchester Hall (1892) and Sheffield Chemical (1894-5, J. Cleaveland Cady). Of these, only the latter, Sheffield Chemical, is still standing, renovated and renamed Arthur K. Watson Hall. Becton Laboratory (designed by

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most i ...

, 1970) now stands on the site of North Sheffield and Winchester Halls (demolished in 1967). Further expansion brought Kirtland Hall (1902, Kirtland Cutter), Hammond Laboratory (1904, W. Gedney Beatty), Leet Oliver Hall (1908,

Charles C. Haight Charles Coolidge Haight (March 17, 1841 – February 9, 1917) was an American architect who practiced in New York City. He designed most of the buildings at Columbia College's now-demolished old campus on Madison Avenue, and designed numerou ...

), Mason Laboratory (1911, Charles C. Haight) and Dunham Laboratory (1912, Henry Morse; addition 1958, Douglas Orr), all still standing except Hammond which was razed in 2009 to make way for two new residential colleges. The Vanderbilt-Sheffield Dormitories and Towers were built by

from 1903 to 1906, and Haight's chapter house St. Anthony Hall was built in 1913. Byers Hall, designed by Hiss and Weekes and built in 1903, served as a center for social and religious life. These buildings are now incorporated into

Silliman College Silliman College is a residential college at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, named for scientist and Yale professor Benjamin Silliman. It opened in September 1940 as the last of the original ten residential colleges, and contains bu ...

, and St. Anthony Hall still owns its building, which completes the College and Wall Street corner of the Silliman College Quadrangle. In 2006-7, Silliman underwent a major renovation. Also, in 1913, land in East Lyme was purchased for a field engineering camp (now the Yale Outdoor Education Center).

Reorganization

During the 1918-1919 reorganization of the educational structure of Yale University, the three years "select" course at Sheffield Scientific School was eliminated and a four-year course of study for those studying "professional science" and "engineering" was approved, while graduate courses were transferred to the Graduate School, leaving only undergraduate courses taught at Sheffield Scientific School from 1919 to 1945, coexisting with Yale College's science programs. The centennial was celebrated in 1947 with the Silliman lectures given by Ernest O. Lawrence, Linus Pauling, W. M. Stanley and George Wells Beadle. The first degree of

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

was awarded in 1922 to the graduating class of the Sheffield Scientific School. In 1932, the School of Engineering was reestablished and Sheffield Scientific School engineering classes were transferred to the new school. In 1945, the Sheffield Scientific School resumed its original function of graduate level instruction in science. Undergraduate courses for the Bachelor of Science degree were transferred to Yale College, and undergraduate courses for a Bachelor of Science in industrial administration were transferred to the School of Engineering. This transition occurred gradually, through the influence of "aggressive, powerful alumni" (including Edwin Oviatt, editor of the ''Yale Alumni Weekly'') who "took control out of President Hadley's hands and forced a radical reorganization of Yale". In 1956, the Sheffield Scientific School was terminated as an active school. The Board of Trustees still exists to oversee the Sheffield Scientific School property and meet legal requirements. The school's faculty is defined as teachers of science to graduate students under the Division of Science. Engineering teaching and research is now conducted within the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

Directors

George Jarvis Brush George Jarvis Brush (December 15, 1831 – February 5, 1912) was an American mineralogist and academic administrator who spent most of his career at Yale University in the Sheffield Scientific School. Career Brush was born in Brooklyn, New York o ...

(Professor of Mineralogy) was Director of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1872 to 1898. *

Russell Henry Chittenden Russell Henry Chittenden (18 February 1856 – 26 December 1943) was an American physiological chemist. He conducted pioneering research in the biochemistry of digestion and nutrition. Early life and education He was born in New Haven, Connectic ...

(Professor of Physiological Chemistry) was Director of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1898 to 1922. * Charles Hyde Warren ( Sterling Professor of Geology) was Dean of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1922 to 1945. * Edmund Ware Sinnott (Sterling Professor of Botany) was Director of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1945 to 1956.

Notable faculty

* Charles Emerson Beecher, paleontologist, member of the governing board *

William Henry Brewer William Henry Brewer (September 14, 1828 – November 2, 1910) was an American botanist. He worked on the first California Geological Survey and was the first Chair of Agriculture at Yale University's Sheffield Scientific School. Biography Will ...

, botanist, first chair of agriculture, as well as a graduate from the first class of the school * Daniel Cady Eaton, botanist *

Daniel Coit Gilman Daniel Coit Gilman (; July 6, 1831 – October 13, 1908) was an American educator and academic. Gilman was instrumental in founding the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale College, and subsequently served as the second president of the University ...

, geographer, helped plan and raise funds * Richard F. Humphreys (1911–1968), physicist and author, president of Cooper Union * Thomas Lounsbury, American literary historian, professor of English and librarian at Sheff * Chester S. Lyman (1814–1890), industrial mechanics; inventor of surveying and astronomical instruments * William Crosby Marshall (1870-1934), Mechanical engineer, Professor of Machine Design and Descriptive Geometry and author. *

Lafayette Mendel Lafayette Benedict Mendel (February 5, 1872 – December 9, 1935) was an American biochemist known for his work in nutrition, with longtime collaborator Thomas B. Osborne, including the study of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, lysine and tryptophan. ...

, biochemist * Mansfield Merriman (1848–1925), civil engineering; author of "A Treatise on Hydraulics and on the Strength of Materials", 1877 *

, chemist, faculty member of Yale's department of education in applied science, which gave rise to Sheffield Scientific School. *

, civil engineer, founding faculty member * John Addison Porter, chemist * Charles Brinckerhoff Richards, engineer chair of Mechanical Engineering from 1884–1909 * Benjamin Silliman Jr., chemist, founding faculty member * William Petit Trowbridge (1828–1892), mechanical engineering; published the first cantilever bridge design; Member, National Academy of Science *

Addison Emery Verrill Addison Emery Verrill (February 9, 1839 – December 10, 1926) was an American invertebrate zoologist, museum curator and university professor. Life Verrill was born on February 9, 1839 in Greenwood, Maine, the son of George Washington Verrill ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

Francis Amasa Walker Francis Amasa Walker (July 2, 1840 – January 5, 1897) was an American economist, statistician, journalist, educator, academic administrator, and an officer in the Union Army. Walker was born into a prominent Boston family, the son of the econo ...

, economist, third president of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

William Dwight Whitney William Dwight Whitney (February 9, 1827June 7, 1894) was an American linguist, philologist, and lexicographer known for his work on Sanskrit grammar and Vedic philology as well as his influential view of language as a social institution. He was ...

, organized and taught in the department of modern languages; member of the governing board

Notable alumni

* Joseph Wright Alsop IV (1876–1953), politician and insurance executive; father of

Joseph Alsop Joseph Wright Alsop V (October 10, 1910 – August 28, 1989) was an American journalist and syndicated newspaper columnist from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was an influential journalist and top insider in Washington from 1945 to the late 196 ...

Wilbur Olin Atwater Wilbur Olin Atwater (May 3, 1844 – September 22, 1907) was an American chemist known for his studies of human nutrition and metabolism, and is considered the father of modern nutrition research and education. He is credited with developing ...

(1844–1907), chemist known for his studies of human nutrition and metabolism *

Clifford Whittingham Beers Clifford Whittingham Beers (March 30, 1876 – July 9, 1943) was the founder of the American mental hygiene movement. Biography Beers was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Ida and Robert Beers on March 30, 1876. He was one of five children, all ...

, mental health pioneer * Jules Blankfein, Class of 1921, physician & financier; founder, Physicians' Hospital, New York; uncle of Lloyd Blankfein *

William Edward Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer who founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which a year later was renamed to The Boeing Company, now the largest exporter in the United S ...

, aviator *

John Vernou Bouvier III John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III ( ; May 19, 1891 – August 3, 1957) was an American Wall Street stockbroker and socialite. He was the father of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and of socialite Lee Radziwill, and was the father-in-law ...

, stockbroker and socialite; father of

Jackie Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...

, First Lady * Chester Bowles, American politician * Bradford Brinton, engineer; collector of fine Western art, which eventually resulted in the primary collection of The Brinton Museum * J. Twing Brooks, U. S. congressman *

Malcolm Greene Chace Malcolm Greene Chace (March 12, 1875 – July 16, 1955) was an American financier and textile industrialist who was instrumental in bringing electric power to New England. He was a pioneer of the sport of ice hockey in the United States, and was ...

(1875–1955), class of 1896. One of the founders of the Yale hockey team, American financier, textile industrialist, and tennis champion * Henry Boardman Conover, ornithologist * Arthur Louis Day, geophysicist and volcanologist * Franklin M. Doolittle (1893–1979), Class of 1915, radio pioneer * Charles Benjamin Dudley, chemist * Isadore Dyer, physician * Lee de Forest, electronics inventor * Francis I. du Pont, chemist * Pete Falsey, Major League baseball player * Joseph W. Frazer, automobile magnate *

James Terry Gardiner James Terry Gardiner (May 6, 1842 – September 10, 1912) was an American surveyor and engineer. Biography Gardiner was born in Troy, New York, the son of Daniel Gardiner and Ann Terry Gardiner. He briefly attended Rensselaer Polytechnic In ...

, surveyor and engineer * Josiah Willard Gibbs, mathematical physicist and physical chemist * T. Keith Glennan, first

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

administrator * Harold L. Green, chain store founder * John Campbell Greenway, American mining and steel executive, General, U.S. Army * Harry Frank Guggenheim, businessman, philanthropist *

John Hays Hammond John Hays Hammond (March 31, 1855 – June 8, 1936) was an American mining engineer, diplomat, and philanthropist. He amassed a sizable fortune before the age of 40. An early advocate of deep mining, Hammond was given complete charge of Ce ...

, mining engineer, philanthropist, faculty member. He endowed a program at Sheff in mining and metallurgy and accepted a professorship. He contributed $100,000 for the construction of Hammond Laboratory, which is named for him. * John Hays Hammond Jr., inventor, “father of radio control’’ *

John Bell Hatcher John Bell Hatcher (October 11, 1861 – July 3, 1904) was an American paleontologist and fossil hunter known as the "king of collectors" and best known for discovering ''Torosaurus'' and ''Triceratops'', two genera of dinosaurs described by O ...

, paleontologist * Daniel Webster Hering, physicist * Robert J. Huber, Michigan politician, businessman * Tony Hulman (1924) businessman, owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway 1945–1977 * Edward Hopkins Jenkins (1850–1931), agricultural chemist; director of the

Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) is the Connecticut state government's agricultural experiment station, a state government component that engages in scientific research and public outreach in agriculture and related fields. I ...

(1900–1923) * Treat Baldwin Johnson, chemist * Clarence King, American geologist and mountaineer * Charles N. Lowrie, American landscape architect * Duane Lyman, architect *

, paleontologist *Champion Mathewson, metallurgist *

Truman Handy Newberry Truman Handy Newberry (November 5, 1864 – October 3, 1945) was an American businessman and political figure. He served as the Secretary of Navy between 1908 and 1909. He was a Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan between 1919 and 1922. Bio ...

, American businessman and politician * Thomas Wharton Phillips Jr., U. S. Congressman * William North Rice, geologist and theologian * Stanley Pickett Rockwell (1907), metallurgist and co-inventor of the Rockwell hardness test * William Thompson Sedgwick, bacteriologist and public health scientist * George B. Selden, lawyer and inventor *

Sidney Irving Smith Sidney Irving Smith (February 18, 1843 in Norway, Maine – May 6, 1926 in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American zoologist. Private life Sidney Smith was the son of Elliot Smith and Lavinia Barton. His brother in law was Addison Emery Verrill. ...

, zoologist *

James Graham Phelps Stokes James Graham Phelps Stokes, known as Graham Stokes (March 18, 1872 – April 8, 1960) was an American socialist, railroad president, political activist, and philanthropist. He was president of the Nevada Central Railroad for forty years. He is be ...

, philanthropist, publicist, and political activist *

Zhan Tianyou Zhan Tianyou/Chan T'ien-yu (; 26 April 1861 – 24 April 1919), or Jeme Tien-Yow as he called himself in English, based on the Cantonese pronunciation, was a pioneering Chinese railroad engineer. Educated in the United States, he was the chief ...

, Chinese railroad engineer, "father of China's railroad" * Juan Trippe, founder and CEO of

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

* Yamakawa Kenjirō, Japanese samurai of Aizu Domain, member of

Byakkotai The was a group of around 305 young teenage samurai of the Aizu Domain, who fought in the Boshin War (1868–1869) on the side of the Tokugawa shogunate. History The Byakkotai was part of Aizu's four-unit military, formed in April 1868 in the ...

, physicist, member of the House of Peers * Thomas Yawkey, owner of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

for 44 years

References

External links

Yale Engineering through the Centuries
{{Authority control Yale University schools 01 Science education in the United States History of education in the United States Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science Educational institutions established in 1847 1847 establishments in Connecticut