Harvey Nathaniel Davis (June 6, 1881 – December 3, 1952) was an American

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 limit ...

, teacher, the 3rd President of

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...

in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the 57th president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the year 1938-39. Davis was elected to 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 ...

in 1911 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1935.

Biography

Education and early career

Davis was born on June 6, 1881, in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, to Nathaniel French Davis and Lydia Martin Bellows. He obtained his M.A. in 1903, and his Ph.D. in physics in 1906, both from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He taught mathematics at Brown University and later returned to Harvard as a Professor of Physics and Mechanical Engineering. In 1928 the family moved to Hoboken as Davis assumed his appointment to the position of President of Stevens Institute of Technology. Davis remained well rounded, participating in activities and policy making outside of the Institute. Shortly after assuming his residency he joined the Hoboken Chamber of Commerce in 1928, becoming its Director in 1929 and Vice President from 1931 to 1933.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Davis would influence the academic and industrial side of engineering through the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was a manager of the

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

from 1929 to 1930, elevating to Vice President in 1931 until 1932 and President from 1938 to 1939. In 1930 he orchestrated a fiftieth anniversary celebration of the society in Stevens' auditorium: the exact location in which the ASME had been founded. The hallmark of the festivities was a play entitled ''Control: A Pageant of Engineering Progress'', under the direction of Harold Burris-Meyer and G.P. Baker.

Family and death

Davis married Alice Marion Rhode on June 28, 1911.

Marilyn Ogilvie Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie (born 1936) is an American historian of science known especially for her work on the history of women in science. She taught at Oklahoma Baptist University before becoming curator of the History of Science Collections and ...

Joy Harvey Joy Dorothy Harvey (born 1934) is an American historian of science. Life Harvey gained a PhD from Harvard University in 1983. She has been an associate editor of the Darwin Correspondence Project, and written a biography of Clémence Royer, Dar ...

, ''The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science'' New York: Routledge, 2000, p. 329 Their son,

Nathaniel Davis Nathaniel Davis (April 12, 1925 – May 16, 2011) was a career diplomat who served in the United States Foreign Service for 36 years. His final years were spent teaching at Harvey Mudd College, one of the Claremont Colleges. Early years Davis w ...

was born in 1925 and would go on to become a United States diplomat and professor at Harvey-Mudd College. Davis died on December 3, 1952, at

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The f ...

in Manhattan.

Work

Stevens Institute of Technology

Upon taking office, Davis affirmed his support in general engineering courses and almost immediately expanded the courses in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

by introducing a six-week surveying experience that students would complete the summer before their sophomore years at Camp Johnsonburg, a satellite of Stevens' main campus. The

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

program also incorporated more practical projects to instill a knowledge of basic principles. The Economics and Humanities Departments were also expanded and strengthened, including the development of a "Human Engineering Laboratory."Geoffrey Clark, ''History of Stevens Institute of Technology'' New Jersey: Jensen/Daniels, 2000, p. 235 This laboratory gave aptitude and vocational guidance tests to Stevens students and implemented a change in exact mathematical grades for courses to letter grades. Following the expansion in enrollment Davis was responsible for expanding the opportunities for students to dorm on campus. His presidency saw an increase from 30 campus residence to more than 300. A residence hall would be constructed on the east most part of Stevens campus in 1962 in clear view of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Graduate school

Harvey Davis oversaw the creation of graduate programs at Stevens. Done in part to retain the excellent reputation of the institute for teaching, but to embellish with it a reputation and competitiveness in the area of research.''Harvey N. Davis; Twenty Year of Achievement'' New Jersey: Stevens Institute of Technology, 1948, pp. 2–3 The implementation of such programs would contribute to part of Stevens' survival during the Great Depression and give it an additional edge as it prevailed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. One notable program of the time began in 1938; the Department of Metallurgy was created at Stevens, with Alfred Bornemann, Walter Kidde's nephew, as its head and first Professor of graduate classes in the subject.

The Great Depression

Davis ceded power to powerful alumni, rather than the trustees in the face of the Great Depression, but still created new programs and hired new faculty under his own auspices to keep the Institute progressive. Utilizing many of the connections he made as President of the ASME, Davis brought industry giants on board to develop programs and departments; notable contributors included

Walter Kidde Walter Kidde (; March 7, 1877 – February 9, 1943) was an American businessman. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1897. He was the owner of the Kidde company which manufactured fire extinguishers. His parents immigrated t ...

, Alfred Bornemann, Robert C. Stanley ("The Nickel King"), and William H. Peirce ("The Copper King"). By the end of the Great Depression in 1942, over two-thirds of alumni were participating in financial giving and the Annual Fund reached a record level of $185,000; alumni giving, along with that of trustees, ensured the survival of Stevens even in the face of eleven deficit budgets in a row.Harvey Davis, ''An Open Letter to Stevens Alumni'' Hoboken: Stevens Institute of Technology, March 1942, p. 6

World War II & War Production

Davis was nationally known at this time for his speeches and radio talks about industrial preparedness, often citing that "Production is more important to defense than combat training."Harvey Davis, ''The War Program at Stevens Institute '' Hoboken: Stevens Institute of Technology, May 1942, p. 3 After receiving $140,000 in 1941 from the US Office of Education, Stevens established a Defense Industries Training School to give intensive three-month courses to train technical personnel on the sub-professional level. The grant paid for Stevens faculty to give non-credit and tuition-free courses to 650 adult students working in defense industries.Geoffrey Clark, ''History of Stevens Institute of Technology'' New Jersey: Jensen/Daniels, 2000, p. 245 Davis also facilitated the work of A.M. Mayer with the

New York Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

to conduct and apply research in

psychoacoustics Psychoacoustics is the branch of psychophysics involving the scientific study of sound perception and audiology—how humans perceive various sounds. More specifically, it is the branch of science studying the psychological responses associated wi ...

supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. In May 1942 Stevens switched from an eighteen-week semester schedule to a sixteen-week trimester schedule. Students were required to spend two terms on campus and one term in war industry if not enrolled in the naval officer training program. Following this move, in the summer of 1942 the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

recognized the need of coordination of research on materials required in producing the weapons of war. They created the Office of Production Research and Development drafting Harvey Davis to take up the task as director.''Dr. Davis and War Production'' New Jersey: Stevens Institute of Technology, 1942, p. 7 This along with Professor Kenneth Davidson's clout as a member of the

National Defense Research Committee The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the Un ...

and

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...

, the predecessor to

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 ...

, the two brought tremendous dollars to Stevens. The Davidson towing tank was heavily subsidized by the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and was bigger than any Navy or Allied test tank in existence. Stevens emerged from the wars years with increased reputation as an engineering college. This resulted in an influx of veterans enrolling upon returning from the war; undergraduate enrollment more than doubled, from 600 to 1400.

References

External links

Harvey Nathaniel Davis
at Graces Guide to British Industrial History {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Harvey N. 1881 births 1952 deaths American mechanical engineers Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard University faculty Presidents of Stevens Institute of Technology Presidents of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Brown University faculty 20th-century American academics Members of the American Philosophical Society Educators from Providence, Rhode Island