Thayer School
March 1969 in Hanover finds us with three feet of snow on the campus and the best skiing in this region in years. Bill Kimball '29 and Margaret and the Dana Low'54 family were seen at the Dartmouth Skiway in early March along with many of the Thayer faculty and students. There have been, no doubt, quite a few other Thayer alumni here enjoying the beautiful "spring" weather. Professor Ed Brown '35 was selected a Selectman of the Town of Hanover, a continuation of the long, devoted service he has rendered this community.
Thorndike Saville '15, graduate and longtime friend of Thayer School, died February 21. Thorndike was a leading water supply, hydrology and coastal engineer, as well as one of the foremost engineering educators in the past four decades.
Professor Carl Long will present a paper titled "Transverse Frequency Analysis of Complete Spherical Shells" April 14 at the A.S.C.E. Structural Engineering Meeting in Louisville, Ky. Bill and Margaret Kimball also expect to attend this meeting. DickJones '68 visited Hanover and Thayer in mid-February while on a vacation from the Coast Guard. Dick made up for his recent months of sea duty by hiking and mountain climbing in New Hampshire.
The October 1968 issue of the Sun News provides us with a most interesting account of a study of social consequence HarveyWelker '68 is engaged in. Harvey says, "I think that too many engineers have been just slide-rule experts. The engineers' inventions have affected our culture as no other profession's have." Feeling that engineers have a. social responsibility, as a result, Harvey is the chairman of a study of student and parent attitudes toward public schools sponsored by the Education Committee of Philadelphia's Area-Wide Council of the Federal Model Cities Program. His major objectives are the development of more effective education for the youth of the nation and, particularly, the selection of criteria for evaluation which reflect, better, the students' own position and needs. Harvey originally gave up his evenings and weekends to this project; however, he is now on leave from Sun Oil and working full time with his salary paid half by Sun and half by the School Board. This is a fine example of an engineer's contribution to his community.
Dean Myron Tribus has been heavily involved for the past six months as chairman of a distinguished advisory panel of nationally recognized housing experts named by the U.S. Department of Commerce to study means by which government and industry can work toward satisfying the growing housing needs of the country. This special Commerce Technical Advisory Board will assist the Department of Commerce in meeting the goals of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. It will "investigate the requirements necessary for stimulating an industrial response to meet the nation's housing needs; identify opportunities for technological improvements, and examine barriers to the adoption of these improvements; propose ways in which the Government may facilitate the adoption of worthwhile alternatives." On another front, Dean Tribus has been honored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers which awarded him its 1968 certificate of appreciation "for his contributions to the literature on Heat Transfer, particularly for pioneer contributions on the effect of Variable Wall Temperatures on Heat Transfer."
Warren Loomis '63 has written Thayer School's Associate Dean George Colligan, "I've accepted a job, have a new son, and Climax wants my research results published soon." Warren has now returned to Hanover to join the Time Share Corporation, a relatively new and rapidly growing enterprise based on modern computer technology and use. George and Marcia Colligan, incidentally, had several lazy weeks in the Virgin Islands in January.
The feature, "Closeup", in the New York Post of February 5, 1969 presented "Master Builder" Frederic A. Davidson Jr. '41, the new Commissioner of the Department of Public Works for New York City. Rick has the responsibility of trying to meet schedules on New York's myriad construction projects, and to supervise the operation of some 50 public buildings and 52 non-toll bridges. He somehow finds time to play golf, work in the garden, and, until recently, was a member of the New Rochelle Board of Education. Our proud congratulations, Rick.
Speaking of New York and education, Thayer Professors Al Converse, Tom Piatkowski, and Fred Manasse joined a group of twelve Thayer students at Columbia University for the Ivy League Engineering Conference. Al Converse presented a paper titled "Towards a More Humane Environment" and the Dartmouth engineering students participated actively in the Conference discussions.
