PRESIDENT'S REPORT

FOR 1905-1906

To the Board of Trustees:

The President of the University has the honor to submit to the Board of Trustees the following Report for the year 1905-1906. The Report covers the period from September 30th, 1905, to September 30th, 1906.

TRUSTEES AND FACULTIES

On the 19th of November Professor John Lewis Morris, Sibley professor of practical mechanics and machine construction, emeritus, and lecturer on practical mechanics and machine construction, passed away after a brief illness. He was one of the first professors appointed at the opening of Cornell University and he had been superannuated on a retiring allowance in 1903. During his long service to the University he had distinguished himself by sturdy independence, by fidelity to duty, and by deep and wide sympathy with students, especially students of narrow means, many of whom were recipients of timely and generous. pecuniary aid from their devoted teacher. The civic community, the church, and institutions of charity and philanthropy, have also lost in Professor Morris a wise friend and a faithful servant.

On the 19th of August Mr. Samuel Bates Turner, '80,

a trustee of the University since 1904, died at his home in Ithaca after a brief illness. A man of gentle nature, of refined spirit, of literary tastes, he was also a man of affairs and a patriotic citizen. During his short tenure of office, he was conscientious in the discharge of all his duties and his counsels, though seldom given and always diffidently, evinced a sound judgment and a kind heart.

Vacancies in the Board of Trustees were filled in October by the election of Messrs. George C. Boldt and H. H. Westinghouse, both of the City of New York. Mr. Westinghouse was an old student, and Mr. Boldt's son, George C. Boldt, jr., is a graduate of the class of 1905. In June the term of the following trustees expired and they were re-elected, namely; Messrs. Andrew Carnegie, George C. Boldt, Frank H. Hiscock, and George R. Williams. Mr. Charles H. Blood was also re-elected by the alumni to succeed himself and the remaining alumni trusteeship was filled by the election of Mr. James Harvey Edwards, C. E. '88. The State Grange elected Mr. F. E. Dawley as their trustee.

No professor has during the year resigned his chair to to accept appointment in another university, though strong inducements were offered elsewhere to some members of the faculty. A university undoubtedly gains by permanence and continuity of service in the instructing staff. To find and to retain first-class men is the principal duty of those charged with its administration. On account of the limitation of its means and the variety of claims to consideration the task is one of unusual difficulty, yet on its successful performance depends the true welfare of a university.

The following new appointments to professorships were made in the course of the year :

EUGENE ELWIN HASKELL was appointed Director of the College of Civil Engineering and professor of experi

mental hydraulics. Director Haskell received the degree of B.C.E. in 1879 and of C.E. in 1890 at Cornell. Since graduation he has been occupied chiefly with government work. He was first employed with the United States Lake Survey at Detroit. In 1880 he entered the service of the Mississippi River Commission at St. Louis where he rose to the position of assistant engineer. In 1885 Professor Haskell entered upon an eight years' term of service with the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and assisted in investigations in New York Harbor and elsewhere. In 1893 he was secured to reorganize the U. S. Lake Survey with headquarters at Detroit. Since 1893, Director Haskell has done some highly important and useful work in investigating the water level of the Great Lakes.

FRANK THILLY was appointed professor in the Sage school of philosophy. Professor Thilly was born August 18th, 1865, at Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from the Woodward High School, Cincinnati, in 1883 and from the University of Cincinnati with the degree of A. B. in 1887. He was a student of philosophy and classical philology at the University of Berlin, 1887-1889, and received the degrees of A. M. and Ph.D. at Heidelberg in 1891. Professor Thilly was a fellow in philosophy, 1891-1892, and an instructor in logic and history of philosophy, 1892-1893, at Cornell University. He then spent eleven years as professor of philosophy at the University of Missouri, and from 1904 to 1906 was professor of psychology at Princeton University. He has written numerous articles on philosophy and psychology and is a member of the American Philosophical Association.

GEORGE ROBERT MC DERMOTT was appointed professor of naval architecture. Upon the completion in 1879 of a scientific course of study at the Andersonian Institute (now the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College),

Glasgow, Scotland, Professor McDermott entered the employ of the Clydebank Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. After a service of over three years in the shops and drafting offices, he was commissioned by the firm to organize a scientific and designing department, as a separate branch of the works. He acted as chief of that department and was promoted in 1887 to the position of naval architect and assistant shipyard manager. He served in this capacity until 1889, when he accepted a position as naval architect and assistant general manager with the Southampton Naval Works. In the fall of 1891 he was called to an assistant professorship of naval architecture in Cornell University, which office he has held up to the time of his present appointment. Professor McDermott is a member of the Institute of Naval Architects, London, the Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders, Scotland, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, New York, and the American Society of Naval Engineers, Washington.

WILLARD WINFIELD ROWLEE was appointed professor of botany. Professor Rowlee graduated from Cornell University with the degree of B. L. in 1888. He was assistant in botany under the late Professor Prentiss in 1888-1889, and was promoted to an instructorship in 1889. He held this position until 1893 when he was given the degree of D.Sc. on account of research in botany and entomology, and was appointed assistant professor of botany. Professor Rowlee has published numerous papers on the taxonomy and histology of plants in different periodicals, and has read papers before the several scientific societies. He is a member of the Botanical Society of America, and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Rowlee has been superintendent of the university grounds since 1895 and has always advocated the development of the university campus as a factor in the education of students.

THOMAS LYTTLETON LYON was appointed professor of experimental agronomy in the Federal Experiment Station. Professor Lyon graduated from Cornell with the degree of B.S.A. in 1891, and received the degree of Ph.D. from Cornell in 1904. He was an instructor in chemistry in the University of Nebraska, 1891-1893. During the year 1893-1894 he studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1894-1895 he was an instructor in the University of Nebraska and assistant chemist of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1895 Dr. Lyon was made assistant professor of agriculture at the University of Nebraska and in 1899 he was advanced to a full professorship and to the associate directorship of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. Professor Lyon is the author of a large number of bulletins and agricultural publications.

CHARLES LANGDON GIBSON was appointed professor of clinical surgery. Professor Gibson was born in Boston in 1864. He received his preliminary education in Europe. His higher instruction was obtained at Harvard University where he secured the degree of A.B. in 1886 and M.D. in 1889. In 1900 Dr. Gibson was appointed clinical instructor in the diseases of the genito-urinary system in the Cornell University Medical College at New York City. In 1902 he was advanced to an instructorship in surgery, and in 1904 he became a lecturer on surgery. Professor Gibson is attending surgeon to St. Luke's Hospital and to the City Hospital of New York City. He is also a member of the American Surgical Association, the American Society of Genito-urinary Surgeons and the American Society of Clinical Surgery.

MR. C. V. P. YOUNG, since 1904 acting professor of physical culture and director of the gymnasium, was given a permanent appointment.