Skip to main content

Stratton, Samuel Wesley, 1861-1931

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1861 July 18 - 1931 October 18

Biography

Samuel Wesley Stratton, 1861-1931, B.S. 1886, Illinois Industrial University at Urbana (later the University of Illinois), taught mathematics, physics, and electrical engineering at the University of Illinois, then physics at the University of Chicago, rising to the rank of professor in 1900. In 1899 he was asked to head the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey’s Office of Weights and Measures, where he developed the plan for the establishment of a bureau of standards. The law establishing the National Bureau of Standards passed in March 1901 and President McKinley appointed Stratton its first director; he remained there for twenty-one years. In January 1923 he became the eighth president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served for seven years; he then became the first chairman of the MIT Corporation.

*Prepared by the Institute Archives, MIT Libraries (November 1995)

Occupations

Found in 5 Collections and/or Records:

Dugald C. Jackson papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MC-0005
Abstract The collection documents the career of Dugald C. Jackson, a member of the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1907 to 1935. Correspondence, reports, and other materials document Jackson's years as head of the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering, his innovations in the department and the undergraduate curriculum, the establishment of a cooperative education program (course 6-A), and his work on MIT committees. His work as a consulting engineer and inventor is...
Dates: 1878 - 1952
Found in: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections / Dugald C. Jackson papers

John Ripley Freeman papers

 Collection — Box 137: [Barcode: 39080032131051]
Identifier: MC-0051
Abstract The collection documents the activities of John Ripley Freeman, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and later a member of the MIT Corporation. Freeman worked as a consulting engineer for almost sixty years, 1876-1932. Project files containing correspondence, photographs, drafts and published reports, maps, diaries, computation and data, clippings, reprints and transcripts of testimony record his work on over 100 projects in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and...
Dates: Bulk, 1876-1932 1827-1952; Majority of material found within 1876 - 1932
Found in: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections / John Ripley Freeman papers

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Inaugural Committee records

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: AC-0036
Scope and Contents of the Collection The collection consists of records of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) president inaugural committees since 1900. The records are primarily documents with some photographs and memorabilia. The inaugurations of Henry Pritchett, Richard Maclaurin, Ernest F. Nichols, and Samuel Wesley Stratton are documented in notebooks which contain minutes of committee and subcommittee meetings and copies of inaugural addresses. The inaugurations of James R. Killian, Julius A. Stratton,...
Dates: 1900 - 2005
Found in: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Inaugural Committee records

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the President records

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: AC-0013
Abstract The collection documents the administration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the responsibilities and activities of the Institute's presidents between 1897 and 1930. This was a period of enormous growth and development of the Institute, which was chartered in 1861 and graduated its first class of undergraduates in 1868. There is correspondence about the proposed merger with Harvard University in 1904 and a proposed alliance in 1911. The purchase of land, the planning...
Dates: 1883 - 1941; Majority of material found within 1897 - 1931
Found in: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the President records

Samuel W. Stratton papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MC-0008
Abstract Samuel Wesley Stratton was the eighth president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), serving from 1923 to 1930. In 1931 he became the first chairman of the MIT Corporation. Earlier, as head of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey’s Office of Weights and Measures, he developed the plan for a bureau of standards. The bill establishing the National Bureau of Standards was passed in 1901, and Stratton served as its first director for twenty-one years. The bulk of the collection...
Dates: 1881 - 1934
Found in: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections / Samuel W. Stratton papers

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Get Reference Help | Submit a Correction
Privacy | Permissions | Accessibility

Metadata content created by MIT Libraries is CC BY-NC, unless otherwise noted. Notify us of copyright concerns.