Now, back the scrapbook and more pre-registration period articles. On September 13th, 1939 Ethel introduced to her Chronicle readers the new faculty hired at Rice for the upcoming academic year. The instructors mentioned briefly at the end of the article form the previous day, take center stage in this article, though we don't learn very much more about them except who they replaced.
NINE FELLOWS 3 INSTRUCTORS NAMED AT RICE
September 13, 1939
Dr. Edward S. Deevey, Jr., Walter F. Scofield and Carl R. Wischmeyer Join Faculty.
Appointment of three new men as instructors at Rice Institute and creation of nine new fellowships was announced this week in the new Rice catalog.Dr. Edward S. Deevy, Jr., formerly of the biology department at Yale University is the newly appointed instructor in biology. Prior to his appointment at Rice, Doctor Deevey was limnologist for the Connecticut state board of fisheries and game. He replaces Dr. Irwin C. Kitchen at Rice, who left this year to take the position of assistant professor of zoology at the University of North Carolina.
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Other changes.Walter F Scofield will replace W. Greeley as instructor in civil engineering. Scofield was formerly assistant instructor in civil engineering at the University of Kansas.
New in electrical engineering department, Carl R. Wischmeyer will be an instructor this year. He holds a B.S from Rose Polytechnic Institute, and a master's degree from Yale University where he served as laboratory assistant.
Absent from the faculty this year is Dr. Grover Leon Bridger, former instructor in chemical engineering. Bridger resigned to take over a position with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
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Nine New Fellowships
Nine New Fellows were appointed this year. Percy Arthur, former Rice football star, will serve as fellow in the physical education department. Sam Bethea of Rice and Ervon J. Eggeman of Iowa State University will hold fellowships in chemical engineering department, and James Holmes of the Georgia School of Technology are new fellows in chemistry.
The physics department will have Henry Dunlap of Rice and Hugh T. Richards of Park University, the biology department will have Donald V. Moore of the University of Nebraska, and the electrical engineering department will have Paul E Pfeiffer of Rice as new assistants and fellows.
Both women members of the chemistry faculty are leaving Rice this year. Miss Eby Nell McElrath, who received her PH.D. from Rice last June, leaves to take over an instructorship in chemistry department at the University of Houston this fall. Miss Mary Emily Miller, the only other woman in the chemistry department will also leave Rice after having received her M.A. last June.
In this article, we learn who replaces the professor from North Carolina, whom we read about in an earlier article, Loss for Rice gain for University North. Like the rest of the country, Rice was pulling out of the great depression, and though we see some signes of that in the construction projects, we don't see much in terms of new hiring of instructors. It is nice to see, that Rice support it's graduates providing them with fellowships.
I loved hearing about the football star receiving a fellowship in the physical education department. Does that mean an assistant coaching position? I looked it up, and indeed he did become coach. Percy Arthur was quite the celebrity at Rice. He was captain of the famous 1934 Rice Owls team, the first to win the Southwest Conference football championship over Notre Dame. No wonder he got the fellowship. Even after he left Rice and football to become a successful insurance agent, he continues to support the sport and the university.
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| Percy Arthur makes Thresher headlines as he leads the team to another victory. Source: The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, October 5, 1934, Newspaper, October 5, 1934; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230306/ : accessed June 04, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University: Woodson Research Center, Houston, Texas. |
The lack of women fellows is apparent, a fact I had noticed when I surveyed the year book. It's interesting that Ethel notes the departure of two women from her own chemistry department, which clearly she saw as a loss.
Many of these faculty members when on to have illustrious careers:
- Dr. Edward S. Deevy, Jr. remained at rice until 1943 and then returned to Yale where he became a leader in his field.
- Carl R. Wischmeyer goes on to head the electrical engineering department at Rice.
- Grover Leon Bridger published several book in the field of fertilizers.
