Rolla Clinton Carpenter C.E. M.M.E. LL.D. (June 26, 1852 – January 19, 1919)"Prof. Rolla C. Carpenter Dead", ''Buffalo Evening News'' (January 20, 1919), p. 2. was an American engineer, academic, and writer. Carpenter was born in Orion (now

Lake Orion Lake Orion ( ) is a village in the northern outskirts of Metro Detroit in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The population was 2,973 at the 2010 census. "Lake Orion" can refer to either the village or the much larger Orion Township, of ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He earned a B.S. in 1873 from Michigan State Agricultural College (today,

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

) and later received additional bachelor's and master's degrees from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1875. From 1875 to 1890 he was professor of mathematics and civil engineering in the Michigan State Agricultural College; while there, he designed and supervised much of the construction at the young school. In 1887, he and Professor William J. Beal laid out "Collegeville", the first neighborhood in what later became the city of

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 47,741. The city is located immediate ...

. He was appointed to a position at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1890. He served as a judge of

machinery A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolec ...

and transportation at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in 1893. He was president of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers in 1898. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the Michigan State Agricultural College in 1907. In addition to numerous scientific papers, he published: * ''Heating and Ventilating Buildings: a Manual for Heating Engineers and Architects'' (1891) * ''Instructions for Mechanical Laboratory Practice: Text-Book of Experimental Engineering'' (1892) * ''Internal Combustion Engines: Their Theory, Construction and Operation'' (1908) (co-author) Carpenter died at his home in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

, at the age of 66.

References

* * 1852 births 1919 deaths American engineers American instructional writers American textbook writers American male non-fiction writers Michigan State University faculty University of Michigan alumni Michigan State University alumni Cornell University faculty East Lansing, Michigan People from Lake Orion, Michigan {{US-engineer-stub