Arthur Arton Hamerschlag (November 22, 1872 – July 20, 1927) was an American electrical and mechanical engineer who served as the first

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, United States.

Early life

Arthur Hamerschlag was born in

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on November 22, 1872, to immigrants from the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He graduated in 1889 with a specialization in electricity, and did field work working on electric plants in

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, and throughout the U.S. Back in New York City he worked for both St. George's Trade School and the New York Trade School. His reputation there brought him to the attention of

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, who was looking for leadership for his new educational venture in Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Tech years

Carnegie and William H. Frew, chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Carnegie Institute and Carnegie's lawyer in Pittsburgh, hired Hamerschlag in 1903 as the first director of the fledgling Carnegie Technical Schools, as the project was first called. Its aim was not to compete with the nearby

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, but to provide practical vocational training in the industrial trades and to offer 3-year diplomas, not bachelor's degrees. And so the building of the campus began, and the hiring of faculty, and the school was launched. Hamerschlag built the campus in partnership with Carnegie himself and the architect

Henry Hornbostel Henry Hornbostel (August 15, 1867 – December 13, 1961) was an American architect and educator. Hornbostel designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States. Twenty-two of his designs are listed on the National Regist ...

. While the campus grew, the school found it difficult to compete. Industrial unions had their own apprenticeship programs, and it was challenging to attract and retain faculty, most of whom preferred to work for degree-granting institutions. So in 1912, the Carnegie Technical Schools were renamed Carnegie Institute of Technology. Hamerschlag then led the development of bachelor's and master's degree programs, and the college took off. When Andrew Carnegie died in 1919, the funding of the college, which had come from Carnegie himself, came under scrutiny by the estate, now controlled by the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

. It commissioned a survey in 1921 and the report recommended that the college broaden its sources of funds for the future. Hamerschlag, who did not have a seat on the board, felt excluded from the decision and the new direction being charted. He resigned in 1922. He returned to New York and reestablished an engineering practice.

Personal life

Hamerschlag married Elizabeth Ann Tollast on December 22, 1901, and they had one son. Hamerschlag died at

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fa ...

in Manhattan on July 20, 1927. He was buried at

Homewood Cemetery Homewood Cemetery is a historic urban cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Point Breeze and is bordered by Frick Park, the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, and the smaller Smithfield Cemetery. It was established i ...

in Pittsburgh. At Carnegie Mellon, Hamerschlag's name is still honored through Hamerschlag Hall, the home of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as well as Hamerschlag House, a freshman dorm which was all-male since its founding in the 1960s but was made co-ed in 2018.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamerschlag, Arthur American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Presidents of Carnegie Mellon University Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism 1872 births 1927 deaths American electrical engineers American mechanical engineers Burials at Homewood Cemetery