John Daniel Runkle (October 11, 1822 – July 8, 1902) was an American educator and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He served as acting president of

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from 1868 to 1870 and president between 1870 and 1878.

Biography

Professor Runkle was born at

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. He worked on his father's farm until he was of age, and then studied and taught until he entered the

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, where he graduated in 1851. His ability as a mathematician led in 1849 to his appointment as assistant in the preparation of the ''American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac'', in which he continued to engage until 1884. He was

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of mathematics in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1865 until his retirement in 1902. Runkle become aware of the work of Victor Della-Vos's work in

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at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876, he was impressed by the combination of theoretical and practical learning. Manual training was introduced into the institute

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largely at his instance. He founded the ''Mathematical Monthly'' in 1859 and continued its publication until 1861, and he had charge of the astronomical department of the ''Illustrated Pilgrim's Almanac''. In the town of

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

, Runkle was a chairman of the School Committee and an early advocate of mathematics and technical education. He received an LL.D from

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, in

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Works

* ''New Tables for Determining the Values of Coefficients in the Perturbative Function of Planetary Motion'' (Washington, 1856) * ''The Manual Element in Education'' (1882), reprinted from the ''Reports'' of the Massachusetts Board of Education * ''Report on Industrial Education'' (1883) * ''Elements of Plane and Solid Analytic Geometry'' (Boston, 1888)

Memorials

John D. Runkle School, an elementary school located at 50 Druce Street in Brookline, was established in his name in 1897.

Family

His brother, Cornelius A. Runkle (9 December 1832 in

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–19 March 1888 in

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) graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1855, and began practice in New York City. He was subsequently made deputy collector and given charge of the law division of the New York Custom House. This rendered him familiar with the legal questions involved in tariff and internal revenue litigation, and resulted in his devoting himself largely to that class of business. For about twenty-five years, he acted as counsel for the ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...

'' association. Cornelius's wife, Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle (born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts on August 20, 1844), was an editorial writer and contributor to the ''Tribune''.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Runkle, John Daniel Presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty American science writers People from Montgomery County, New York Academics from Brookline, Massachusetts Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Wesleyan University people 1822 births 1902 deaths School board members in Massachusetts