Oscar Werwath (1880 – March 20, 1948) was the founder and first president of the

Milwaukee School of Engineering The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is a private university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The campus is in the East Town neighborhood of downtown Milwaukee. The school's enrollment of 2,820 includes 224 graduate students. As of fall 2018, ...

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. He is buried at

Forest Home Cemetery Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite. Both the cemetery and ...

. Born in

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on May 3, 1880, Werwath was the son of department store owner Carl and his wife, Johanna. When he was 23, shortly after finishing his degree from Darmstadt University, he emigrated to Wisconsin. Knowing the strong

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reputation and industrial center of Milwaukee, he decided to settle there, becoming employed at the Louis Allis Co. shortly after. Seeing that skilled engineering in Milwaukee was in great demand, Werwath conceptualized a local school that could accommodate the needed work force. Approaching the president of Rheude's Business School, Werwath was given permission to establish a series of night classes for young men in practical electricity. Shortly after the courses began, enrollment grew to be too large for the business school. Still working for the Louis Allis Co. in 1905, Werwath was encouraged to open an engineering school and Allis donated $500 toward the "School of Engineering". "Milwaukee" was added to the school's name in 1932. Oscar was president of the school until his death in 1948.

Personal life

In 1908 Oscar and Johanna married and resettled in Milwaukee. The Werwaths had four children; Karl (1909-1979), Greta (1910-2003), Hannah (1913-1984), and Heinz (1916-1987), all of whom worked at the Milwaukee School of Engineering at some point in their life. Karl, Oscar's oldest son, was a graduate of his father's school in 1936 and became president one month after his father's death in 1948 until 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Werwath, Oscar 1880 births 1948 deaths German emigrants to the United States People from Nesterov People from Milwaukee People from East Prussia Milwaukee School of Engineering people