Rufus Flint (born ) was a professor of English and mathematics at the

National Autonomous University of Nicaragua The National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (, UNAN) is a public university in Nicaragua. Its main campus is located in Managua. The original campus, National Autonomous University of Nicaragua-León, UNAN-Leon, is located in León, Nicaragua ...

, conducting early Central American biodiversity studies while enrolled 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 ...

. He took his degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell’s Sibley College of Engineering in 1887.

The Nicaraguan Study

In August 1887, Professor

Robert Henry Thurston Robert Henry Thurston (October 25, 1839 – October 25, 1903) was an American engineer, and the first professor of mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. He was assistant professor at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis and ...

, director of the Sibley College of Engineering at Cornell University, presented Rufus Flint’s three-year study of

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

hardwoods to the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. The impetus behind the Cornell research conducted by Flint was to assess the viability of exploiting Central American timber stands when the Northwest American forest resources were exhausted. As Appleton’s Cyclopedia record, the study, “. . . proved that in that country there exist most valuable varieties of wood. The present impending wood famine may, the speaker said, be averted by the use of tropical timber.”

Family

Flint was the son of an American physician, Earl Flint. His mother was native to the Nicaraos nation. Dr. Flint arrived in Nicaragua from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

about 1850. He lived mainly in the cities of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and

Rivas, Nicaragua Rivas () is a city and Municipalities of Nicaragua, municipality in southwestern Nicaragua on the Isthmus of the same name. The city proper is the capital of the Departments of Nicaragua, Department of Rivas Department, Rivas and administrative c ...

, until his death in the late 1890s. In the 1870s, Earl Flint became an antiquities collector for the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. About 1878, he began working for the

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropologica ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

about 1878, sending collections and letters to the museum until 1899. Rufus Flint donated land to build the sanctuary for the “Christo Negro”, or Black Christ, of La Conquista, Carazo, Nicaragua. La Conquista was named for the Spanish colonial response to an indigenous rebellion against imperial authority. His son, also named Rufus Flint, was the inaugural coach of the Nicaraguan soccer team, Railroad Star, in 1924. And in 1927, Rufus Flint, Jr. served as head of Nicaragua’s National Football League.

Member

While at Cornell, he was tapped into the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

fraternity i
1885

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flint, Rufus Cornell University College of Engineering alumni American mechanical engineers 1860s births Year of death missing Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua