Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

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, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, a railroad executive. The school was incorporated in 1871. The Sheffield Scientific School helped establish the model for the transition of U.S. higher education from a classical model to one which incorporated both the sciences and the liberal arts. Following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, however, its curriculum gradually became completely integrated with Yale College. "The Sheff" ceased to function as a separate entity in 1956.

History

After technological developments in the early nineteenth century, such as the

electric telegraph Electrical telegraphy is Point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point distance communicating via sending electric signals over wire, a system primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecom ...

, an interest was fostered in teaching applied science at universities.

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

established the

Lawrence Scientific School The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is the engineering education, engineering school within Harvard University's Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, offering degrees in eng ...

in 1846 and Dartmouth began the Chandler Scientific School in 1852. The stage was set at Yale for the transition in education beginning in 1846, when professorships of ''agricultural chemistry'' ( John Pitkin Norton) and ''practical chemistry'' ( Benjamin Silliman Jr.) were established. In 1847, the School of Applied Chemistry became part of a newly created ''Department of Philosophy and the Arts'' (later, the Yale Graduate School). Classes and labs were hosted in the Second President's House on Yale's Old Campus until funding and a suitable facility could be found. Norton died in 1852 and was replaced by

John Addison Porter John Addison Porter (March 15, 1822 – August 25, 1866) was an American professor of chemistry and physician. He is the namesake of the John Addison Porter Prize and was a founder of the Scroll and Key senior society of Yale University. Acad ...

. Applied chemistry was followed in 1852 by a professorship of ''civil engineering'' ( William Augustus Norton) establishing a school of engineering. These programs made up the Yale Scientific School.

In 1853 and 1854, science and engineering courses were listed in the Yale College course catalog as offered by the Yale Scientific School. Porter elicited help from his father-in-law, Joseph Earl Sheffield (1793-1882), and in 1858, Sheffield donated over US$100,000 to purchase the old Medical Department building for the scientific school. This gift included two newly-renovated wings within the building. The old Yale Medical School building on the northeast corner of Grove and Prospect Streets was renovated and renamed (South) Sheffield Hall. (It was demolished in 1931 and was on the current site of ''Sterling Tower, Sheffield Hall and Strathcona Hall'' (SSS).) Sheffield's building reinforced the division of Hillhouse Avenue into an upper, residential section, and a lower section devoted to education. In 1861, the school became the Sheffield Scientific School in recognition of his generosity devoted to "the promotion of the study of the natural, physical, and mathematical sciences." Sheffield was one of Yale's greatest benefactors and continued to support the school throughout his life, giving a total of about US$500,000. Yale also received US$591,000 from his will as well as his house, the Sheffield mansion, designed and originally owned by

Ithiel Town Ithiel Town (October 3, 1784 – June 13, 1844) was an American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the f ...

(demolished in 1957).Loomis Havemeyer, Samuel Dudley, The Engineering Heritage at Yale, 1852-1957, 1959. The school also benefited from the

Morrill Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally owned land, often obtained from Native American tribes through treaty, cessi ...

starting in 1863 and an agricultural course was begun. Land grant status, however, was transferred to the Storrs Agricultural School in 1893 after arguments by the state grange that the school was not a proper "farm school". A series of lectures, later known as the ''Sheffield Lectures'' was instituted by the school in 1866. Professor

Othniel Charles Marsh Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was an American professor of paleontology. A prolific fossil collector, Marsh was one of the preeminent paleontologists of the nineteenth century. Among his legacies are the discovery or ...

of the school led four Yale scientific expeditions in search of fossils in 1870-3.

Education and student life

The Sheffield School innovated with an undergraduate course offering science and mathematics as well as economics, English, geography, history, modern languages, philology and political science. Sheffield also pioneered graduate education in the United States, granting the first Ph.D. in the United States in 1861 as well as the first engineering Ph.D. to

Josiah Willard Gibbs Josiah Willard Gibbs (; February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mechanical engineer and scientist who made fundamental theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynami ...

in 1863, and the first geology Ph.D. to William North Rice in 1867. Unlike Yale College students at the time, Sheffield students had "no dorms, no required chapel, no disciplinary marks and no proctors".Kelly, Brooks Mather, ''Yale: A History'', Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 1974. The Academical Department of Yale (''Ac'') and Sheffield (''Sheff'') became rivals. Loomis Havemeyer, alumnus and registrar at Sheffield, stated: "During the second half of the nineteenth century Yale College and Sheffield Scientific School, separated by only a few streets, were two separate countries on the same planet." The ''Ac'' students studied liberal arts and would look down on the practical ''Sheff'' students. Sheffield had its own student

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

(aka final clubs or senior societies, some also known by their Greek letters) including the Colony Club, 1848 (now Berzelius), the Cloister, 1863 (now Book and Snake),

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectar ...

, 1867 (now a 3-year society, also called Delta Psi), St. Elmo, 1889 (also a senior society), as well as Franklin Hall, 1865 ( Theta Xi), York Hall, 1877 (Chi Phi), Sachem Hall, 1893 (

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in North Am ...

), and Vernon Hall, 1908 (now Myth and Sword). The Yale Scientific Magazine was founded at Sheffield in 1894, the first student magazine devoted to the sciences.

Other buildings

In 1872–73, Sheffield Scientific School's first new building, North Sheffield Hall was built, designed by Josiah Cleaveland Cady, on what had been the gardens of the Town-Sheffield mansion. This was followed by Winchester Hall (1892) and Sheffield Chemical (1894-5, J. Cleaveland Cady). Of these, only the latter, Sheffield Chemical, is still standing, renovated and renamed Arthur K. Watson Hall. Becton Laboratory (designed by

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...

, 1970) now stands on the site of North Sheffield and Winchester Halls (demolished in 1967). Further expansion brought Kirtland Hall (1902, Kirtland Cutter), Hammond Laboratory (1904, W. Gedney Beatty), Leet Oliver Hall (1908, Charles C. Haight), Mason Laboratory (1911, Charles C. Haight) and Dunham Laboratory (1912, Henry Morse; addition 1958, Douglas Orr), all still standing except Hammond which was razed in 2009 to make way for two new residential colleges. The Vanderbilt-Sheffield Dormitories and Towers were built by Charles C. Haight from 1903 to 1906, and Haight's chapter house

was built in 1913. Byers Hall, designed by Hiss and Weekes and built in 1903, served as a center for social and religious life. These buildings are now incorporated into Silliman College, and St. Anthony Hall still owns its building, which completes the College and Wall Street corner of the Silliman College Quadrangle. In 2006-7, Silliman underwent a major renovation. Also, in 1913, land in East Lyme was purchased for a field engineering camp (now the Yale Outdoor Education Center).

Reorganization

During the 1918-1919 reorganization of the educational structure of Yale University, the three years "select" course at Sheffield Scientific School was eliminated and a four-year course of study for those studying "professional science" and "engineering" was approved, while graduate courses were transferred to the Graduate School, leaving only undergraduate courses taught at Sheffield Scientific School from 1919 to 1945, coexisting with Yale College's science programs. The centennial was celebrated in 1947 with the Silliman lectures given by Ernest O. Lawrence,

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling ( ; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist and peace activist. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. ''New Scientist'' called him one of the 20 gre ...

, W. M. Stanley and George Wells Beadle. The first degree of

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

was awarded in 1922 to the graduating class of the Sheffield Scientific School. In 1932, the School of Engineering was reestablished and Sheffield Scientific School engineering classes were transferred to the new school. In 1945, the Sheffield Scientific School resumed its original function of graduate level instruction in science. Undergraduate courses for the Bachelor of Science degree were transferred to Yale College, and undergraduate courses for a Bachelor of Science in industrial administration were transferred to the School of Engineering. This transition occurred gradually, through the influence of "aggressive, powerful alumni" (including Edwin Oviatt, editor of the ''Yale Alumni Weekly'') who "took control out of President Hadley's hands and forced a radical reorganization of Yale". In 1956, the Sheffield Scientific School was terminated as an active school. The Board of Trustees still exists to oversee the Sheffield Scientific School property and meet legal requirements. The school's faculty is defined as teachers of science to graduate students under the Division of Science. Engineering teaching and research is now conducted within the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

Directors

* George Jarvis Brush (Professor of Mineralogy) was Director of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1872 to 1898. * Russell Henry Chittenden (Professor of Physiological Chemistry) was Director of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1898 to 1922. * Charles Hyde Warren ( Sterling Professor of Geology) was Dean of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1922 to 1945. * Edmund Ware Sinnott (Sterling Professor of Botany) was Director of the Sheffield Scientific School from 1945 to 1956.

Notable faculty

* Charles Emerson Beecher, paleontologist, member of the governing board * William Henry Brewer, botanist, first chair of agriculture, as well as a graduate from the first class of the school * Daniel Cady Eaton,

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

* Daniel Coit Gilman, geographer, helped plan and raise funds * Richard F. Humphreys (1911–1968), physicist and author, president of

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

* Thomas Lounsbury, American literary historian, professor of English and librarian at Sheff * Chester S. Lyman (1814–1890), industrial mechanics; inventor of surveying and astronomical instruments * William Crosby Marshall (1870-1934), Mechanical engineer, Professor of Machine Design and Descriptive Geometry and author. * Lafayette Mendel, biochemist *

Mansfield Merriman Mansfield Merriman (March 27, 1848 June 7, 1925) was an American civil engineer, born in Southington, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1871, was an assistant in the United States Corps of Engineers in 187273 ...

(1848–1925), civil engineering; author of "A Treatise on Hydraulics and on the Strength of Materials", 1877 * John Pitkin Norton, chemist, faculty member of Yale's department of education in applied science, which gave rise to Sheffield Scientific School. * William Augustus Norton, civil engineer, founding faculty member *

, chemist *

Charles Brinckerhoff Richards Charles Brinckerhoff Richards (December 23, 1833 – April 20, 1919) was an engineer who worked for Colt's Patent Fire Arms Co., where he was responsible for the development of the Colt Single Action Army revolver. Richards was a founder of the ...

, engineer chair of Mechanical Engineering from 1884–1909 * Benjamin Silliman Jr., chemist, founding faculty member * William Petit Trowbridge (1828–1892), mechanical engineering; published the first cantilever bridge design; Member, National Academy of Science *

Addison Emery Verrill Addison Emery Verrill (February 9, 1839 – December 10, 1926) was an American invertebrate zoologist, museum curator and university professor. Life Verrill was born on February 9, 1839, in Greenwood, Maine, the son of George Washington Verril ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

* Francis Amasa Walker, economist, third president of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

William Dwight Whitney William Dwight Whitney (February 9, 1827June 7, 1894) was an American linguist, philologist, and lexicographer known for his work on Sanskrit grammar and Vedic philology as well as his influential view of language as a social institution. He was ...

, organized and taught in the department of modern languages; member of the governing board

Notable alumni

* Joseph Wright Alsop IV (1876–1953), politician and insurance executive; father of Joseph Alsop * Wilbur Olin Atwater (1844–1907), chemist known for his studies of human nutrition and metabolism * Clifford Whittingham Beers, mental health pioneer * Jules Blankfein, Class of 1921, physician & financier; founder, Physicians' Hospital, New York; uncle of Lloyd Blankfein * William Edward Boeing, aviator * John Vernou Bouvier III, stockbroker and socialite; father of

Jackie Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

, First Lady *

Chester Bowles Chester Bliss Bowles (April 5, 1901 – May 25, 1986) was an American diplomat and ambassador, List of governors of Connecticut, governor of Connecticut, congressman and co-founder of a major advertising agency, Benton & Bowles, now part of Publi ...

, American politician * Bradford Brinton, engineer; collector of fine Western art, which eventually resulted in the primary collection of The Brinton Museum * J. Twing Brooks, U. S. congressman *

Malcolm Greene Chace Malcolm Greene Chace (March 12, 1875 – July 16, 1955) was an American financier and textile industrialist who was instrumental in bringing electric power to New England. He was a pioneer of the sport of ice hockey in the United States, and was ...

(1875–1955), class of 1896. One of the founders of the Yale hockey team, American financier, textile industrialist, and tennis champion * Henry Boardman Conover, ornithologist * Arthur Louis Day, geophysicist and volcanologist * Franklin M. Doolittle (1893–1979), Class of 1915, radio pioneer *

Charles Benjamin Dudley Charles Benjamin Dudley (July 14, 1842 – December 21, 1909) was an American chemist who was an early proponent of standardisation in industry. Dudley was born in Oxford, New York, and owing to family circumstances, had to wait until 1867 ...

, chemist * Isadore Dyer, physician *

Lee de Forest #REDIRECT Lee de Forest {{redirect category shell, {{R from move{{R from other capitalisation ...

, electronics inventor * Francis I. du Pont, chemist * Pete Falsey, Major League baseball player * Joseph W. Frazer, automobile magnate * James Terry Gardiner, surveyor and engineer *

, mathematical physicist and physical chemist * T. Keith Glennan, first

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administrator * Harold L. Green, chain store founder * John Campbell Greenway, American mining and steel executive, General, U.S. Army * Harry Frank Guggenheim, businessman, philanthropist *

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, mining engineer, philanthropist, faculty member. He endowed a program at Sheff in mining and metallurgy and accepted a professorship. He contributed $100,000 for the construction of Hammond Laboratory, which is named for him. * John Hays Hammond Jr., inventor, “father of radio control’’ * John Bell Hatcher,

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

* Daniel Webster Hering, physicist * Robert J. Huber, Michigan politician, businessman * Tony Hulman (1924) businessman, owner of

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1945–1977 * Edward Hopkins Jenkins (1850–1931), agricultural chemist; director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (1900–1923) * Treat Baldwin Johnson, chemist * Clarence King, American geologist and mountaineer * Charles N. Lowrie, American landscape architect * Duane Lyman, architect *

, paleontologist *Champion Mathewson, metallurgist *

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, American businessman and politician * Frederick E. Olmsted, forester * Thomas Wharton Phillips Jr., U. S. Congressman * William S. Reyburn, U.S. Congressman * William North Rice, geologist and theologian * Stanley Pickett Rockwell (1907), metallurgist and co-inventor of the Rockwell hardness test * Pierce Schenck (1878–1930), business executive from Dayton, Ohio * William Thompson Sedgwick, bacteriologist and public health scientist * George B. Selden, lawyer and inventor *

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, zoologist * James Graham Phelps Stokes, philanthropist, publicist, and political activist * Zhan Tianyou, Chinese railroad engineer, "father of China's railroad" * Juan Trippe, founder and CEO of

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* Yamakawa Kenjirō, Japanese samurai of

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, member of Byakkotai, physicist, member of the House of Peers * Thomas Yawkey, owner of the

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for 44 years

References

External links

Yale Engineering through the Centuries
{{Authority control Yale University schools 01 Science education in the United States History of education in the United States Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science Educational institutions established in 1847 1847 establishments in Connecticut