Alumni Memorial a “living history lesson”
Students may have noticed the massive amounts of dirt and construction in the middle of the Emory campus lately. A new alumni plaza, paid for by alumni Tom McGlothlin is set to finish in May of 2010.
The structure, made to honor all the school’s alumni, is one of the first visual efforts dedicated to graduates. Charles Sydnor, of the Alumni office, says, “It’s more than a memorial. It’s dedicated to past, current, and future alumni for them to see when they come back.”
The plaza will consist of a semicircle wall with bronze plaques to honor the most distinguished alumni. Sydnor says, “It will be like a living history lesson.”
The Board of Trustees is to pick such distinguished alumni this winter. The requirements for such an honor are that the person has to be a graduate, deceased, and has made a significant contribution to American society.
Among the supposed candidates is Frank Rowlett, a 1929 graduate. He was a code breaker for the government, and one of the founding fathers of the National Security Administration. In World War II, Rowlett was responsible for breaking the Japanese Purple Code, which was what the Japanese used to communicate with their embassy in the United States. By breaking the code, Rowlett managed to find out what the Germans were doing, thereby leading to the victory of the Allies in World War II.
Rowlett also invented a piece of encryption machinery which no other government could break. He was a pioneer in both machinery and code breaking.
Another candidate for the bronze plaque is an 1889 graduate named Robert E. Humphries, who made a major contribution to automobile manufacturing. After graduating from Emory, he received a Ph.D. in chemistry from John Hopkins University. He then went to work for John D. Rockefeller in his Standard Oil Company.
The process of turning crude oil into gasoline was a very tricky and expensive process. At the time, very few people but the rich could afford automobiles because it cost so much to manipulate the oil. Humphries came up with an economically feasible way to do that. By making the process of turning oil to gasoline cheap, he made the automobile affordable for everyone. His laboratory is actually exhibited in the Smithsonian.
The Alumni Memorial is set to be completed by Commencement weekend, and presented in Homecoming 2010.
Students may have noticed the massive amounts of dirt and construction in the middle of the Emory campus lately. A new alumni plaza, paid for by alumni Tom McGlothlin is set to finish in May of 2010.
The structure, made to honor all the school’s alumni, is one of the first visual efforts dedicated to graduates. Charles Sydnor, of the Alumni office, says, “It’s more than a memorial. It’s dedicated to past, current, and future alumni for them to see when they come back.”
The plaza will consist of a semicircle wall with bronze plaques to honor the most distinguished alumni. Sydnor says, “It will be like a living history lesson.”
The Board of Trustees is to pick such distinguished alumni this winter. The requirements for such an honor are that the person has to be a graduate, deceased, and has made a significant contribution to American society.
Among the supposed candidates is Frank Rowlett, a 1929 graduate. He was a code breaker for the government, and one of the founding fathers of the National Security Administration. In World War II, Rowlett was responsible for breaking the Japanese Purple Code, which was what the Japanese used to communicate with their embassy in the United States. By breaking the code, Rowlett managed to find out what the Germans were doing, thereby leading to the victory of the Allies in World War II.
Rowlett also invented a piece of encryption machinery which no other government could break. He was a pioneer in both machinery and code breaking.
Another candidate for the bronze plaque is an 1889 graduate named Robert E. Humphries, who made a major contribution to automobile manufacturing. After graduating from Emory, he received a Ph.D. in chemistry from John Hopkins University. He then went to work for John D. Rockefeller in his Standard Oil Company.
The process of turning crude oil into gasoline was a very tricky and expensive process. At the time, very few people but the rich could afford automobiles because it cost so much to manipulate the oil. Humphries came up with an economically feasible way to do that. By making the process of turning oil to gasoline cheap, he made the automobile affordable for everyone. His laboratory is actually exhibited in the Smithsonian.
The Alumni Memorial is set to be completed by Commencement weekend, and presented in Homecoming 2010.
Filed Under: Campus News • News
About the Author: Sophomore Hannah Rhodes is a Mass Communications and Public Policy and Community Service double major. A native of Richmond, Hannah works for the campus radio station and also helps with the weekly television show. This is her second year working with EHCWired. She enjoys writing, playing soccer, and spending time with friends. She volunteers at the Highlands Project after school program and enjoys participating in community service. Family is important to her, as she is one of five children. Her time at Emory has been wonderful, and she can’t wait to have even more experiences.
