 | CHAPTER XXVI Jefferson, Cabell and the University of Virginia |  |
Department of Engineering:
The present School of Engineering had its beginning
in a small way in 1867, doubtless through the
efforts of Professor Leopold J. Boeck,[8]
whose connection
year.
At first the chair in Professor Boeck's charge was
called the School of Applied Mathematics, Engineering,
and Architecture. The entire work of the
school from 1867 to 1875 was done by the professor
with assistants during two of the eight years. In
1875 the school was known as the department of
Applied Mathematics and Civil Engineering, William
M. Thornton succeeding Boeck as its head in
the grade of adjunct professor.
In 1882 the Department of Engineering was established
with this faculty:
Natural Philosophy, Professor Francis H. Smith;
Mathematics, Professor Charles S. Venable;
General and Applied Chemistry, Professor John
W. Mallet;
Natural History and Geology, Professor William
M. Fontaine;
Analytical and Agricultural Chemistry, Professor
F. P. Dunnington;
Mathematics applied to Engineering, Adjunct
Professor William M. Thornton.
The constitution of this department has not been
changed since 1882, but its scope has been greatly
has been appointed in the School of Pure
Mathematics, the adjunct in Applied Mathematics
advanced to full professorship, and three adjunct
professors attached to the Department of Engineering,
who have charge of the purely technical
courses respectively in civil, mechanical and electrical
engineering, the professor of Applied Mathematics
having temporary charge of the course in
Mining Engineering. From the beginning of Mr.
Thornton's connection with the University in 1875
he has been in a large sense the School of Engineering,
and its remarkable growth and success would
seem to approve his policies.
The degrees conferred in this department are
those of Civil Engineering, instituted in 1868, and
Mining Engineering 1868, Mechanical Engineering,
1892, and Electrical Engineering, 1893. The
degree of Civil and Mining Engineering was conferred
from 1868 to 1879.
Leopold Jules Boeck was a native of Culm, Poland, and
was forty-four years of age when he reached the University
in 1866 after an adventurous career. The University of Berlin
conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
immediately after which he became involved in the Polish
Revolution of 1849. Its failure made him a fugitive from his
own country, and he took part in the revolution and uprising
in Hungary. He soon won the confidence of Kossuth and the
General sent him as envoy from Hungary to Turkey to ask
assistance. Instead of being aided he was imprisoned, but
after two years he was placed on the United States steam
frigate Mississippi and sent to Paris. There he fell in with
Victor Hugo and Victor Cousin. His anti-Napoleon sentiments
and his penchant for revolutions put him under suspicion,
and when Hugo was thrown into prison Boeck was
ordered to leave France. Reaching New York he established
a school in that city, which was broken up by the civil war.
Eventually he came to the University, where his early labors
resulted in one of the first cases of technical and industrial
education in universities. He died in Philadelphia in 1896.
| CHAPTER XXVI Jefferson, Cabell and the University of Virginia | |