1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yale University
YALE UNIVERSITY (see 28.899[1]). — In 1919 President A. T. Hadley announced his decision to resign the presidency of Yale at the close of the university year; and on June 22 1921 his successor, James Rowland Angell, was inaugurated. Developments in 1910-20 were marked in many respects. The university's endowment increased from $11,967,166.29 to $24,048,730.45. The university began to be the beneficiary under the will of the late John W. Sterling of New York City, a graduate of Yale College, of about $20,000,000, held by trustees for the university under his bequest. The money was to be used for memorial buildings and devoted “to some extent to the foundation of Scholarships, Fellowships or Lectureships, the endowment of new Professorships and the establishment of special funds for prizes.” At the same time the university's property holdings were augmented, and several important buildings constructed, including the Osborn Memorial Laboratories, the Sloane Physics Laboratory, the Dunham Laboratory of Electrical Engineering, the Mason Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering, Sprague Memorial Hall (Music), the Brady Memorial Laboratory (Pathology), Artillery Hall and the Artillery Armoury, and the magnificent Memorial Quadrangle, the gift of Mrs. Stephen V. Harkness, of New York City. This quadrangle includes seven courtyards in collegiate Gothic, designed by James Gamble Rogers of New York City, and erected at a cost of several million dollars. It is recognized as one of the most perfect groups of modern Gothic buildings in the world.
The number of students in 1920 who were candidates for a degree was 3,214, practically the same as ten years earlier. Educationally the university underwent a thorough reorganization in its administrative and educational system to meet modern conditions. The medical school was allied to the New Haven hospital and placed on full-time basis; the law school introduced the requirement of a college degree for entrance, except for Academic Seniors; the undergraduates' courses in the Sheffield Scientific School were placed on a four-year basis; and the higher engineering degrees were transferred from the scientific school to the graduate school. Several new university officers were appointed, including a Provost, who represented the Faculties before the Corporation and assisted the President in the educational administration of the university; the Dean of Students, who was primarily concerned with student moral; and a Dean of Freshmen, who had under his jurisdiction all undergraduate freshmen. These were formed into what is called the Freshmen Year, at the close of which undergraduates pursued three years of study in the Sheffield Scientific School leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science, or three years of study in the college leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, or in the case of students without Latin, Bachelor of Philosophy. The admission of all students was centralized in a Board of Admissions, under a chairman appointed by the Yale Corporation.
In connexion with the literary activities of the university the Yale University Press was started in 1908, by Mr. George Parmly Day, the treasurer of the university, under an agreement with the university by which all books published and bearing the Yale name must receive approval in advance by the Yale University Council's Committee on Publications. The Press was affiliated with the Oxford University Press, and became an important publishing agency in America for works of a literary and scholarly character. The number of books published in 1919 was seventy-eight. The number of books sold was 184,145. The Yale Review was transformed in 1911 into a quarterly review under the editorship of Wilbur L. Cross, Dean of the Yale Graduate School, and it is recognized as one of the most representative organs of sober thought in America.
Eight thousand Yale men, including graduates, former students and students, entered the military and naval services of the United States during the World War. The university had the most important artillery school in the country outside of Fort Sill and Camp Zachary Taylor. It also had one of the largest naval training units, and was the centre of the scientific work of the chemical warfare service. It was also the seat of the leading army laboratory school. Two hundred and twenty-five Yale men lost their lives in the service of their country. A memorial has been dedicated in their honour. (A. P. S.)
- ↑ These figures indicate the volume and page number of the previous article.