The Two Towers: Main

There is no doubt that dormitories and a dining hall would be the most helpful remedy for the tendency toward localization.
      --Report of Committee, 1923

Allan E. Parker

words a series of events which had involved years of work, study, financing, and the dreams of two presidents.

President Cormeny had first outlined the plan in paragraph after paragraph of farsighted perspective of what Tech might one day become. Then President Bronwell had picked up the program to implement much of what his predecessor had initiated and to add his own impressions to a blueprint of long-range development on Boynton Hill.

When Arthur Bronwell resigned in 1962 to become Dean of Engineering at the University of Connecticut, the enrollment of Worcester Tech had reached the twelve hundred mark. In the eight-million-dollar development which had evolved during his seven years of presidency in "Room 101, Boynton Hall," one of the most conspicuous projects was the building of a dormitory which overlooked the playing fields and extended into a quadrant-shaped dining room. This hall was named for the Morgan family, which had served through three generations of trusteeship in a continuous leadership from the time of the Institute's founding.

Aluminum letters in Tennessee greenstone marble told the story of the other major addition, a gift made possible from the foundation provided by Franklin W. Olin, a New England boy who had become one of the country's leading manufacturers.

"No," said one of the Foundation trustees, "it is not a gift, it is a tremendous responsibility."

This was the first time that Tech had been substantially assisted by a Foundation, although there had been several instances when salary increases for the faculty had come from such sources. While the new building, which was to become the home of the Physics Department, materialized on the West Street property given by Aldus Higgins, Allan E. Parker (head of Physics since 1949) was often seen circling the site, hurrying along as if he couldn't wait and smiling as if he still couldn't quite believe it.

The department of Physics had begun with the school, as a degree-granting course. It had been soon absorbed by General Science, then later emerged as a separate entity. Physics had spawned many other departments and courses during the years. Electrical Engineering, for instance, had started under its supervision. Its growth coincided with the interest in physical sciences and was encouraged by the reputation of its brilliant physicists-- Kimball, Duff, Ewell, and Masius--with thirty-four years their average length of teaching time. The department was as well known for the publications and personalities of its professors as for its instruction and its graduates.

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering stretched for the first time in years to fill out the old building they had shared with Physics. "Facing the problem squarely," said Wilmer L. Kranich, now head of the department, "Salisbury Lab is not exactly a modern facility for the teaching of chemistry." He dreamed, too,