Background
William Lispenard Robb was born on May 9, 1861 at Saratoga, New York, the son of Alexander J. and Esther (Lispenard) Robb.
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William Lispenard Robb
Edit ProfileEducation
He attended public schools in Saratoga and the Owego Academy, after which he entered Columbia University, where he majored in physics and graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1880. By reason of his ability as a student, he was awarded a fellowship by Columbia and was one of the first to go abroad to study science under Kohlrausch, Helmholtz, and other eminent physicists of the day who were laying the foundations in classical physics for the great developments of later times. After two years' study at the University of Würzburg and one year at the University of Berlin, he received the degree of Ph. D. from the latter institution in 1883.
He returned to Europe in 1892 for a year's study at the Federal Polytechnic Institute, Zurich, Switzerland. From the scientists under whom he studied in Europe, he imbibed those fundamental principles of discipline and meticulous attention to detail which were to gain for him recognition as one of the great teachers of his day.
Career
After a year as assistant professor of mathematics at the Columbia School of Mines, he was called in 1885 to the chair of physics at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, where he served for seventeen years, except for brief intervals spent in travel and government service.
During the Spanish-American War in 1898, he was in charge of the insulating of submarine mines in Long Island Sound.
In 1902 he went to Troy, New York, to organize and take charge of the electrical engineering department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he continued to serve as professor of electrical engineering and physics during the remainder of his life. When he began work at Rensselaer, he found a department with a few storage-batteries, small motor equipment, and a discouraging outlook.
In 1933 he left a completely organized department, competing on equal terms with similar departments in the best institutions in the United States. The Russell Sage bequest provided the funds for building the Russell Sage Laboratory in 1908, in which half the space was devoted to electrical engineering and physics. With the expanding interest in electrical engineering more room was needed, and Robb built the Sage Annex. But his "fame in Rensselaer does not rest on the buildings which he built or on the material things which he installed in them.
Robb died of congestion of the lungs when he was in his seventy-second year in Troy, New York.
Achievements
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For thirty-one years he dominated the electrical engineering field in Rensselaer. All who came in contact with him received benefit from the training in fundamentals which they received from him and absorbed something in personality from his rigid discipline". He played a prominent part, also, in the development of the electrical industry in the United States, especially in the public utility field. His connection with the electrical industry started in the late eighteen nineties, when the president of the Hartford Electric Company sought his assistance in keeping him informed concerning the newer developments in electrical science and in applying them to the service of the public in the electric utility field. This association of business executive and engineering scientist, which continued during the remaining years of Robb's life, made the Hartford Electric Light Company one of the most progressive units in the Eastern utility field. The association was of benefit to Robb, for it gave him practical experience in electrical engineering which he put to use when he took over his position at Rensselaer. His services as a consulting engineer were likewise in demand by other companies, among them being the New York Ship Building Corporation, General Railway Signal Company, Troy Gas Company, and the Aluminum Company of America.
Personality
All students who came under his influence remember the dynamic character of the man.
Connections
In 1903 he married Winifred Matthews of New York City. He was survived by a daughter, Winifred Lispenard, and a son, Leonard Lispenard.
