Table of Contents
|
Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids
|
| Collection |
| Title: |
Carl Stephens Ell papers |
| Dates: | 1912-1981 |
| Call Number: | M02 |
|
Historical Note
|
|
Carl Stephens Ell was born in Staunton, Indiana on November 14, 1887, son of Jacob and Alice (Stephens) Ell. He graduated from DePauw University with an A.B. in 1909. Ell went on to receive an S.B. from the Massachusetts Institue of Technology in 1911, an M.S. in Civil Engineering in 1912 from the sameinstitution, and an Ed.M. from Harvard University in 1932. He married Etta May Kinnear on June 10, 1913 and had one daughter, Dorothy. Ell was the second president of Northeastern University, from 1940-59, and was associated with Northeastern from 1910 to his death on April 17, 1981.
In the fall of 1910, as a student in Civil Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ell became a part-time Instructor of surveying at the Co-operative School of Engineering of the Boston YMCA. After graduating from MIT with an M.S. in Civil Engineering in 1912, Ell became a full-time member of the faculty at what was to become Northeastern University. Over the years, Ell was promoted until, in 1940, he became the second president of Northeastern University (see chronology of Ell's career at NU below).
Ell was also director of the Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company, and a corporator of Charlestown Savings Bank. He was a member of the corporation and trustee of New England Deaconess Hospital and Northeastern University. CSE was also an active member of Newtonville Methodist Church. He was a Trustee of the church from 1935 until 1966, when he resigned from the Board due to circumstances related to the merging of Newtonville Methodist Church and Newton Methodist Church into a single congregation, Newton Methodist Episcopal Church.
Ell was a Fellow of the American Society of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the American Society of Engineering Education, the Engineering Societies of New England, the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Advancement of Education, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Upsilon, and Phi Delta Kappa. Ell was also a Mason and a member of the Union, Algonquin, University, and Brae Burn Country Clubs.
Ell received many honors and awards throughout his career, both from NU and from other institutions and organizations. Many of his awards are documented in the collection.The following is a list of honorary degrees Ell received:
DePauw University, Sc.D (Hon.) 1935
Tufts College, LL.D (Hon.) 1948
Boston University, L.H.D. (Hon.) 1952
University of Rhode Island, LL.D. (Hon.) 1955
Emerson College, LL.D. (Hon.) 1956
Northeastern University, D.S.Ed. (Hon.) 1959 |
|
| Chronology |
| 1910-1912 | Instructor, Civil Engineering |
| 1912-1917 | Head of the Department of Civil Engineering |
| 1914-1917 | Assistant Dean of the School of Engineering |
| 1917-1940 | Dean of the School of Engineering |
| 1925-1940 | Vice President of the University |
| 1940-1959 | President of the University |
| 1959-1981 | Honorary Chencellor and President Emeritus |
|
|
|
|
|
