Institute History

This page documents the Institute's history as reflected in historical materials housed in the Wentworth University Archives. This information is not an extensive history of the Institute, but a starting point for research. Compiling the Institute's history is an ongoing project, therefore, information may be incomplete. The materials used in compiling this information have been cited at the bottom of each page. For access to, or more information about archival material, please contact the archivist.

Included on this page is basic biographical information about the Institute's Founder, Principals, and Presidents, including:

• Arioch Wentworth
• Arthur Lyman Williston
• Frederick E. Dobbs
• H. Russell Beatty
• Edward T. Kirkpatrick
• John F. Van Domelen
• Zorica Pantić
• Mark A. Thompson

Arioch Wentworth was born on June 13, 1813, in Somersworth, New Hampshire. By age 20, Arioch had moved to Boston to pursue success as a businessman. By 1837, he opened his soapstone shop. Arioch was 24.  

Arioch developed new methods and machinery to use soapstone in household necessities, such as stoves, laundry tubs, and countertops. His business was successful enough that he opened a large manufacturing facility at 19 Hawley Street.  

By 1850, Arioch expanded his manufacturing business into marble. By this time, Boston began to develop the Massachusetts Bay and its surrounding marshland into the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. Marble was used in adornments on the houses, brownstones, schools, churches, and institutions built in these neighborhoods. From 1850 to 1886, Arioch’s business was the predominant supplier of marble to the city of Boston.  

Arioch retired in 1886, at the age of 73. In his retirement, Arioch developed real estate and owned 50 commercial properties. 

At the time of his death in 1903, Wentworth amassed a fortune of $6 million. He died on March 12, 1903, of pneumonia. He was 89 years old.  

Wentworth Institute was founded in 1904 following Arioch’s death. In his will, he wrote:

"As soon as may be after my death [the trustees] shall, unless I have already done so, organize a corporation to be known as the Wentworth Institute, for the purpose of furnishing education in the mechanical arts."

During his manufacturing career, Arioch took an active interest in his work force. Most of his laborers received little to no education. This was something Arioch recognized from his own early inability to obtain formal technical training. Arioch believed that men who earned a living with their hands should have a more formal education in their respective trade, as an alternate to the traditional apprenticeship. 

After some legal disputes among Arioch’s family, $2.7 million of his fortune, nearly half of his wealth, was bequeathed to found, build, and endow Wentworth Institute.

For more information about the founding of the Institute, see the "1903-1923" tab.

Arthur Lyman Williston was born on October 11, 1868, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1889 and 1890, he graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and used his education to become an engineer and architect. Williston was appointed by the Board of Directors in 1910 as the first principal of Wentworth Institute. He served for 14 years.  

Williston came from the Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, New York. Williston had been the director of the School of Science and Technology at Pratt for 12 years. By 1910, Pratt was considered the country’s leading school for industrial training. Because of his experience at Pratt, the Board believed Williston would be the ideal man to lead the Institute in its foundational years. 

As Wentworth's first principal, Williston provided constructive leadership, hired a superior faculty, and created a vital curriculum which reflected the demands of the trade community. Williston wrote the Institute’s first catalog. Williston was no-nonsense, rule-oriented, and discipline-oriented. The Institute followed in his footsteps: labs were kept clean, attendance was closely monitored, if not mandatory, and courses of study were demanding and rigid. 

Williston pulled from industry professionals to fill the Institute’s first group of faculty. No department head did not have years of practical experience. During his tenure, most teaching happened in a lab, not the classroom.  

Williston believed strongly in educating the whole person. 1- and 2-year programs did not allow much variation in course of study, so he pulled from Wentworth's family crest for additional inspiration for the students. He based the Institute's seal on the Wentworth family's heraldic shield, framed by four banners, each bearing a fundamental virtue: honesty, energy, economy, and system.  

“Honesty, in thought, in word, and in deed, that sees with precision things as they are, that speaks fearlessly without selfishness or malice, and that acts always with confident straightforwardness; Energy, of mind and body, that comes with the full development of all our powers and the ability to concentrate them all at will; Economy, steadfast and constant, that is the natural product of the exercise of sound judgment, self-restraint, and self-denial, and; System, the cultivated habit of orderly and well-considered procedure in thought and in conduct." 

Williston personally interviewed every student for admittance to the Institute. He averaged 750 interviews of potential students per year.  

Williston took great pride in contributing to the Institute's war effort from 1917-1918. He was the driving force behind the Institute’s involvement in wartime instruction. In April 1918, U.S. Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, appointed him as the Educational Director of Training of Drafted Men in "industrial and mechanical lines."  

Even after the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, Williston and Wentworth Institute forged ahead with a progressive war-related initiative. In 1919, Wentworth ran free four-month courses to reintegrate veterans into productive civilian lives. These veterans slept in the barracks still in place from the Institute's 1918 training programs. Williston directed the men toward fields where demand was outpacing supply, such as printing, pattern making, and plumbing. Dozens of the participants were physically disabled.  

After the war, Williston's attention slowly waned. He offloaded expanding responsibilities onto his assistant, Frederick Dobbs. 

In 1922, Williston invented the term “technical institute” at a conference in Rochester, NY.  

Williston resigned in 1923 and spent the last three decades of his life as an educational consultant. He wrote at length about engineering education. In 1944, he authored a book, Beyond the Horizon of Science. In 1952, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) chose Williston as the third recipient of its prestigious James H. McGraw Award. In addition, the ASEE named its annual award for writing excellence in his honor. 

Williston died on November 16, 1956. 

For more information about the Institute during this administration, see the "1903-1923" tab.

Frederick Eames Dobbs was born in Danbury, Connecticut in January 1882. He graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Dobbs began teaching at Wentworth Institute in 1911. Williston recruited Dobbs from Pratt Institute as one of the Institute’s original instructors for the Materials of Construction, Estimating and Practical Mathematics courses. 

Dobbs was trained under Williston and became the Institute’s second principal on February 25, 1924. He served for 27 years until his retirement 1951.  

Under his leadership, the Institute improved on Williston's foundation, securing the Institute as a technical leader. In 1930, Wentworth began to require applicants for admission to hold a high school diploma. In 1935, in response to the growing complexity of certain areas of students, the Institute dissolved the One-Year Day Courses that had been offered since 1911. Machine Works and Pattern Making became Two-Year Courses. Courses such as Plumbing, Masonry, and Plastering were terminated. 

During Dobbs’ tenure, women were permitted to serve in staff roles only. However, men were used as secretaries in the Principal's Office through at least the early 1920s. Treasurer Paul Barron Watson relayed a message from a Mr. Alvord to Dobbs. Alvord suggested replacing Dobbs' male stenographers with women because:  

"They would cost less...they are more faithful and conscientious, and do better work in stenography, than men. How do you feel about that?"  

Dobbs replied one week later. He didn't want to hire any females because, "in order to get some sensible level headed woman" she would require the same $25 per week as the male stenographer. Dobbs continued:  

"If we should engage active young women we would probably lose them by marriage, thereby causing frequent changes. We would probably find that an older woman would not be able to get out the volume of work necessary." 

Upon his retirement in 1951, Dobbs joined the Ford Foundation to assist in the formation of technical schools, patterned after Wentworth, in the Middle and Far East. In India he served as a consultant to the Indian government on a commission to develop the nation's small industries. In 1955, Dobbs received the Sixth Annual James H. McGraw Award in Technical Institute Education for his outstanding contributions, leadership, and administrative skill in technical education. 

Dobbs died in New York on October 11, 1962.  

For more information about the Institute during this administration, see the "1924-1952" tab.

Henry Russell Beatty was born in Eastport, Maine in 1906. He graduated from the University of Maine and New York University. After working in business and industry, he joined the faculty of Pratt Institute in New York. There he became Dean of the College of Engineering and Assistant to the President.  

In 1953, Beatty was appointed the first President of Wentworth Institute. During his eighteen years of leadership, Beatty led Wentworth through major changes. In 1954, Wentworth joined Cogswell Polytechnic College, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Ohio Mechanics Institute, Spring Garden Institute to form the Technical Institute Foundation, Inc. The goal of this group was to encourage the growth of technical institute education.

In 1956, Beatty staged a songwriting contest among faculty, staff, and students to submit entries for a new school song. Beatty was not a fan of the Wentworth Institute Alma Mater that had been in place since the early '20s. It was a little too cute for his liking:  

"Twas many years ago, dear boys, a man of high repute, endowed our Alma Mater, the Wentworth Institute..."  

The winning lyricist was Ashlyn Huyck, a mathematics instructor. Edward Whittredge wrote the music. He was the choir director of the Wollaston Congregational Church and a close friend of Beatty’s. Beatty’s Alma Mater remains the school song. 

In 1956, Wentworth amended its charter to begin granting Associate Degrees. A year later, 294 men were the first graduates to receive Associate in Engineering Degrees. Shortly after this in 1957, the Institute began offering Evening Degree Programs. The first class consisted of 136 students. The Civil and Highway Engineering Program also began in September 1957 with 48 students. 

The 1960’s saw Beatty travelling to grow Wentworth’s global relationships. In 1960, Beatty traveled to the Soviet Union as a member of the Engineers' Joint Council Mission. In 1962, Wentworth allied with the newly founded University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.  

The 1960’s also saw a number of program and policy changes. In 1962, the Nuclear Engineering Technology Program began. In 1964, Wentworth finally adopted a non-discrimination policy when hiring faculty and staff. In 1967, after years of fierce campaigning by Beatty, Wentworth Institute became the first two-year technical school to be accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.  

In 1970, Wentworth began a technical training program for “disadvantaged” men of Greater Boston.  

Also in 1970, Wentworth applied to create the Wentworth College of Technology. WCT issued the Institute’s Bachelor’s Degree programs. Beatty was also the President of WCT. Wentworth Institute and WCT would operate as separate bodies until 1977, when the two were incorporated into one body under the name Wentworth Institute of Technology. 

 In 1971, the Summer Technical Internship Program (STIP) for Boston Public Schools or community students begins. Students could earn a full scholarship to Wentworth after attending 2 sessions through the program. 

Beatty’s many changes, however, were not met without pushback. In 1969, students wrote many letters and conducted surveys opposing Beatty’s strict policy on hair. One student wrote, “the length of my hair is a personal matter.” A year later in 1970, students organized S.M.U.T (Student Movement to Undermine Tyranny), in further response to Beatty’s strict dress code, which included specific hair length and facial hair. The group wrote: 

"When a student attends his first Wentworth convocation in the fall of his first year, he is told by Dr. Beatty that he now has the good fortune to be enrolled in the finest two-year technical school in this country. The Wentworth graduate will possess technical knowledge and skill far surpassing that of any other technical institute's graduates, save for MIT and (perhaps) the Caltech men. Employers throughout the nation, says Dr. Beatty, are aware of our valuable skills, and once we have graduated from Wentworth we need never again, it seems, worry about being left jobless or even underpaid. SO WHY THEN if our graduates are held in such regard for their abilities, is the administration of Wentworth afraid that the student will be passed by if his HAIR HAPPENS TO TOUCH HIS COLLAR?" 

Later, they voiced their objections more poetically:

Some rules are for our safety,
"Sideburns are worn short," they said. 
"They get caught easily in drafting pencils, 
"And then you're good as dead." 

"Long hair and beards are not allowed, 
They make you look like a slob 
Like those freaks at Yale and Harvard 
You'll never get a job."

They tell me exactly what I must do 
Each second of the day 
I'm not allowed to think for myself, 
"It's much better for me that way." 

During his time at Wentworth, Beatty was a co-author of the Principles of Industrial Management. Beatty expanded Wentworth's leadership role in technical education and was the twelfth recipient of the James H. McGraw Award of the American Society for Engineering Education. Beatty retired on June 30, 1971. 

Beatty died on September 26, 1972. 

For more information about the Institute during this administration, see the "1953-1971" tab.

Edward T. “Ted” Kirkpatrick was born on January 15, 1925 in Cranbrook, British Columbia. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1947. Kirkpatrick then spent 7 years honing his experience in industry as a mechanical engineer. Kirkpatrick then attended Carnegie Mellon University where he received his Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Mechanical Engineering. In 1958, he began teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and then went to the University of Toledo as the Mechanical Engineering Department Head. Kirkpatrick continued his career in 1964 at Rochester Institute of Technology where he served as Dean of the College of Engineering. Kirkpatrick took over as president of Wentworth Institute in July 1971. 

For the next year, Kirkpatrick shared the administration with Beatty who retained the Presidency of the Wentworth College of Technology until his retirement on June 30, 1972. After Beatty's retirement, the Trustees assigned Kirkpatrick to head both divisions of Wentworth. 

One of Kirkpatrick’s first major changes to the Institute was coeducation. The day he arrived on the Wentworth campus, Kirkpatrick said:  

"My initial thought was, 'Where are the women?' I just couldn't fathom that in this day and age a school could still be all male. It happened that only a few weeks later I had to fill out some government forms justifying the single-sex enrollment at the school. In fact, I couldn't justify it. I sent back the forms saying that it was my hope Wentworth would become coeducational very soon." 

By April of 1972, Kirkpatrick convinced Wentworth’s Board of Trustees, made up of 18 men, on the benefits of coeducation. On April 20, 1972, the Board accepted and ratified the recommendation to admit women to Wentworth. In fall 1972, only five women joined their 2,500 male classmates. They were Virginia Butcher, AET '75; Doris Dennis; Jane Estella, AET '75; Susan Hardt, BCS '74; and Deborah Banks, AET '75. By Kirkpatrick's last year, 1989-90, 437 female students were enrolled at Wentworth, representing 11 percent of the student population. 

Kirkpatrick also faced a difficult problem in hiring female faculty. Lois Ascher became the first in 1972, but their numbers did not increase as steadily as the administration hoped. Kirkpatrick admitted the problem in 1990:  

"Our recruitment of women faculty is not as substantial as I'd like to see it. Part of the problem is the limited number of professional women who have the technical background necessary to teach our students. And these candidates are very much in demand."  

By 2003, women made up 21% of Wentworth's full-time faculty.  

In 1973, Wentworth faculty voted to unionize. The vote greatly displeased Kirkpatrick and the Board of Trustees. In 1975, the union and the administration came to a tentative two-year agreement. In 1977, when it came time to renegotiate, six months of unsuccessful bargaining led 117 Wentworth faculty members to strike. Professors picketed the grounds and classes were cancelled for two full weeks. 

On Friday, December 13th, 1974, Wentworth hosted the first summit conference for student council members from Simmons, Wheelock, Emmanuel, Mount Ida, New England Baptist School of Nursing, and Peter Bent Brigham School of Nursing. 

From 1973 to 1975, Charlie Pheeney, Director of Development, secured three grants totaling $48,000 to research and implement a cooperative education program at Wentworth. 28 mechanical engineering students were the first to be a part of Wentworth’s co-op program. The students enrolled in classes in the fall of 1975 and began the first co-ops in the spring 1976 semester. The program was successful, in part, because Kirkpatrick had experience running a co-op program from his time at Rochester Institute of Technology. 

In 1975, students rallied to change the final exam policy and schedule because finals fell on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 

In 1976, Iranian educators completed training at Wentworth to quality for faculty positions at Shiraz Technical Institute in Iran. 

Under his dual Presidency, Kirkpatrick had been marketing Wentworth Institute and Wentworth College of Technology as separate bodies. Under the “plus-two model” Students could choose to pursue a two-year degree at WI, then graduate, or choose to continue their education at WCT. By 1977, the structure had become redundant. In August of 1977, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved the merger of Wentworth Institute and Wentworth College of Technology creating Wentworth Institute of Technology. 

In June 1978, Wentworth co-sponsored and hosted a conference on women in technical careers. 

In 1981, the Institute expanded to include a weekend college. By 1985, in part because of the Institute’s expanded offerings and commitment to growing the minority student population, enrollment grew to 3,258 students. In the 1980’s, for several years, Wentworth led the nation in engineering technology enrollment and degrees produced. By 1990, minority students comprised 15% of the class. Comparatively, in 1966, 790 men earned degrees; only 7 of these students identified as minorities, or .88%. Under Kirkpatrick’s presidency, enrollment at the Institute doubled. 

In 1984, a number of events happened on campus. The Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. formed an endowed scholarship to support students with unmet financial need; the NCAA elected Wentworth to Division III membership; and Boston’s Mayoral Candidate Mel King spoke on “Blacks in Technology - the Challenges of the 80’s.” 

The Institute went under mor practical changes, as well. Under Kirkpatrick, virtually every lab on campus had some integrated computer component. Material science, nuclear engineering technology, and welding technology degrees were ended and new majors like facilities management, interior design, and architecture replaced them. 

With major growth came major space constraints. New construction was not an option in 1980, but the institute acquired and renovated the Annex and Ira Allen buildings in 1984 instead. The Evans Way residence hall was also renovated in 1987. In 1986, Wentworth acquired East Coast Aerotech to host its aircraft training and maintenance professionals. In 1987, Wentworth acquired Sylvania Technical Schools (renamed Wentworth Technical Schools) for housing courses in avionics/marine electronics and business machine technology. Wentworth would sell East Coast Aerotech in March 1996 and closed WTS in August of the same year.  

In 1989, towards the end of Kirkpatrick’s administration, the Women’s Task Force began meeting.   

In 1989, Kirkpatrick received the American Society of Engineering Education Society's James H. McGraw Award. The award citation noted that he was considered "the leading engineering technology educator in the United States." By the end of his tenure at Wentworth, Kirkpatrick had doubled the school’s enrollment and the size of campus and tripled the school’s endowment. 

Kirkpatrick retired in 1990. 

Kirkpatrick died on November 25, 2007 from renal cancer.

For more information about the Institute during this administration, see the "1971-1990" tab.

John Francis Van Domelen was born on October 19, 1942, in Havana, Cuba. Van Domelen received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from Michigan Technology University in 1964; a Master of Science in Water Reserve Management from University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1972; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering from University Wisconsin in 1974. Van Domelen joined the Air Force, rising to the rank of Colonel in 1988. Van Domelen spent the majority of his academic career at Norwich University in Norwich Vermont. There, he rose from Assistant Professor in 1974 to the Head of the Engineering and Technical department in 1979. He became Head of the Engineering and Technical division in 1983. From 1985-1990, Van Domelen served as the Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Dean of Faculty at Norwich University.  

Van Domelen became WIT’s third President in 1990. 

Under Van Domelen’s leadership, WIT became a fully-fledged baccalaureate institution. In part, due to his military background, Van Domelen favored simplification. His administration incorporated the 20 percent allotment of humanities and social science courses that has become the standard in engineering technology education. Within two years of his arrival at WIT, Van Domelen had reduced the growing academic division of colleges and departments to seven departments, each with a division head that reported to the provost.  

Offered programs also reflected slimness. In 2003, WIT offered only 16 degree programs. In 1983, there were 29 degreed programs. Slimness did not equate to meaninglessness. In 1993, WIT offered two new professional engineering programs: Environmental Engineering and Electromechanical Engineering. Both programs received accreditation from the Engineering Accreditation Commission in 2002. 

In 1994, WIT staff attempted to unionize. With a close vote, the motion did not pass.  

Van Domelen did not seek to grow the student population at WIT. Instead, he calculated that 2,800 total day students fit the needs of campus. In the mid-1990's, however, the Institute saw a drop in enrollment by 30% due to a demographic trough – there were simply not enough 18-year-olds to attend college. By 1997, the school’s population bounced back. By the late 1990’s the school had so many applicants it was able to reject unqualified applicants for the first time. 

In 1995, even with the smaller campus population, formal accommodations for students with disabilities began. Additionally, Admissions hired its first International Admissions Counselor. Van Domelen also increased the amount of financial aid students received from the school. By 2004, 75% of WIT students received some financial aid from WIT. The average award package was $7,800. 

Student focused initiatives continued through the decade. In 1996, Wentworth, Emmanuel College, Simmons University (then, Simmons College), Wheelock College, MCPHS University teamed up to form a consortium called College of the Fenway. MassArt joined three years later. This partnership allowed students to attend classes between campuses, such as foreign language classes. In 1998, Admissions hosted its first Women’s Overnight program in efforts to increase recruitment of women students. The program ended in 2016 and was replaced by admitted student reception for women during Accepted Students Days. In 1999, Wentworth established the first disability services position to provide support and accommodations to students with disabilities. 

In 2001, Wentworth spent $1.5 million upgrading its information technology infrastructure. The digital network was powerful enough to accommodate students using computers in 25 open laboratories and in every dorm room on campus. This timing was purposeful. 2001 was also the first year more students lived on campus than commuted. Commuting students numbered 1,208, whereas 1,505 students lived in Wentworth housing. This was in part due to 610 Huntington residence hall opening in August 2001.  

Sweeney Field was also constructed during Van Domelen’s tenure, committing the school to organized intercollegiate athletics.  

As one of his final events as President, Van Domelen celebrated the Institute’s 100-year anniversary in 2004. Van Domelen retired in May 2005 after 15 years at Wentworth. 

For more information about the Institute during this administration, see the "1990-2005" tab.

Zorica Pantić was born in 1951 in Serbia (then Yugoslavia). 

Pantić earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Niš, Serbia in 1975, 1978, and 1982, respectively. She served as the founding dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and was director of the School of Engineering at San Francisco State University. She also was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a faculty member at the University of Niš, Serbia. She is a graduate of the Harvard Institute for New Presidents (2005) and Experienced Presidents (2010). 

On August 1, 2005, Pantić became Wentworth's fourth and first female President. By doing so, she became the first female engineer to head an institute of technology in the United States.  

Under Pantić’s leadership, Wentworth saw several advancements for female identifying students on campus. In 2007, Wentworth hosted the first  Women@Wentworth event. Professor Regina Berkman was the recipient of the Woman of the Year award. Shannon O’Brien, CEO of the Girl Scouts, was the keynote speaker. The event continues to be one of the most attended at the university and is celebrated on the anniversary of when women were admitted to Wentworth in 1972 each year. In 2017, the Schumann Fitness Center collaborated with the Center for Diversity & Social Justice Programs to implement designed for students who identity as women named Women Lifting Women. The collaboration was borne out of the need for a space where women could feel safe during working out. In 2018, Wentworth awarded the first Women@Wentworth Endowed Scholarship through a partnership with Consigli Construction. Consigli continues to be one of the top supporters of the scholarship. 

Other groups of students also saw a number of improvements under her administration. In 2011, Admissions hosted a Multicultural overnight program to help with the recruitment of diverse students. The program was discontinued after 2012. In 2018, through Wentworth’s EPIC grant initiative, Professors Gloria Ma, Aaron Carpenter, Beth Anne Cooke-Cornell, and Juval Racelis came together to create and implement a workshop on the Impact of Social Conscious on Design Decision Making. 

Military affiliated students also saw improvements. In 2017, Wentworth established two scholarships for ROTC and Veteran students. In 2019, a lounge and study space for Military-Connected students was established in Willson Hall. The space highlights an enduring commitment by Wentworth to support military affiliated students at the university. 

Under her leadership, Wentworth introduced eight new undergraduate programs and five new master’s programs. Campus also grew. Two new residence halls, 525 Huntington and 610 Huntington were built or renovated. The Flanagan Campus Center, the Center for Sciences and Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Engineering, Innovation and Sciences (CEIS) were completed. 

In part, due to Pantić’s efforts, in 2017, Wentworth Institute of Technology was granted university status. 

Pantić retired as President of Wentworth on May 31, 2019, after 14 years of leadership. 

For more information about the Institute during this administration, see the "2005-2019" tab.

For information on the current administration, visit:

• https://wit.edu/about/president