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History 1908-1965 Part 5
There were six engineers on the faculty during the 1930's but Engineering and Mathematics departments were combined and most engineers doubled in both. John Mason Young taught structural design on a part-time basis. Ernest Webster was Dean of Student Personnel for the University and also taught engineering mathematics and surveying. Carl B. Andrews, chairman of the engineering department, carried a full load of courses. He was also a member of the Territorial Board of Engineering Examiners. The normal full-time teaching load was fifteen or sixteen semester hours. Russell Brinker, a young instructor in engineering, taught mechanical drawing, surveying, and mathematics. W. J. Holmes, also an instructor, who joined the engineering faculty in 1936 at an advanced salary of $2400 per year, taught a mixed bag of physics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, and mathematics, varying each semester as the need arose. (One semester, in an emergency caused by the death of the regular instructor, he taught a course in sugar technology.) Alvin Hoy, a mathematician who had his office in the engineering quadrangle, taught all the calculus courses. Willard Eller, from the physics department, taught electrical engineering courses.
Arthur Keller was vice-president of the University as well as Dean of the College of Applied Science. He taught six or eight semester hours of engineering courses each semester. In addition he was a director of Queen's Hospital, and a member of the first Hawai`i Housing Authority. With his life-long interest in public health, he pioneered University courses in nursing, including a program in public health nursing, and a four-year curriculum in medical technology. His short figure, carrying a brief case full of books, hurrying across campus between meetings and classes, was a familiar sight to all engineering students of that period.
In 1940-41 there were 100 engineering students in the College of Applied Science. The curriculum in Civil Engineering required 150 semester hours of academic work compared with 122 semester hours required for a Bachelor of Arts degree. With the world at war, many engineering students wanted to take advanced ROTC and qualify for a Reserve Commission in the Army as well as a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Five years to complete these requirements was more nearly the norm than the exception.