Ernest Fox Nichols papers, A1083

Ernest Fox Nichols was a professor of physics at Colgate University from 1892-1898. He went on to a distinguished career as a physicist, professor, and administrator.

Nichols was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, on June 1, 1869. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Kansas Agricultural College in 1888 and a Master and Doctorate of Science from Cornell University.

After leaving Colgate, he spent time at numerous research institutes and universities. His positions included professor of physics at Dartmouth College (1898-1903), Columbia University (1903-1909), and Yale University (1916-1920). He went on to serve as president of Dartmouth (1909-1916), president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1921), and Director of Pure Science at Nela Research Laboratories in Cleveland, Ohio (1920-1921, 1922-1924). Awards he received over the course of his career included the Rumsford Medal of the American Academy of Art and Sciences (1905) and an honorary doctorate from Colgate (1909). He died on April 29, 1924.

Elmer William Smith, ed. Colgate University General Catalogue, vol. 2, (Hamilton, NY: Colgate University, 1939), 15.