Boyd Bartlett
As a West Point cadet
Born
Boyd Wheeler Bartlett

(1897-06-20)June 20, 1897
Castine, Maine
DiedJune 24, 1965(1965-06-24) (aged 68)
Castine, Maine
Burial placeCastine Cemetery
Education
Occupation(s)Military officer, educator, physicist
SpouseHelen A. Allen

Boyd Wheeler Bartlett (1897–1965) was an American military officer, professor, school administrator, and physicist.

Early life and education

Boyd Bartlett was born in Castine, Maine on June 20, 1897.[1][2] He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1917. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1919 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.[1] With the reductions in the military ranks in progress in the years following World War I, many officers resigned their commissions during those years, as did Bartlett in 1922. He was granted a doctorate from Columbia University in 1933. He did postgraduate studies and research with Arnold Sommerfeld at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich from 1934 to 1935. While in Munich, he co-authored two papers with Sommerfeld[3][4] on theoretical electromagnetism.[5][6][7][8]

Career

After Bartlett returned from Europe, he began a teaching career in physics at Bowdoin College as professor of physics. When World War II started, he was called up as a colonel and assigned to the United States Military Academy. The head of the physics department there, Gerald Counts, was reassigned to Europe, and Bartlett stepped in as acting head of the department. When Counts returned after the war, Bartlett served as deputy head of the department, later, through a number of reorganizations and departmental name changes, he became head of the department of electricity, predecessor to the department of electrical engineering. He retained this position until his retirement and promotion to brigadier general in 1958.[5][8]

Later life and legacy

Bartlett died in Castine, Maine on June 24, 1965, and was buried at Castine Cemetery.[2]

Since 1952 at the U. S. Military Academy, an award for excellence in electrical engineering has been a tradition. In 1981, it was named the Brigadier General Boyd Wheeler Bartlett, USA Honor Award.[9]

Honors

Selected literature

Notes

  1. ^ a b Cullum, George Washington (1920). Robinson, Wirt (ed.). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. From Its Establishment, in 1802, to 1890. Vol. VI-B: 1910–1920. Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy. p. 2063. Retrieved December 17, 2022 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b "Brig. Gen. Boyd Bartlett, 68, Retired Educator, Dies". Bangor Daily News. Castine. June 25, 1965. p. 20. Retrieved December 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Arnold Sommerfeld and B. W. Bartlett Über die longitudinale Widerstandsänderung im Magnetfelde nach der elementaren Theorie, Physikalische Zeitschrift 36 894-899 (1935) as cited in Arnold Sommerfeld Bibliography Archived October 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine – Sommerfeld Project.
  4. ^ Arnold Sommerfeld and B. W. Bartlett Über die longitudinale Widerstandsänderung im Magnetfelde nach der elementaren Theorie, Zeitschrift für technische Physik 16 500 (1935) as cited in Arnold Sommerfeld Bibliography Archived October 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine – Sommerfeld Project.
  5. ^ a b West Point – Brig. Gen. Boyd Wheeler Bartlett
  6. ^ Bowdoin College Archived September 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine – Class of 1917, Boyd Wheeler Bartlett
  7. ^ a b Citation Archived September 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine – Honorary Degree, 1949, Boyd Wheeler Bartlett
  8. ^ a b Sommerfeld Biography Archived September 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine – American Philosophical Society
  9. ^ AFCEA - Brig. Gen. Boyd Wheeler Bartlett, USA, Honor Award
  10. ^ a b As cited in Arnold Sommerfeld Bibliography Archived October 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine – Sommerfeld Project
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