Dates

• Existence: 1825-1900
• Existence: 1825 - 1900

Biographical Note

Dascom Greene, educator, was born in Richmond, Ontario county, N.Y., June 15, 1825; son of Benoni and Oracy (Clark). His ancestors were from New England and he descended on the maternal side from Col. William Clark of the Revolutionary army. During his years in school he became impressed by the glaring defects in the methods of instruction then prevalent, and his views on that subject were afterward embodied in a series of articles on science teaching published in 1855, in which he suggested some of the improvements in methods of elementary instruction afterward adopted. His interest in that subject led him to enter upon a course of study at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., the pioneer institution in the United States in the use of practical methods in higher education. Greene graduated from RPI in 1853, became assistant in mathematics, 1853-55, professor of mathematics and astronomy for thirty-eight years, 1855-93, and was made professor emeritus in 1893. From 1864 until the time of his resignation he served as librarian of the institute. In 1868 he became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He declined an appointment to the chair of mathematics and astronomy at Lehigh University in 1874, and an informal offer of a like position at Cornell University in 1875. He was married in 1859 to Sara Irene Parsons of Utica, N.Y., who died in 1861, and their only son, William, died in 1864. He was married in 1866 to Elvira Dickerman of Troy, N.Y. Professor Greene was the author of text-books on Spherical and Practical Astronomy (1891), and Integral Calculus (1892). He died at Troy, N.Y., Aug. 6, 1900. [Edited from The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume IV. ]

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