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MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
EUGENE L. GRANT
(1897 - 1996)
Eugene L. Grant, Professor of Economics of Engineering at Stanford, was a
profound scholar, an inspiring teacher, a mentor who influenced the careers of
many both in academia and industry, an excellent writer, a distinguished
engineer, and a pioneer in engineering education. He is well known worldwide
for his textbooks Principles of Engineering Economy, first published in 1930 and
now in its eighth edition (1990, co-authored with W. G. Ireson and Richard
Leavenworth) and Statistical Quality Control, first published in 1946 and now in
its seventh edition (1996, co-authored with Richard Leavenworth). He also
authored Basic Accounting and Cost Accounting (1956) and co-authored with
Paul T. Norton Depreciation (1949), and he was the co-editor with W. G. Ireson
of the Handbook of Industrial Engineering and Management.
A primary object of both his textbooks and his classroom lectures was to
develop in his students an ability to find practical solutions to real problems.
An underlying philosophy of his was that engineers have a great responsibility
for the way the world is changed, and thus it is not sufficient to train engineers
technically because they also must be concerned with the broader needs of the
community. In 1978, Professor Grant was honored with a California State
Assembly resolution stating that his "numerous and invaluable contributions
to his community, state, and nation, all for the benefit of his fellow man, [are]
deserving of special recognition and the highest commendation."
Gene Grant was born in Chicago and graduated from Hyde Park High
School. He received the Bachelor of Science degree from the University of
Wisconsin in 1917, served in the Navy in World War I, worked with the U.S.
Geological Survey, and beginning in 1920, became a member of the civil
engineering faculty at Montana State College in Bozeman. In 1991, at age 94, he
described his introduction to engineering economy:
[In my first year at Montana State,] I was given the option of teaching or
not teaching a course called 'Engineering Economics.' Even though I had never
heard of the subject, I elected to teach a course on it. That decision affected the
reset of my life. While reading J.C.L. Fish's book on engineering economics, I
discovered how engineering decisions should be related to money. The
amazing thing to me was that in all my undergraduate days, nobody had ever
mentioned to me that it made any difference how much anything cost. I
decided that I wanted to know more. Over the next several years, I became
more acquainted with that particular area of engineering through various
activities. I took a year's leave of absence without academic pay to work with
utility companies in the Chicago area. I went to summer school at the
University of Washington, taking courses in the Economics Department. I
spent another summer attending classes at the University of Wisconsin. When
I had a sabbatical leave in 1927-28, I earned a master's degree in economics from
Columbia University.
He also tells how his interest in engineering economy led to his interest
in statistics and the statistical control of quality in production:
During my sabbatical, I also wanted to start writing a book on engineering
economics. The only advice I was given was that the Bell Telephone System
could provide the best guidance in this field. While in New York, I took
advantage of a contact I had with General R.I. Rees, an assistant vice president at
AT&T. I interviewed a fair number of people at AT&T that year. To prepare for
these interviews, I read many Bell System publications, including the Bell
Systems Technical Journal. At the time, [Walter] Shewhart and [Harold] Dodge
had been writing about early concepts and developments in statistical quality
control. So when I had a chance to select people to interview, I chose Shewhart
and Dodge.
In 1930, I came to Stanford, invited by Professor [J.C.L.] Fish. He had just
been made head of the Civil Engineering Department and was due to retire in
about five years. He wanted his work in engineering economics to be carried on
at Stanford. He gave me some instructions as to what he wanted me to teach.
Along with a fair number of civil engineering courses, I was to teach a short
elective course in statistics for engineers. I conducted this course once a year
throughout the 1930's and into the '40's. In this two unit elective course, I
covered, among other things, Shewart (sic? SHEWHART) and Dodge's ideas; although looking
back, I really didn't understand them very well.
From 1941 through 1944, he directed the Engineering, Science, and
Management War Training program at Stanford, where in conjunction with
Holbrook Working, he helped develop an intensive short course on Quality
Control by Statistical Methods for key personnel of war industries. This course
and its follow-up seminars became the model for a nationwide programs of
similar courses sponsored jointly by the War Production Board and the United
States Office of Education. Alumni of these courses formed the American
Society for Quality Control in 1946. During a sabbatical in 1945, Grant turned
his notes from the short course into Statistical Quality Control, the first textbook
published on the topic.
Gene Grant was the executive head of the Department of Civil
Engineering from 1947 to 1956 and was chairman of the Committee on
Industrial Engineering from 1945 to 1952. Moreover, he was responsible, either
directly or indirectly, for the establishment of the departments of Industrial
Engineering, Engineering Economic Systems, and Operations Research in
Stanford's School of Engineering. In addition, he was instrumental in the
development of programs in Engineering Economic Planning (later
Infrastructure Planning and Management) and Construction Engineering and
Management, both in the Civil Engineering Department.
Professor Grant, a very modest man, never referred to his many honors.
He received the 1952 Shewhart Medal from the American Society for Quality
Control (ASQC) and was award honorary membership in the society in 1968. In
1966, ASQC established an annual E.L. Grant Award for distinguished
contributions to quality control education. He was one of three honorary
academicians of the International Academy for Quality. In 1964, he received a
distinguished service citation from the College of Engineering at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison for his work in engineering economics and statistical
quality control. In 1965, the Engineering Economy Division of the American
Society of Engineering Education established an annual E.L. Grant award for the
best paper in each volume of The Engineering Economist. Professor Grant
received the Founders Award from the American Institute of Industrial
Engineering in 1965 and the Wellington Award in 1979. In 1973, he was
awarded an honorary doctorate in civil engineering at Montana State
University. In 1987 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering,
and at the time of his death, he was the oldest living member of the Academy.
He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (Fellow),
American Society for Engineering Education, American Society for Quality
Control (Fellow), American Statistical Association (Fellow), Institute of
Mathematical Statistics, Econometric Society, Tau Bet Pi, Sigma Xi, and the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow).
Gene Grant married Mildred Livingston on September 4, 1923. They
enjoyed the symphony and the theater and were fans of Stanford basketball. He
was scorer for Stanford's basketball team in the '30's and '40's. He also
volunteered as a stage hand in the drama department in the '30's.
The Grants' daughter, Nancy Grant Chamberlain, died with her husband
and four sons in an airline crash in 1961. The Grants established the Nancy
Grant Chamberlain Memorial Scholarship Fund at Stanford in her memory.
Mildred died in 1980. Gene married his cousin, the former Dorothy Northrup
in 1985. She died in 1989. He is survived by his stepson, Robert Northup of
Lake Luzern, New York. Professor Grant was buried in Bozeman, Montana.
Robert V. Oakford, Chair
James M. Gere
James V. Jucker
Jeffrey R. Koseff
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