Augustus Trowbridge (January 2, 1870 – March 14, 1934) was a physics professor and dean at Princeton University.
Early life
Augustus Trowbridge was born on January 2, 1870, in Brooklyn, New York to Cornelia Polhemus (née Robinson) and George Alfred Trowbridge.[1][2] He attended St. Paul's Military Academy, Phillips Academy Andover, and had tutors in France and Italy.[1][2]
Trowbridge married Sarah Esther Fulton on September 20, 1893.[1][2] She was the daughter of clergyman Justin Dewey Fulton of St. Louis, Boston and Brooklyn. Together, they had three children: George, Cornelius and Katherine. Katherine died from the Spanish flu on October 7, 1918.[1]
He spoke fluent French, German, and Italian.[1][4]
Career
From 1898 to 1900, he was a physics instructor at the University of Michigan.[1][5] He took over some teaching duties for Henry Smith Carhart when he became sick. In 1900, he accepted an invitation to become an assistant professor of mathematical physics at the University of Wisconsin, following his friend Robert W. Wood. He then worked with Charles E. Mendenhall on the optical properties of materials. In 1903, he was promoted to full professor.[1][2]
In the fall of 1906, Trowbridge joined Princeton University as a physics professor.[1][3] He remained there until 1917. Prior to the start of World War I, Trowbridge was elected to the National Research Council. He was nominated by Mendenhall and Robert A. Millikan to the American Sound and Flash Ranging Service. He was commissioned as a major of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Trowbridge went to France in September 1917 and studied flash and sound ranging operations on the French and British fronts. He was transferred to the Engineers Corps and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.[1]