Yesterday, I showed my new student assistant how to "process" some faculty files that we received from Media Relations.  These are files of article reprints, news clippings, photographs and bios regarding faculty that are no longer associated with RPI for various reasons.  We sort this material and file it into our photograph and faculty/alum biographical collections.  I pulled out a file to illustrate what should be done with the different types of material and there he was -- the prof in Mystery Image #8

Bravo to our blog readers.  All of the mystery images that have been posted thus far have been identified!  So let's move on to the next image. This must be a very serious scholar (You've seen pictures of Da Vinci haven't you??).  Can you put a name with this face?

When did the first students from China come to RPI?  This question was asked during our open house event recently.  A quick answer was readily available in an alumni directory, but my curiosity was piqued and I decided to dig a little deeper. Two students from Guangzhou (once referred to as Canton) arrived at RPI in the fall of 1878 and roomed together at a boarding house on Second St.  The students were Kwok S. Loh and Wing Chung Pawn. 

I was recently asked a question about RPI memorabilia so I thought I would share an example of what we have in our collection. We receive donations from alums, their families and other generous people.  We also regularly troll Ebay looking for RPI related material to add to our collections. (BTW, we NEVER sell anything on ebay!!) We've been able to acquire commencement programs, sports media guides, photographs and memorabilia. A fun item that we purchased this past year is the silver bracelet pictured below.

It's funny how two unrelated people can look so similar. You may have noticed from some of the comments about the mystery images, that their identity can easily be mistaken. A faithful and helpful reader of this blog pointed out to me (offline ;) ) that one of the images in my last post was not the same person as the other two images. Once I had a name for the photo below — Dr. Ivor Preiss — I could compare it to other photographs in our collection. He was right and I have egg on my face!

I have two different views of this prof for you to consider and therefore two photos that need to be filed in the right place. The computer in the first view may help place him in time. I was curious about the sign below the prof in the computer picture so I enlarged it and it reads: IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE INCAPABLE OF USING THIS COMPUTER SO GET OFF IT! (OR LEARN TO LEAVE A CLEAN WORKSPACE BEHIND)

I kind of have a feeling that I should know who this guy is -- but I don't. Architecture -- got that. Professor -- check. If it's obvious to everyone but me, then so be it. Let the comments roll! How about that pointer -- doesn't it seem a little out of proportion? Maybe everything looks bigger next to a small scale model!

This photo really intrigues me! In all of my RPI history travels, which includes extensive research for exhibits on student clubs and student traditions, I haven't found an explanation for this image. I hope I stumble across something someday that will help me identify this curiously dressed group of men! I'm dying to know what they were up to. Was this an early LARP club?!

Finals week is coming to an end, and from my vantage point (limited as it may be), it has been very quiet on campus this week. It definitely feels like the semester is winding down. On the job, I often live in the past ;) and today I wondered how very different it must have been here 38 years ago this week in May.

This is a two-for-one special — ID this person and two unidentified photos find a home! The first photo brings back bad memories of organic chemistry. The 3D molecules that he's holding didn't help me at all. There are some more clues in the second photo. We see a chemistry lab nicely staged with students doing experiments, including a woman with hair and socks that look like trends of the late '80s — which coincidentally was the era when I dropped organic chemistry. :) Who is this prof who kindly shows us what he looks like with and without glasses?