Dates

• Existence: March 6, 1900 - April 9, 1990

Biography

A. W. Grosvenor was a member of the faculty for 36 years, from 1930 to 1966, and was the first head of the Metallurgical Engineering department, serving in that role from 1948 to January 1st, 1963.

He was born on March 6, 1900 in Piqua, Ohio and married Dorothy Ella Doering on July 26, 1927. Their daughter, Nancy, was born in April 1930.

Grosvenor worked as a machinist, toolmaker, patternmaker, draftsman, and tool and die designer until he graduated in 1926 from Ohio State University with a degree in engineering. Prior to joining Drexel's faculty, he was the Chief Metallurgist at Laclede Steel Company in St. Louis from 1927 to 1930. He also worked as a Metallurgical Engineer for Westinghouse Electric Company from 1943 to 1945 in Lester Pennsylvania, and after retirement from Drexel he continued to work as a consultant.

He was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Material Engineering department in 1930, was promoted to Associate and then Full Professor, and when the Metallurgical Engineering department was formed, Grosvenor was chosen to be its first head, a role he held for 15 years.

Grosvenor received awards for teaching, including the Albert Easton White Award for Distinguished teaching from the American Society for Metals (ASM) in 1963 and the Christian R. and Mary Linkbach Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching from Drexel in 1962.

His professional memberships included the American Society for Engineering Education, the American Institution of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), and the Franklin Institute.

He and his wife Dorothy D. Grosvenor were contributors to Basic Metallurgy (1954) and Metals Inside Out (1940), textbooks published by ASM. Dorothy, an instructor in the Metallurgical Engineering department, also assisted her husband's research as a lab technician.

Grosvenor is an Honorary Member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, in recognition of his support of the first women to enter Drexel's engineering programs in 1943, as faculty advisor to a student group that formally became the Society of Women Engineers in 1946. This initial cohort of Drexel alumnae played a key role in the formation of the Society of Women Engineers as a nation-wide professional organization.

He died on April 9, 1990.

Bibliography

"Alvah Whitney Grosvenor Jr." Find A Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8329951/alvah-whitney-grosvenor. Accessed 23 June 2022.

Department of Public Relations, Drexel Institute of Technology. September 18, 1962. "Appointment of Dr. George Deiter as Professor and Co-Head of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering [Press Release]. Grosvenor, A. W. [Folder Title] . Biographical Reference collection (UR.10.002). Drexel University Archives. 23 June 2022.

Department of Public Relations, Drexel Institute of Technology. September 25, 1963. "Professor A. W. Grosvenor Will Receive the Albert Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award [Press Release]." Grosvenor, A. W. [Folder Title]. Biographical Reference collection (UR.10.002). Drexel University Archives. 23 June 2022.

"Questionnaire for Public Relations Files." 1963. Grosvenor, A. W. [Folder Title]. Biographical Reference collection (UR.10.002). Drexel University Archives. 23 June 2022.

"Grosvenor, Dorothy D." Biographical Reference collection (UR.10.002) Drexel University Archives.

"Notable Members." Society of Women Engineers, Philadelphia Chapter. https://philadelphia.swe.org/hall-of-fame-a---l.html. Accessed 23 June 2022.

"Prof. Grosvenor Ends Service, Founded Metallurgical School." Drexel Triangle, 4 June 1965, p. 3.