For about four years after his graduation from Stevens he was Chief Engineer of the Pintsch Lighting Company, New York, becoming in 1885 superintendent of construction of the United Gas Improvement Company, Philadelphia, and within a few months General Superintendent and Chief Engineer. He was in charge of the contracting and purchasing departments of all the company’s gas and electric properties, which increased during his incumbency from ten to about forty. He rebuilt and reorganized many of the plants and inaugurated a plan of centralized management. At the same time he directed a large contracting business in connection with the erection of water-gas plants and during its reorganization was manager of the Welsbach Incandescent Gas Light Company. In 1892, with Arthur G. Glasgow, he established the firm of Humphreys & Glasgow, London, England, for the erection of water-gas plants and apparatus. In 1894, he resigned from the United Gas Improvement Co. and became the active head of Humphreys & Glasgow, New York. In 1909, the New York firm was incorporated and in 1911, when Alten S. Miller entered the firm, was changed to Humphreys & Miller, Inc. Dr. Humphreys has since withdrawn from partnership in the London house. The firm has had a most successful and honourable career in the consulting field and Humphreys & Glasgow gas plants have been installed all over the world.

As President of Stevens Institute of Technology, to which he was called in 1902, his life has been given its greatest opportunity for service. He brought into his administration a large fund of practical experience and under his progressive guidance the Institute has grown to be one of the very first technical schools in the country. The recent acquisition of adjoining property and the raising of a large endowment by Dr. Humphreys insure the future for which he has ably planned.

The president of a progressive educational institution of to-day must ably administer existing affairs, and add to its equipment; he must not alone live in the midst of his books and his students, but must be their representative to the public, must know what financial recommendations are to be made, must appeal in the right way for endowments. He must be able as a financier, skilled in the handling of men, and an expert in education.

His monumental work as President of the Institute is well known. The course was always a practical and common sense one, but Dr. Humphreys has made many changes and additions. The principles of accountancy and of the law of contracts are taught and the whole course is shaped to meet the actual conditions of life that will be met by the students after graduation. The professors and instructors are encouraged to do work outside of their Institute duties so that they may be as far as possible in touch with current business and professional problems. Under these influences the student is not only taught many useful subjects not ordinarily considered part of an engineering course, but what may be even more important, is taught his own limitations and the advisability of securing advice on subjects that he does not fully grasp.

Dr. Humphreys received the degree of Sc.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1903, and that of LL.D. from Columbia, 1903, New York University, 1906, Princeton, 1907, Rutgers, 1914, and Brown, 1914. He is Past-President of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the United Engineering Society, the American Gas Light Association and the American Gas Institute; a Fellow of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers; and a member of many other technical and scientific societies. He is Past-President of the Engineers’ Club, New York, a life member and first Vice-President of St. Andrew’s Society of the State of New York, a member and Past President of the New York Canadian and New York Burns Societies, and a member of many clubs. As a trustee and member of the executive committee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, his influence is distinctly felt in every higher institution of learning in the United States. He is author of many papers and lectures on technical and engineering subjects, and his book, The Business Features of Engineering Practice, is widely known.

It is easy for one who has had even a brief association with Dr. Humphreys to understand how he is able to accomplish so much more than the average man. He has an almost unlimited capacity for work, together with a magnificent physique, which enable him to undergo physical and mental strain that few men could endure. His force, high standards and personal magnetism attract all who know him, and inspire others to work for him as they would not work for themselves. He has the courage of his convictions, recognizes no obstacle, and never takes a step without fully understanding where it will lead. He has an infinite grasp of detail and never takes up any subject without going to the bottom of it.