Dr. Charlie
Тлкс
n dose of Chemistry, mix in
llie Junior Order, add Meredith
College, a youthful heart, ai
cheery disposition and ai golden
voice, mix 1 110
г о
u g li I y, aind
you’ve got Dr. Brener.
Ill # R. C. LAWRENCE
ONE of the grandfather*' of my
subject) Dr. Samuel Wait, was
the first president of Wake
Forest College, and the Brewers have
been at Wake Forest ever since. My
.-ubject was born there July 12. ISfiO.
ju*l missing seeing Sherman's array
pas* through Wake County, of which
event his former colleague Dr. Need¬
ham Y. Gulley retained such a vivid
recollection. He took his Master's de¬
gree at Wake Forest in 1886, took
postgraduate work there in chemistry,
pursued similar work for two years
at Johns Hopkins, and took his Ph.D.
from Cornell in 1000.
In 1880 lie was elected ns profes¬
sor of chemistry at Wake Forest,
where ho remained until 1015. During
his last three years at Wake Forest he
served ns Dean in addition to his
other duties. His work at Wake Forest
made him an outstanding figure in
the field of chemistry, and he wrote
his name deep into the hearts and lives
of those who sat under him. He served
Wake Forest for a full generation,
and I never knew a student there who
did not like the Doctor.
His Election at Meredith
Wake Forest has n way of produc¬
ing big col logo presidents such as Dr.
Thurman D. Kitchin. president of
Wake Forest; Dr. Enoch Walter
Sikes, president of Cleinson: Dr.
Spright Dowell, president of Mercer,
on down through a list embracing
more than fifty college presidents. So
when Meredith needed a president
hack in 1015, its trustees naturally
turned to Wake Forest for the man.
But who should bo chosen; for there
was a wealth of material from which
to select. Meredith was a woman’s
college, and *o was Chowan College
at Murfreesboro, where for many
years Professor John B. Brewer had
rendered such conspicuous service as
its president. Why not get his brother,
Dr. Charter* K. Brewer, to serve as
president of Meredith i No sooner
thought than done, and our subject
became president of Meredith in
НИ.*,
so remaining until his voluntary re¬
tirement last year to become president
emeritus, ami professor of chemistry,
for he does not propose to give up
that.
The Doctor has just rounded out
his first fifty years as a college pro¬
fessor, and they always told me that
the first fifty years were the hardest.
This year he has started going to
summer school all over again, ami he
begins the second year of the last half
of his first century as an educator, with
a spring in his step, ii cheery note in
his voice, which bespeaks the youth¬
ful heart. For after all it is not a
question of how old are a man’s ar¬
teries, but how old is his heart. I cun
Q.E.D. this theorem bv such men as
Dr. M. C. S. Noble of the University.
Dr. B. F. Sledd of Wake Forest, Dr.
Wallace C. Riddick of State. Dr. K. L.
Flowers of Duke, Dr. J. I. Foust of
the Woman'* College, or Dr. Walter
L. l.inglc of Davidson.
Under the Doctor'* administration,
Meredith was moved from its cramped
single block in the heart of Raleigh
to its present beautiful and spacious
home on the outskirts of the city; its
present buildings, plant and equip¬
ment were provided, the college
courses of instruction have been ex¬
tended; considerable additions have
been made to its faculty; its student
body lias boon largely increased. For
the Doctor is ns able a business man
and ns outstanding ns nn administra¬
tor, as lie is in the field of letters and
of scholarship.
A Renouned Chemist
Of course he knows all about chem¬
istry.
Лак
him what H2804 i- and
the Doctor tells you instantly that it
is citrate of carborundum dehydrate
(I believe these are the correct terms) ;
and he knows all the atoms, protons
and neutrons so intimately that he
calls them by their first names, and
W
they all call him Charlie. Some of hi*
students claim that the Doctor doe-
not have to make either a quantitative
or a qualitative analysis to delect tile
presence of hydrogen sulphide, hut
can tell it from its odor alone. No
doubt this is an exaggeration, for you
know how college hoys and girls have
a way of bragging about the abilities
of a professor they chnnee to admire.
The Doctor has done wide service
in other fields. He was for years Sec¬
retary of the State Baptist Conven¬
tion; he belongs to the State Literary
and Historical Association : the
Teachers Assembly; and all the Chem¬
ical Societies on earth.
Now we get down to the thing at
which he really works, which i- the
Junior Order of United American
Mechanics. I could understand why a
physicist should be interested in the
Juniors, for his field embrace* me¬
chanics. but why
и
chcini-l diould be¬
come interested is beyond me. Maybe
it was because the uiechniiie Archi¬
medes said that if he had a lever suffi¬
ciently long, he could move the world.
Well, the Doctor's lever is not unite
that long, but he has certainly been
moving things here in Carolina for
many years.
The Doctor is a former State Coun¬
cillor of the Junior Order; he was
National Councillor 1031-1933; and
he served as trustee of the Junior
Orphan's Homes for twenty-four
years. The home of the Orphanage of
the Juniors was loeuted at Tiffin.
( Continued on /xitje lu-mly-tu-o)
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