Augustus Trowbridge

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. He attended St. Paul's Military Academy, Phillips Academy Andover, and had tutors in France and Italy. At Columbia, he became a member of the Delta Phi fraternity.

Career From 1898 to 1900, he was a physics instructor at the University of Michigan. 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. In 1919, he returned to Princeton and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He left Princeton to serve as an executive director in Paris of the International Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1925 to 1928.

Death Trowbridge died on March 14, 1934, in Taormina, Sicily, Italy while on vacation with his wife. He was buried on March 29, 1934, in Princeton Cemetery. Legion of Honour, April 4, 1919 Distinguished Service Order by King George V, July 18, 1919 Order of St. Olav