Index
Scholarships
The George I. Alden Scholarship
The George I. Alden Scholarship, established in 1989 by a grant from the George I. Alden Trust of Worcester, Mass., is awarded to minority students.
George I. Alden earned money to attend Harvard’s Lawrence School of Science by working in furniture factories. After graduating, he taught mechanical engineering for 28 years at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Alden and his colleague at WPI, Milton Higgins, were nationally recognized in the 1880s and 1890s “for their espousal of an engineering education that combined practice with theory.”
In 1885, Alden and Higgins partnered with other businessmen to establish Norton Emery Wheel Company, of which Alden became treasurer. By 1896, Alden and Higgins had invented a dynamometer that measured the power of a variety of machines and the first hydraulic elevators. They also established and directed the second hydraulic laboratory in the U.S. As president and chairman of Norton Company, Alden later pioneered one of the company’s first programs to help employees to acquire further education.
Aside from a successful career in business, Alden continued to invest in education. After 1896, he became a trustee of WPI, a trustee of the newly established Worcester Boys Trade School, and a prominent member of the Worcester School Committee. He established his charitable foundation, The George I. Alden Trust, in 1912.
June 2014
Please note: The named scholarships profiled on these pages are awarded as part of the College’s need-based financial aid packages. These funds help ensure the Hamilton Promise of keeping education affordable through meeting a student’s full demonstrated financial need.
Materials published here were diligently researched and written by students who strived for historical accuracy.
