Though most of the men of attainment in science have continued in University positions, Robert S. Woodward, 72_e_, President of the Carnegie Institution, Charles F. Brush, '69_e_, the inventor of the arc light, Otto Klotz, '72_e_, Director of the Dominion of Canada Observatory at Ottawa, William W. Campbell, '86_e_, Director of the Lick Observatory, and Heber D. Curtiss, '92, at the same observatory, may be mentioned as exceptions. All but the last were graduates of the Engineering Department, among whose graduates are also to be numbered A.A. Robinson, '69_e_, the late President of the Santa Fé and Mexican Central railroads, Alfred Noble, '70_e_, until his death the leading American engineer, Henry G. Prout, '71_e_, one time governor of the Equatorial Provinces of Africa and later editor of the _Railroad Gazette_, Cornelius Donovan, '72_e_, the builder of the great jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi, Joseph Ripley, '76, the designer of the Panama Canal locks, and Howard Coffin, '03, automobile engineer, and chairman of the war-time aviation board.
Aside from the graduates of the Medical School who have made distinguished records on other medical faculties, the names of many prominent practitioners and medical writers might be mentioned, including Edmund Andrews, '49, '52_m_, an organizer of the Medical School of Northwestern University, and founder of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, Lewis S.F. Pilcher, '66_m_, the founder of _The Annals of Surgery_, William J. Mayo, '83_m_, the distinguished surgeon of Rochester, Minnesota, and Woods Hutchinson, '84_m_, of New York, a popular writer on medical subjects. Among the Michigan graduates who have made a record in the legal profession are to be found an unusual number of distinguished occupants of the bench, including William L. Day, '70, of the United States Supreme Court, who was Secretary of State under McKinley and Chairman of the Board of Peace Commissioners after the war with Spain, William B. Gilbert, '72_l_, Judge of the Ninth U.S. Circuit at Portland, Oregon, Loyal E. Knappen, '73, and Arthur Dennison, '83_l_, of the Sixth Circuit, and Francis E. Baker, '82_l_, of the Seventh Circuit. There are twelve other Michigan graduates in the Federal District judiciary in addition to John E. Carland, _l_'74-'75, Circuit Judge assigned to the Court of Commerce at Washington, and Fenton W. Booth, '92_l_, of the U.S. Court of Claims. Among legal authors are Melvin M. Bigelow, '66, '68_l_, Dean of the Boston University Law School, and recognized authority on jurisprudence and legal history, William W. Cook, '80, '82_l_, who not only has been a great benefactor to the University, but is perhaps the best-known author on private corporations, as well as counsel for several of the leading telegraph and cable companies.