Estevan Antonio Fuertes
Estevan A. Fuertes | |
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Born | May 10, 1838 |
Died | January 16, 1903 | (aged 64)
Education | Troy Polytechnic Institute, BSCE |
Occupation | Engineer |
Spouse(s) | Mary Stone Perry |
Children | James Hillhouse Fuertes, Louis Agassiz Fuertes |
Engineering career | |
Discipline | Civil engineering, Astronomy |
Institutions | Cornell University |
Estevan Antonio Fuertes (May 10, 1838 San Juan, Puerto Rico – January 16, 1903 Ithaca, New York) was a Puerto Rican-American civil engineer and professor of astronomy at Cornell University.
Biography[]
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Estevan Antonio Fuertes was the son of Estevan and Demetria Cherbonnier Fuertes. He received his education at Salamanca, Spain, and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York.
From 1861 to 1863, he was assistant engineer in the Department of Public Works, Puerto Rico, and subsequently served as director of public works for the western district of that island. Coming to the United States in 1864, he was successively assistant engineer and engineer to the Croton Aqueduct Board, and prepared a valuable report on the connection of the Croton water supply with the manufactures of New York City.
From 1870 to 1871, he was chief engineer of the American Isthmian Canal expeditions to Tehuantepec and Nicaragua to investigate and report on the practicability of a ship canal connecting the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean
In 1873, he was appointed founding dean of the Civil Engineering Department of Cornell University, and from 1890 to 1902 directed the Cornell's College of Civil Engineering advancing its research and technical programs to its then "state-of-the-art" modern standard.
In 1902, he was also appointed professor of astronomy at Cornell and supervised the construction of the A. C. Barnes Observatory.
The Fuertes Observatory (completed in 1917) on North Campus was subsequently named in his honor and remains in his name to this day.
On the international plane, Fuertes also is known for his visionary design and comprehensive planning of the drainage systems of Santos, Brazil.
He was a member of many scientific societies, American and foreign, and published numerous scientific articles and reports.
Fuertes is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Ithaca, New York.
Family[]
On December 11, 1860, he married Mary Stone Perry. They had six children: Felix Juan, James Hillhouse, George Perry, Sarah Demetria, Mary Katherine Stamford, and Louis Agassiz.
Notes[]
![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (May 2013) |
References[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Estevan Antonio Fuertes. |
- Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). Encyclopedia Americana. .
- Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1906). . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
- "Professor Fuertes Dies" (PDF). Cornell Alumni News. Ithaca, New York. V (15). January 21, 1903.
- Thurston, R. H. (20 February 1903). "Estevan Antonio Fuertes". Science. 17 (425): 303–305. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.17.425.303. PMID 17789348.
- 1838 births
- 1903 deaths
- American civil engineers
- American astronomers
- Cornell University faculty
- People from San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rican academics
- Puerto Rican scientists
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni