Clarence Linus Cory is American engineer and educator who is known as the father of Electrical Engineering at University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

.Clarence Cory was born in Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...

 to Thomas Cory and Carrie Stoney. Clarence Cory's farther was an inventor and served as a topographer in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. In 1889, Clarence Cory received a degree of bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 at the age of 16. In 1891 he received a degree of Master of Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

. Corey was appointed to a position of Professor of Electrical Engineering at Highland Park College in Des Moines, Iowa in 1891. In 1892, he became the first Professor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at University of California, Berkeley.

During his early years at Berkeley, Cory established Electrical Laboratories that supplied light and power to the entire Berkeley campus. During a sabbatical leave in 1900 he became a co-founder of engineering firm Cory, Meredith and Allen in San Francisco. In 1908, Cory was appointed the Dean of College of Mechanics at Berkeley. Clarence Cory was awarded a doctoral degree in Engineering from Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 in 1914. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Cory obtained a leave of absence from Berkeley to accept a "dollar-a-year" job of Assistant Director of Nitrate and Powder Plants in West Virginia where he was responsible for Power Production. He became Professor Emeritus in 1931.

Clarence Cory married Mayme Pritchard on December 25, 1905 in Harlan, Iowa. Clarence Cory's older brother, Harry Thomas Cory

Harry Thomas Cory

Harry Thomas Cory was an American engineer and professor. He was born in Lafayette, Indiana, the son of Thomas and Carrie Cory....

, was an industrial engineer.

Cory Hall, a building on Berkeley campus, was completed in 1950 and named after Clarence Cory.