Tufts University - Index

Tufts University - Beyond Boundaries Newsletter Spring 2008 - Index

“ Doble-tested”
Prescient Engineer
Set the Standards
for Power Industry
The legacy of a pioneer lives on.
The largest gift in the university’s history came about
through the generosity of an engineer who founded a
small firm nine years after his graduation from Tufts
in 1911. Frank Doble’s company grew over the years
to become a worldwide leader in diagnostic testing
for the electric utility industry. Doble Engineering’s
systems were designed to enhance the safety and
reliability of power systems, and at one time more
than 95 percent of all electricity generated in North
America was “Doble tested.”
Mr. Doble, born in South Paris, Maine, financed his
Tufts engineering education by wiring the new telephone
system at the college. He and his enterprise
were closely connected with Tufts for many years.
Between 1925 and 1947, the company operated out
of office space leased from Tufts, in the old North
Hall, which had its own place in history as site of
the world’s first continuous radio broadcast. Doble
Engineering moved from campus after the war—
Tufts needed the space the company already had
outgrown—and today is based in Watertown.
Mr. Doble’s connection with Tufts endured. For many
years, he invited Tufts engineering classes to tour
his plant, and he sought out Tufts graduates for his
company. In 1962, at Commencement ceremonies in
which fellow honorees included Adlai Stevenson, Mr.
Doble was presented an honorary doctorate by Tufts.
The engineering pioneer’s portrait today looks down
at students at work on 21st­century PCs in a computer
lab named in his honor in Halligan Hall. As a result
of his remarkable bequest, Frank Doble’s legacy will
be even more strongly felt at his alma mater in the
decades to come.
Spring 2008 News of the Campaign for Tufts
From top: Frank Doble, June 1911;
Doble demonstrates the principle of
his Doble Safety Portable Telephone,
1920; on Tufts’ campus, Doble
demonstrates a piece of equipment
to three key client representatives.
IMAGES COUrTESy OF DOBLE ENGINEErING
BEYOND BOUNDARIES