United States Army Brevet Brigadier General. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, he was a career military officer known as the "Father of West Point." In 1807, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant after graduating third in the class of 1808, having met the requirements for graduation in just fourteen months. He served as an assistant professor of mathematics at West Point from 1809 to 1811, then served during the War of 1812, where he helped erected defensive fortifications in Norfolk, Virginia. Following the War of 1812, he was sent to Europe to study the military schools of France and England. On July 28, 1817, President James Monroe appointed now Lieutenant Colonel Thayer superintendent of the United States Military Academy. While superintendent, he built the academy into one of the world's leading military-engineering schools. He is credited with originating technical education in America, established the educational philosophy and discipline still followed at the academy. He also recognized the expanding country's need for military engineers and made civil engineering the core of the curriculum. In 1833, he resigned as superintendent of West Point and remained in the Army Corps of Engineers. During the Civil War, he was a Colonel and was credited with designing the fortifications in Boston Harbor that were part of the system of Coastal fortifications. For his service, he was brevetted Brigadier General, United States Regular Army on May 31, 1863 and he retired the next day, June 1, 1863. He went on to establish the Thayer School of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Dartmouth University, Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he lived and provided for the establishment of the Thayer Public Library in Braintree, prior to his death at age 87.
United States Army Brevet Brigadier General. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, he was a career military officer known as the "Father of West Point." In 1807, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant after graduating third in the class of 1808, having met the requirements for graduation in just fourteen months. He served as an assistant professor of mathematics at West Point from 1809 to 1811, then served during the War of 1812, where he helped erected defensive fortifications in Norfolk, Virginia. Following the War of 1812, he was sent to Europe to study the military schools of France and England. On July 28, 1817, President James Monroe appointed now Lieutenant Colonel Thayer superintendent of the United States Military Academy. While superintendent, he built the academy into one of the world's leading military-engineering schools. He is credited with originating technical education in America, established the educational philosophy and discipline still followed at the academy. He also recognized the expanding country's need for military engineers and made civil engineering the core of the curriculum. In 1833, he resigned as superintendent of West Point and remained in the Army Corps of Engineers. During the Civil War, he was a Colonel and was credited with designing the fortifications in Boston Harbor that were part of the system of Coastal fortifications. For his service, he was brevetted Brigadier General, United States Regular Army on May 31, 1863 and he retired the next day, June 1, 1863. He went on to establish the Thayer School of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Dartmouth University, Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he lived and provided for the establishment of the Thayer Public Library in Braintree, prior to his death at age 87.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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