The General Electric professorship at Union College, 1903-41

The General Electric Company and Union College profited from an extremely close relationship during the first half of 20th century. For 38 years, from 1903-41, two prominent General Electric engineers headed the Electrical Engineering Department at Union College in Schenectady, New York, USA, headquarters of GE. C.P. Steinmetz, Chief Consulting Engineer for GE, served both the company and Union from 1903 to 1913. E.J. Berg, Steinmetz´s protege at GE, headed the department from 1913-41. GE engineers not only controlled the chair of electrical engineering at Union College, but the company helped fund the department and supplied engineers as part-time instructors. A historical review of this 38-year relationship is given