Tompkins, Frederick N.

Frederick Neale Tompkins (1893-1978), professor of electrical engineering, was born in Providence on September 30, 1893. Before entering Brown he worked from 1912 to 1914 for Narragansett Electric Lighting Company. He received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1918. During the First World War he was a warrant officer in the Navy Reserve, instructing in the Brown Naval Unit. He was appointed instructor in electrical engineering at Brown in 1918, and promoted to assistant professor in 1923 and associate professor in 1928. During World War II he was in charge of a government-subsidized extension program for war workers in which about 3,600 students attended courses at Brown and Rhode Island School of Design in map making, tool design, engineering electronics, and optical work. He retired in 1959. He died on June 19, 1978 in Providence.