Joseph Wickham Roe (1871 - 1960) was an American engineer and Professor of Industrial Engineering at the New York University, known for his seminal work on machine tools and machine tool builders history.[1][2]
Roe was born in 1871 as youngest child of Alfred Cox, pastor of a Presbyterian church and educator, and Emma Wickham Roe. After attending the Burr and Burton Academy, he graduated in 1895 at the Yale's Sheffield Scientific School, and after years of practice received his Master of Engineering in 1907.[3]
Roe started his career in industry, working for different manufacturing companies from 1895 to 1907. From 1907 to 1917 he was faculty member at the Sheffield Scientific School, where he taught mechanical engineering and machine design. The last year of the War he was major in the Aviation Section, Signal Reserve Corps of the Army, and afterwards worked for two more years in industry. In 1912 he was appointed Professor of Industrial Engineering at New York University, and chaired of the Department of Industrial Engineering, until his retirement in 1937. He was President of the Society of Industrial Engineers in the 1920s. In World War II he was consultant for the US Navy and after the War retired and spend his last years in Southport, Connecticut.[3]
