John Saylor Coon

Coon was born to William C. and Susan Saylor Coon in Burdett, New York on November 22, 1854.[1] Coon received his early education at Burdett public schools and Claverack Academy.[2] He earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1877.[2] Coon completed Cornell's mechanical engineering program in three years and graduated at the top of his class.[3] When he was a student at Cornell, Coon built an engine and a dynamo electric machine, the first one built in the United States. Both the engine and dynamo were demonstrated at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876.[3][4][5]

Coon served as an instructor in mechanical engineering at Cornell following graduation.[4][6] He then worked for several different employers including E. D. Leavitt in New York, Calumet and Hecla Mining Company in Boston, and the Anaconda Copper Company in Montana.[4][6] Coon also served as the chair of mechanical engineering at the University of Tennessee in 1888.[4][6]

Georgia Tech Master Plan including Shop Building - 1912

Georgia Tech was established in 1885, and the school admitted its first class in 1888, which consisted of 129 mechanical engineering students.[7] Mechanical engineering was the only degree offered at Tech during the school's early years.[7] Coon was appointed the first Mechanical Engineering and Drawing Professor at the Georgia School of Technology in 1889.[5][8] He was also the first chair of the Mechanical Engineering department.[8] Coon made the classes very challenging and as a result only 28 of the original students earned degrees.[7] These students worked at trades such as forging, woodworking, and machining in the shop located on campus.[7] Their products were initially sold to generate income for Georgia Tech.[7] Coon assumed the role of superintendent of shops in 1896, and he eventually ended the school's involvement with contract work for commercial sales.[8] During his tenure at Georgia Tech, he moved the curriculum away from vocational training.[8][9] Coon emphasized a balance between the shop and the classroom.[9] Coon taught his students more modern quantification methods to solve engineering problems instead of outdated and more costly trial and error methods.[9] He also played a significant role in developing mechanical engineering into a professional degree program, with a focus on ethics, design and testing, analysis and problem solving, and mathematics.[4][8][9] Coon was a founding member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and he also received an honorary doctorate from Georgia Tech.[4]

John Saylor Coon Building Main Entrance

John Saylor Coon building

John Saylor Coon Building

The John Saylor Coon building was built in 5 stages from 1912 through 1938, and it was designed by Francis Palmer Smith who was the head of the school's architecture department.[10][11] It was originally called the New Shop Building since it served as the home for shops and the mechanical engineering department.[10] The Coon building is the oldest building on campus currently used for academics.[10][12] The building is located on the western boundary of the Georgia Institute of Technology Historic District on Cherry Street across from Tech Tower, and it is included in the 12-building area listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[10]

The Coon Building was the first multiple purpose building on campus.[2] Before the Coon Building was constructed, academics and shops were located in separate buildings.[2] In addition, the work completed in the shop often was not related to the work completed in the classroom, since the shop products were initially made for commercial sale.[2] However, Coon developed a curriculum which required students to design products in the classroom and then make the products in the shop, effectively turning the shop into a laboratory for the students, which is the system still used today by modern schools of mechanical engineering.[2][13]

The Coon Building underwent an extensive $9.1 million renovation during 2001 through 2003 time frame.[14] The interior of the building was modernized during the renovation project. However, the interior re-design preserved many of the building's original characteristics.[11][14] The construction project also included an 11,000 square foot addition.[14][15] This building is currently the home for the school of Psychology, and it was dedicated to Coon following his retirement.[10][12][16]

Coon retired in 1923 after serving 35 years at Georgia Tech and he moved to Canandaigua, New York.[8] Coon died on May 16, 1938.[8]

• History of Georgia Tech
• Georgia Institute of Technology Historic District
• George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

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