Utah Westerners

January Announcement for the Utah Westerners

January 13, 2016 at 10:45 am kenttschanz Leave a comment

Utah’s Maverick Pioneer: From Hydroelectric

Power to Educational Reform with Lucien L. Nunn

Jackson Newell

Pushing against both social convention and technological boundaries, L.L. Nunn left enduring marks on our economic and social history. Driven by a dynamic conscience, this Progressive era hydroelectric power magnate went on to became a force to be reckoned with in labor relations, educational innovation, and social change. Working with Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, he built the world’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant for long-distance transmission of alternating current. He moved his industrial empire from Telluride, Colorado, to Utah in 1895 and quickly made his power plants here the world’s standard. In 1917, growing weary of the business exploits and weak from tuberculosis, he founded Deep Springs College in California. After nearly a century, the college thrives today as the most radical experiment in liberal education ever to succeed. In L.L. Nunn was inducted into the Alta Club in 1911.

 Jackson Newell is professor emeritus at the University of Utah, where he also served as dean of Liberal Education from 1974 to 1990, and president emeritus of Deep Springs College (1995-2004). An authority on the history and philosophy of universities, he earned his Ph.D. degree at Ohio State University. His previous books include Matters of Conscience: Conversations with Sterling M. McMurrin on Philosophy, Education, and Religion, and Maverick Colleges: Fourteen Notable Experiments in American Undergraduate Education. Having received many teaching awards, he continues to teach in the Honors College at the University of Utah.

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