Arthur Anton Hamerschlag was an electrical and mechanical engineer, born and educated in New York City. He did field work at electric plants in Cuba, Mexico and throughout the U.S. In 1903, Andrew Carnegie hired him to direct the new Carnegie Technical Schools, where Hamerschlag led the development of programs leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 1912, the Carnegie Technical Schools became the Carnegie Institute of Technology with Hamerschlag as its president.
Carnegie’s goal in creating the school was to educate the sons and daughters of Pittsburgh workers, preparing them to work in the region’s growing industries. Under Hamerschlag’s leadership, much of the physical campus was created and the school became an established educational institution. Research efforts began as early as 1916 when the school’s Division of Applied Psychology developed rating scales for job placement. This system was used to classify two million men for placement in the armed forces during World War I.
After leaving Carnegie in 1922, Hamerschlag returned to New York, where he became president of Research Corporation, reestablished an engineering practice, and was instrumental in the formation of the International Auxiliary Language Association.
He was president of Research Corporation at the time of his death in 1927.