Louis Bevier Spinney

• General Notes
  • Spinney House was named for Louis Bevier Spinney who graduated from Iowa State College in 1892 with a B.S. in electrical engineering and later returned as an educator. He was elected to head the Physics and Electrical Engineering Department in 1897. Between 1909 and 1942 he was head of the physics department. Spinney also spent time working at Cornell University, in Berlin, and at Polytechnikum in Zurich. He published textbooks about physics and numerous scientific articles, held the position of vice-president at Ames National Bank, and received many awards and honors.
    The fourth addition of Friley Hall was finished in 1954, completing the link between Friley Hall and Hughes Hall. This addition allowed for 216 additional residents to join the Friley-Hughes community, which, at the time, was composed entirely of men. With a total occupancy of 1400, Friley-Hughes Hall divided into 24 houses, one of which was Spinney House. The current Spinney House Constitution was drafted on April 20, 1964 and has persisted with slight modifications from time to time. In 1975 Spinney House became co-ed by vote of the men residing here at the time.
    Professor of Physics and alumnus. Louis Bevier Spinney was born in Bradford, Illinois in 1869, came to Cass County, Iowa with his family in 1876, and grew up on a farm there. He received degrees from Iowa Agricultural College in 1892 and 1893, then studied for a year in Berlin, six months in Zurich, and completed a year at Cornell University. He became Head of the Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering in 1897, and remained as Head of Physics when Electrical Engineering became a separate department in 1909. He helped plan quarters for the Electrical Engineering Department in Egineering Hall, and then drew plans for the present Physics Hall, considered one of the finest buildings of its kind when it was dedicated in 1922. His life masterpiece has been his classic Textbook of Physics, published in five editions and more than 100,000 copies between 1911 and 1937. He was regarded as a great teacher of physics, and believed that students needed to exercise their thinking powers, not merely watch somebody else think. Prof. Spinney also served the university in a number of appointments until his retirement in the 1940s. Always civic-conscious, he served on both the City Council and Park Board of Ames.