Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, N.Y.; coeducational; founded and opened 1824 as Rensselaer School; chartered 1826. It was called Rensselaer Institute from 1837 to 1861. The first pr...

Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 1764–1839, American political leader and soldier, called the Patroon, b. New York City. He spent some years managing his property, which included most of the present-d...

Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, c.1580–1644, Dutch merchant and patroon, b. Amsterdam. He was a wealthy diamond and pearl merchant and helped found (1621) the Dutch West India Company, later becoming...

Van Rensselaer, Martha, 1864–1932, American home economist and pioneer in the development of extension courses for women in rural areas, b. Randolph, N. Y. In 1900 she joined the faculty of Co...

Hall, James, 1811–98, American geologist and paleontologist, b. Hingham, Mass., grad. Rensselaer School (later Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), 1832. An authority on stratigraphy and inverte...

Eaton, Amos, 1776–1842, American naturalist, b. Chatham, N.Y., grad. Williams College, 1799. After practicing law for a time, he conducted pioneer geological surveys in Albany and Rensselaer c...

Rowland, Henry Augustus, 1848–1901, American physicist, b. Honesdale, Pa., grad. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1870. He was professor of physics at Johns Hopkins from 1875. Rowland is know...

Van Twiller, Wouter, fl. 1632–1640, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. A nephew of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, he was appointed to succeed Peter Minuit and arrived in New Amsterdam in 1633....

Van Curler or Van Corlaer, Arent, 1619–67, Dutch colonist in New Netherland. He came (1637) to the colony to assist in the management of Rensselaerswyck, the estate of his cousin Kiliaen Van R...

Singer, Isaac Merrit, 1811–75, American inventor, b. Rensselaer co., N.Y. As a child he lived in Oswego, N.Y. He patented in 1851 a practical sewing machine that could do continuous stitching....