engineering

Richard E. Dougherty

Richard E. Dougherty is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard E. Dougherty rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Erwin Dougherty (February 3, 1880 – September 9, 1961) was an American civil engineer. He was vice president of New York Central System and played a role in White House Reconstruction.

Key takeaways

Richard E. Dougherty belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard E. Dougherty to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard E. Dougherty from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard Erwin Dougherty (February 3, 1880 – September 9, 1961) was an American civil engineer. He was vice president of New York Central System and played a role in White House Reconstruction. He was president of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1948.

Biography Dougherty was born on February 3, 1880, in New York City. He graduated from Columbia University in 1901 with a degree in civil engineering. Dougherty briefly taught engineering at Columbia before joining the New York Central System in 1902. He served in a number of subordinate positions before becoming assistant engineer in 1904, and resident engineer the following year. He later rose through the ranks as district engineer, design engineer, assistant to the vice president and president, while also advising the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on port development. He became vice president of the railroad company in 1930. He worked on railroad as well as hydraulic projects. Among them were the rehabilitation of Manhattan's West Side to allow for the construction of war plants and later, the construction of West Side Highway. Dougherty was director from 1928 to 1930, and became president of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1948, the same year he retired from New York Central System. He remained a consultant to the company and oversaw the construction of the Grand Central Terminus real estate in 1951 and worked as a private consultant, advising companies such as the Long Island Rail Road. Dougherty also served as a member of Harry S. Truman's Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion. Dougherty died in White Plains, New York, on September 9, 1961, at age 81.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard E. Dougherty

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard E. Dougherty claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard E. Dougherty before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard E. Dougherty ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard E. Dougherty

In research: Richard E. Dougherty appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard E. Dougherty in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard E. Dougherty is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1880 births, 1961 deaths, 20th-century American people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard E. Dougherty outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Richard E. Dougherty” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Richard E. Dougherty in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard E. Dougherty means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard E. Dougherty out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard E. Dougherty in simple terms?

Richard Erwin Dougherty (February 3, 1880 – September 9, 1961) was an American civil engineer. He was vice president of New York Central System and played a role in White House Reconstruction.

Why does Richard E. Dougherty matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard E. Dougherty?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard E. Dougherty.