Samuel P. Clemence, Ph.D.

Professor Clemence, Syracuse University Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence will present a multimedia lecture. The fascinating details concerning the engineering and history of the Erie Canal will be presented. The early history of the Erie Canal is one of the all-time great stories of a "disruptive technology," complete with lessons relevant to today’s revolutions in electronics, communications and biotechnologies.

As an engineering assignment at the time, it was the equivalent of putting a person on the moon in the 1960s. When it was first proposed in 1808, the idea of building a canal of this size by hand was simply outlandish. However, Dewitt Clinton was unfazed. He became governor of New York in 1917 and construction of the Erie Canal, aka Clinton’s Ditch, commenced the same year.

After it opened in 1825, the impact of the Canal was extraordinary, with cities along the route experiencing enormous increases in their populations. In Syracuse, the population increased more than 12-fold in 30 years from 1,814 to 22,277.

Please join us on Tuesday, November 7^th (election night)

Onondaga Community College, Gordon Student Center

Faculty Staff Dining Room

Dinner at 6:30, talk to immediately follow dinner

Cost is $15.00 for CNYAPG members / $18.00 for non-members

From Route 81 Northbound:

Take the Nedrow Exit - #16, turn left at the bottom of the exit following Route 11/Salina Street south.

Turn left onto Route 173/Seneca Turnpike. The OCC campus will be on your right.

From Route 81 Southbound:

Take the Brighton Exit - #17, proceed one block west to Salina Street – turn left onto Salina Street. Go south on Salina Street to Route 173/Seneca Turnpike. Turn right onto Route 173/Seneca Turnpike. The OCC campus will be on your right.