Edwin Augustus Stevens

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Line engraving of Edwin A. Stevens published in The Stevens Ironclad Battery

Edwin Augustus Stevens (28 July 1795 – 8 August 1868) left a bequest which was used to establish the Stevens Institute of Technology.

He was born at Castle Point, Hoboken, New Jersey, the son of Colonel John Stevens III (1749-1838) and his wife Rachel née Cox. He died at Paris, France. His will left land adjoining his family estate, $150,000 for the erection of a building and $500,000 as an endowment for the establishment of an "institution of learning".

Because of the Stevens family's close ties with engineering, the executors decided this would be an institution devoted to the "mechanical arts".

A building on the Stevens campus now stands as "The Edwin A. Stevens Hall", which houses the school of engineering for the Institute. Also in this building is the renowned "Debaun Auditorium", which is over 100 years old, and has been refurbished to what it would have looked like when first constructed.