Tittmann, O. H. (Otto Hilgard), 1850-1938

Otto Hilgard Tittmann was born on August 20, 1850, at Belleville, Illinois, where he received his early education. He subsequently received degrees from Stevens Institute, Washington University, and George Washington University. He joined the Coast and Geodetic Survey on November 10, 1867, as an aid. He rendered service with field parties on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts, Puerto Rico, and southeastern Alaska; became Assistant in Charge of Office July 1, 1895; Assistant Superintendent April 18, 1899; and Superintendent December 1, 1900, from which position he resigned April 15, 1915. From October 7, 1887, Dr. Tittmann was in charge of the Office of Standard Weights and Measures, which was a unit of the Coast and Geodetic Survey prior to the establishment of the National Bureau of Standards. In 1890, he was sent to Paris to bring to the United States the national standard metre. He was known as a geodesist and served on many scientific expeditions. He was assistant astronomer in the expedition sent to Japan to observe the transit of Venus; a member of the Permanent Commission of the International Geodetic Association; represented the United States in surveying the Alaskan Boundary Line after the modus vivendi of 1899 with Great Britain; served as U.S. Commissioner on the International Boundary Commission relating to the Alaskan Boundary from 1906 to 1915; and United States Commissioner in marking the international boundary line between the United States and Dominion of Canada. Tittmann was one of the original incorporators of the National Geographic Society and its President from 1915 to 1919. He was a member of the Philosophical Society of Washington (President, 1899); American Philosophical Society; at one time President of the Washington Academy of Sciences; a Fellow and one time Vice President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; a member of the American Meteorological Society; American Society of Civil Engineers; and the Cosmos Club (President, 1904). He died on August 21, 1938, at his home in Leesburg, Virginia.