CEE Alum Offers Campus Clock Tour

Detail of the moon dial on the grandfather clock in the University president's office.

Among the most interesting historical artifacts on the University of Illinois campus are its clocks. An 1820 English grandfather clock that stands in the university president’s outer office features a hand-painted moon dial with a thoughtful expression.  The Library Archives room is home to an 1850s timepiece that once served as the alarm clock of Gregor Mendel, the founder of genetics.  The University’s very first public clock, built in 1878 and once boasting a 9-foot, 200-pound pendulum, now resides in a Mechanical Engineering Laboratory reading room.

Each clock has a story and its own place in the history of the University of Illinois.  Eight of the most significant are featured on the Campus Clock Tour, offered several times per year at no charge by CEE alumnus and retired Geography professor Bruce Hannon (BS 56).  Hannon restored some of them personally and keeps a watchful eye on all of them, making sure they are properly cared for.

Hannon, pictured above, earned three degrees from the University of Illinois—his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering (1956) and a master’s degree (1965) and Ph.D. (1970) in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.  After 12 years conducting energy research in the Center for Advanced Computation, he joined the faculty of the Department of Geography and taught dynamic modeling of biological and economic systems for more than 30 years.

He became interested in clock restoration 40 years ago, when he couldn’t find anyone to repair an antique clock he had bought for his wife. Tackling the problem himself ignited a new passion.

“I eventually managed to get it running, and that did it!” he said. “There is a constant contrast with my theoretical work and the reality of mechanical clock repair.”

The grandfather clock in the Altgeld Library.

Word got around, and Hannon began receiving requests to restore antique clocks on campus.  He began offering the clock tour last year.  About 50 people have taken it so far, he said. During the course of the 90-minute walking tour, Hannon talks about the history of mechanical timekeeping, the individual clocks on the tour and the history of the buildings that house them.

Hannon’s personal favorite is one that hangs in the Engineering Dean’s office, an 1898 self-winding wall clock that controlled all the bells and clocks on campus from 1898 until the 1960s by means of an electric signal sent over connecting wires.  A daily signal from the Western Union Company kept the clock accurate.  Hannon restored this clock in April 2011, and he would welcome the opportunity do the same with additional clocks from the University’s past.

“If anyone knows of a clock once used here that could be donated back to the University, I would fix it, find a prominent place for it and include it on my clock tours,” Hannon said.

To receive information about upcoming tours, email Bruce Hannon at bhannon@illinois.edu.