Henry Sylvester Jacoby was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 educator, born at Springtown, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, He was graduated from Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

 in 1877 and during the season of 1878 was connected with the topographical corps of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey

Pennsylvania Geological Survey

The Pennsylvania Geological Survey or Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey , is a geological survey enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly "to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania by collecting, preserving, and disseminating impartial information on the Commonwealth's geology, geologic...

. During 1879-85, he was chief draftsman in the United States Engineer's Office in Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

  In 1886, he returned to Lehigh, where until 1890 he was instructor of civil engineering; he then accepted a call to Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, where in 1897 he became professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of bridge engineering. Professor Jacoby was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...

 and in 1901 presided over the Section on Engineering, with the rank of vice-president, and was president of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education in 1915-16. Besides numerous papers on his specialty of bridge engineering, he was the author of:

• Notes and Problems in Descriptive Geometry (1892)
• Outlines of Descriptive Geometry (Part I, 1895; 2, 1896; 3, 1897)
• Text-Book in Plain Lettering (1897) with Mansfield Merriman
  Mansfield Merriman
  Mansfield Merriman was an American civil engineer, born at Southington, Conn. He graduated at Sheffield Scientific School in 1871, was assistant in the United States Corps of Engineers in 1872-73, and instructor in civil engineering at Sheffield from 1875 to 1878...
  
  
• Text Book on Roofs and Bridges (1890-8) with R. P. Davis
• Foundations of Bridges and Buildings (1914) with Roland Parker Davis
• Structural Details, or Elements of Design in Timber Framing (1919)