Page - 30 - in Nikola Tesla and the Graz Tech

30 ‘The Graz College of Technology had good reason to be proud of its former student and to remember him when any commemoration day gives occasion to leaf through the pages in the annals of the Institute. But on such occa- sions we commemorate Tesla with special joy since we know that for the duration of the six decades and the six thousand kilometres which separate him from the Graz College of Technology today, he still felt the intellectual connection with his and our Institute, and has remained aware of it through- out the decades. ‘The Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Physics with all its students, young and old alike, made a request to give visible expression to this intellectual affinity to the College by nominating Nikola Tesla, the senior of our older stu- dent body, as a honorary doctor of our College in acknowledgement of his out- standing achievements in the field of applied physics. The Professorial Council was delighted to agree to this request and thus I, as the current Dean of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Physics, have the honour and the pleas- ure to request the Rector to allow Nikola Tesla to be awarded an honorary doctoral degree of our university.’ Nikola Tesla was unable to appear in person in Graz to receive the document. According to his [Tesla’s] desire, Engineer Slavko Boksan from Belgrade, along with a delegation from the Tesla Institute, represented him. ‘Rector, deans, honoured professors, ladies and gentlemen! ‘Today’s festive conferment of a honorary doctorate on Nikola Tesla by the Graz-Leoben College of Technology and Mining means a special honour and joy to Tesla since it comes as a recognition of the great achievements in the fields of engineering of that university at which he received his initial ideas for his later great deeds, and awoke in him memories of the wonderful time of his studies which he so happily spent 60 years ago. ‘It is no accident that Tesla studied at the College of Technology at Graz. Tesla’s father had given his word to his sick son to send him to the best higher education institute in Europe. The general opinion at the time was that the College of technology at Graz was the best, and he sent his convalescent son to Graz at the end of 1875 to fulfil the most fervent wish of the young Nikola – to become an engineer. Although Tesla had rather weak health in his first year of studies, he worked very assiduously and quickly became known as the Engineer Slavko Boksan held the following speech of thanks: