Born in Portland, Oregon, in August of 1887, Samuel H. Graf entered the Oregon Agricultural College in 1903 to study engineering. He received five engineering degrees from the college - B.S., Electrical Engineering (1907); E.E., Electrical Engineering (1908); B.S., Mechanical Engineering (1908); M.E., Mechanical Engineering (1909); and M.S., Electrical Engineering (1909). Between 1909 and 1954 Graf held several faculty positions in engineering at Oregon State. From 1909-1912 he was an instructor in mechanical engineering; from 1912-1920 he was the head of experimental engineering; head of the Department of Mechanics and Materials (1920-1934) and of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (1934-1954); director of engineering research (1928-1944); and director of the Engineering Experiment Station (1944-1954).
Apperson served on the OAC board of regents from 1888-1917 and was president of the board from 1894 to 1901. Apperson (1834-1917) was also a steamboat captain, Clackamas County sheriff, and Oregon legislator who also served in the Oregon Cavalry during the Civil War. The second Mechanical Hall was named Apperson Hall in his honor in 1920.
Photo shows Coach Ralph O. Coleman, Victor Demarz Brown, Jr., Frank Roelandt, William Clifford Frazer, Walter Charles Kirchner, DeWaine Palmer Galloway, Elmer Henry Weimer, Don Day Cecil, Raymond John Oberst, Robert Miller Ohling, Kenneth Johnson, Donald Leland Bower, Andrew Louis Frahler, Robert Claude Churchill, Bill Oral McCluskey.