Editing C. D. Howe (section)

== Early years and academic career ==
Howe was born on 15 January 1886 in [[Waltham, Massachusetts]], [[United States]]. The Howes were well-regarded in the local community, and William Clarence Howe, Clarence's father, was involved in local politics and descendant of Puritans arriving in 1630s.<ref name="Biography – HOWE, CLARENCE DECATUR – Volume XVIII (1951-1960) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography">{{Cite DCB |last=Bothwell |first=Robert |author-link = Robert Bothwell |title=Howe, Clarencne Decatur |volume=18 |year=2009 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/howe_clarence_decatur_18E.html|access-date=24 September 2023 }}</ref> When not doing political work, William Howe was a carpenter and house builder. Clarence's mother, Mary Emma ({{nee}} Hastings) was a teacher and the daughter of a prosperous farmer on whose farm Clarence spent his childhood summers.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|pp=7–9}} His mother was related to naval hero and [[US Navy]] [[Commodore (United States)|Commodore]] [[Stephen Decatur]].<ref name="Biography – HOWE, CLARENCE DECATUR – Volume XVIII (1951-1960) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography" />

Clarence did well in school and, upon his graduation from [[Waltham High School]] in 1903, passed the entrance examinations for the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. He took basic courses at the school and did advanced work in engineering. During the summers, he worked for J. B. Worcester & Co., a firm that constructed much of the [[Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority|Boston subway system]]. While at school, he became a favourite pupil of Professor [[George Fillmore Swain|George Swain]]; after Howe graduated in 1907, Swain offered Howe a job as his teaching assistant. Howe accepted, although the young engineer felt that he should leave the Boston area to begin his career. Howe was offered an opportunity to become an engineering professor at [[Dalhousie University]] in [[City of Halifax|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]]. Howe accepted the job, partly because unemployment among his classmates was high due to the [[Panic of 1907]].{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=22–23}}

At the time, Dalhousie was a small university, with only 400&nbsp;students, and members of the teaching staff had a heavy workload. Howe, at age 23, was little older than some of his students. He had little experience in the field, and on trips outside Halifax, he and his students would solve problems together. Howe's view was that any problem could be solved through common sense and hard work.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|pp=13, 15}} Howe took his students to the countryside, where they camped, surveying and planning imaginary railroads.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=18}} His student [[Denis Stairs (engineer)|Denis Stairs]], who would go on to lead the [[Montreal Engineering Company]], said of Howe that by the time the camp ended, his students had great respect for him. Student [[Jack Mackenzie|C. J. Mackenzie]], who Howe would later appoint to the [[National Research Council (Canada)|National Research Council]] presidency, stated that Howe was not a brilliant lecturer, but that his presentations were always extremely clear. Howe later said of university education, "The worker at college continues to work, and becomes a successful engineer. The shirker continues to shirk, and gets nowhere."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=26}} In addition to his work, Howe found time for an active social life in Halifax, and considered marrying the sister of one of his students, but she had another husband in mind.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=27}}

After Howe's first year in Halifax, engineering instruction of upperclassmen was taken away from Dalhousie. Howe later stated that he liked Dalhousie, and had this change not occurred, he might have remained there as a professor.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=29}} In 1913, a former colleague at Dalhousie, Robert Magill, who had recently been appointed chairman of the [[Canadian Grain Commission|Board of Grain Commissioners]], offered Howe the post of chief engineer, with responsibility for supervising the construction of [[grain elevator]]s. Howe stated, "I've never seen one of those things in my life, but I'll take the job."{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=19}} The same year, he applied to become a [[British subject]], as Canadians then were.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=30}}