He performed his doctoral studies at Syracuse, and gained his Ph.D. mathematics in 1920.
He then became an assistant professor at the Case Institute of Technology in 1921, teaching astronomy.
He continued to instruct at that institution, becoming the university's first chair of astronomy from 1924 until 1959 and chairman of the graduate division from 1936 until 1940.
From 1924 until 1959 he was also the director of the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Warner and Swasey Observatory in Cleveland, Ohio.
He also discovered a new star cluster, co-discovered 2 novae in 1961, and developed a technique of studying the distribution of red (M-class or cooler) stars.