William Gurley

William Gurley (March 16, 1821 – January 11, 1887) co-founded what is now known as Gurley Precision Instruments with his brother, and served as vice president and, from 1886 to 1887, acting president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He received the best education afforded by the schools in this vicinity, and choosing the profession of a civil engineer, attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, from which he graduated in 1839.

He worked as a surveyor for a few years and then joined the firm of Oscar Hanks, who was a well-known maker of surveying instruments and church bells in Troy.

In 1845, Gurley established his own scientific instrument manufacturing business in partnership with James Phelps.

In 1868, he was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury to serve on a commission with Prof. Joseph Henry and other scientific experts to examine the best meter devised for determining the products of distillation, to be subsequently adopted by the department.