George Brooke Roberts

George Brooke Roberts (January 15, 1833 – January 30, 1897) was a civil engineer and the fifth president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (1880–96). Early life and education Roberts was born at his family's farm in the Pencoyd region of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. In 1849, he graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and went on to teach there for two years before becoming a rodman for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Beginning in 1852, he worked for the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, returning to the PRR in 1862 as assistant to the president, J. Edgar Thomson. Roberts oversaw the construction of bridges and other engineering work, including the Connecting Railway Bridge over Schuylkill River in Philadelphia (attributed to John A. Wilson, 1866–67) that connected PRR's southern and northern lines. He became a PRR vice-president in 1869, and succeeded Thomas A. Scott as PRR president in 1880. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1885. Career Broad Street Station