Ralph Earle was the son of Stephen C. Earle, the architect who designed many WPI buildings, including Boynton Hall, and most of Worcester's major buildings of the era. He was the only president to have attended WPI as a student, though an appointment to the Naval Academy ended his brief stay as an undergraduate. Upon his retirement as a rear admiral, Earle returned home to become the sixth president of WPI. His tenure began auspiciously with the planning and construction of the Institute's first dormitory, named for R. Sanford Riley, Class of 1896.