Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Office of the President.
MIT Office of the President records of Karl Taylor Compton and James Rhyne Killian, 1930-1959.
The collection consists of records created while Karl Taylor Compton and James R. Killian, Jr. served as presidents of MIT, 1930-1959, and contains correspondence, reports, memoranda, and committee materials about the activities of the president and his staff, the definition and evolution of policies, and the administration of the Institute. Records document Compton's efforts to strengthen the science curriculum and research programs, beginning in the 1930s, including the recruitment of new faculty; the administration's response to the financial crisis of the 1930s; defense research, training, and administration of World War II activities at the Institute, including the Radiation Laboratory, the Radar School, and other Army, Navy, and NDRC (National Defense Research Committee) programs; examination and redirection of the postwar MIT curriculum, including the Committee on Educational Survey (the Lewis Committee) which evaluated the curriculum, emphasizing the importance of the humanities to the mission of the Institute; records of other postwar committees, including those dealing with space allocation and faculty salaries; the 1950s investigation of alleged communist party members by the United States House Un-American Activities Committee; efforts to raise money from the government, private foundations, and industry for teaching, research, and construction projects; and Compton's and Killian's service to government and educational organizations. Some of the prominently mentioned names in the collection include: Alvar Aalto, Everett Baker, Bernard Baruch, Francis Bitter, Niels Bohr, Richard Bolt, Welles Bosworth, Edward Bowles, Gordon Brown, Martin Buerger, John Bunker, John Burchard, Vannevar Bush, Godfrey Cabot, Samuel Caldwell, Donald Carpenter, Winston Churchill, E. L. Cochrane, Arthur Holly Compton, James Conant, Arthur Cope, J. P. Den Hartog, Bradley Dewey, George Doriot, C. S. Draper, Lee DuBridge, George Eastman, W. H. Emerson, Robley Evans, Frederick Fassett, Ralph Flanders, Carl Floe, Horace Ford, F. Leroy Foster, Antoine Marc Gaudin, Edwin Gilliland, Cecil Green, L. F. Hamilton, George Harrison, Robert Haslam, Ernst A. Hauser, Harold Hazen, Hoyt Hottel, Henry Houghton, J. C. Hunsaker, D, Hunter, B. E. Hutchinson, D. Jackson, F. Jewett, J. Delso, P. Ketchum, F. Keyes, R. Kimball, M. Kispert, W. Lewis, A. D. Little, H. E. Lobdelll, A. Loomis, J. C. MacKinnon, R. C. Maclaurin, W. Rupert Maclaurin, F. A. Magoun, E. L. Moreland, P. M. Morse, , W. B. Nottingham, R. Proctor, R. Robnett, N. Sage, P. Samuelson, E. H. Schell, F. Schmitt, Harlow, Shapley, T. Sherwood, J. C. Slater, A. P. Sloan, J. J. Snyder, C. Richard Soderberg, H. Stetson, H. G. Stever, J. A. Stratton, Dirk Struik, Gerard Swope, V. Tate, C. Taylor, Elihu Thomson, B. A. Thresher, John Trump, Manuel Vallarta, M. A. Tuve, R. J. Van de Graaff, W. Voss, W. Weaver, V. F. Weisskopf, W. Whitman, N. Wiener, J. B. Wiesner, J. B. Wilbur, R. Williams, C. Wilson, R. Wilson, W. W. Wurster, J. Zacharias.
On 1 July 1930 Karl Taylor Compton became the ninth president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, succeeding Samuel Wesley Stratton, who became the first chairman of the MIT Corporation. In March 1932 Compton proposed a new administrative structure to the Corporation. The plan was approved creating a vice presidency, three academic schools (Engineering, Science, and Architecture) administered by deans, and two divisions (Humanities and Industrial Cooperation and Research). The positions of registrar, bursar, director of admissions, librarian, dean of graduate schools, and dean of undergraduate studies, which existed before the reorganization, were retained and the incumbents reported directly to the president and vice president. At the same time a new body, the Administrative Council, was formed to coordinate the administration of the Institute. The council consisted of the president, vice president, deans, bursar, and chairman of the faculty. An assistant to the president, Carroll Louis Wilson, was appointed in 1932.
Vice President Vannevar Bush served mainly as an advisor to the president and as chief administrative officer in his absence. Bush left MIT in 1938; the following year James R. Killian, Jr. joined the presidential staff as executive assistant to the president, eventually assuming many vice presidential duties. During World War II, with Compton devoting as much as three-fourths of his time to government war work, Killian took on much of the responsibility for the daily activities of MIT. This was acknowledged with his appointment as executive vice president in 1943. In 1948 the post of provost was added to the administrative structure of the Institute.
Compton resigned the presidency in 1948 to assume chairmanship of the Research and Development Board; at the same time, he became chairman of the Corporation of MIT, a position which had been vacant since the death of Samuel Wesley Stratton in 1931. Killian became president of MIT upon Compton's departure on 15 October 1948.
In November 1957 Killian was named special assistant for science and technology to U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. Julius A. Stratton served as acting president from November 1957 until 1 January 1959 when he became president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Aalto, Alvar, 1898-1976.
Baker, Everett Moore, 1901-1950.
Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965.
Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967.
Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962
Bolt, Richard H.
Bosworth, Welles, 1869-1966.
Bowles, Edward Lindley, 1897-1990
Brown, Gordon Stanley, 1907-1996
Buerger, Martin Julian, 1903-
Bunker, John Wymond Miller, 1886-
Burchard, John E. (John Ely), 1898-
Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974
Cabot, Godfrey L.
Caldwell, Samuel Hawks, 1904-
Carpenter, Donald F.
Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965
Cochrane, E. L. (Edward Lull), 1892-
Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962.
Compton, Elias.
Compton family.
Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954.
Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954. Mission to Tokyo.
Compton, Wilson Martindale, 1890-1967.
Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978.
Cope, Arthur C.
Den Hartog, J. P. (Jacob Pieter), 1901-
Dewey, Bradley, b.1887.
Doriot, George F. (George Frederic), 1899-1987.
Draper, C. S. (Charles Stark)
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994
Eastman, George, 1854-1932.
Emerson, William Henry, 1860-1924.
Evans, Robley Dunglison, 1907-
Fassett, Frederick G. (Frederick Gardiner), 1901-
Flanders, Ralph E. (Ralph Edward), 1880-1970.
Floe, Carl F.
Ford, Horace S.
Foster, F. Leroy.
Gaudin, Antoine Marc, 1900-
Gilliland, Edwin Richard, 1909-
Green, Cecil Howard, 1900-2003
Hamilton, Leicester Forsyth, 1893-
Harrison, George Russell, 1898-1979
Haslam, Robert Thomas, 1888-
Hauser, Ernst A. (Ernst Alfred), 1896-
Hazen, Harold L. (Harold Locke), 1901-1980.
Hottel, Hoyt C. (Hoyt Clark), 1903-
Houghton, Henry G.
Hunsaker, Jerome C. (Jerome Clarke), 1886-1984.
Hunter, Dard, 1883-1966.
Hutchinson, B. E. (B. Edwin), 1888-1961.
Jackson, Dugald C. (Dugald Caleb), 1865-
Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949
Kelso, James A. (James Anderson), 1873-1951.
Ketchum, Philip, 1902-
Keyes, Frederick G. (Frederick George), 1885-1976
Killian, James Rhyne, 1904-1988
Kimball, Robert M.
Kispert, Malcolm G.
Lewis, Warren K. (Warren Kendall), b.1882.
Little, A. D. (Arthur Dehon), 1863-1935.
Lobdell, H. E. (Harold Edward), b.1896.
Loomis, Alfred L. (Alfred Lee), 1887-1975.
MacKinnon, J. C.
Maclaurin, R. Colin.
Maclaurin, W. Rupert (William Rupert), 1907-
Magoun, F. Alexander, 1896-
Moreland, E. L.
Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985
Nottingham, Wayne B. (Wayne Buckles), 1899-
Proctor, Redfield, 1831-1908.
Rhind, D. L.
Robnett, Ronald H.
Rushton, A.
Sage, Nathaniel McLean, 1918-
Samuelson, Paul Anthony, 1915-
Schell, Erwin Haskell, 1889-1965.
Schmitt, Francis Otto, 1903-
Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972.
Sherwood, Thomas Kilgore, 1903-1976.
Slater, John C, (John Clarke), 1900-1976.
Sloan, Alfred P. (Alfred Pritchard), 1875-1966.
Snyder, Joseph J.
Soderberg, C. Richard.
Stetson, Harlan True, 1885-1964.
Stever, H. Guyford
Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994
Struik, Dirk J, (Dirk Jan), 1894-2000-
Swope, Gerard, 1872-1957.
Tate, Vernon D.
Taylor, Charles Fayette, 1894-
Thomson, Elihu, 1853-1937
Thresher, B. Alden (Brainerd Alden), d1984.
Trump, John G.
Tuve, Merle Antony, 1901-1982.
Sandoval Vallarta, Manuel, 1899-1977.
Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967
Voss, Walter C. (Walter Charles), b.1887.
Weaver, Warren, 1894-1978
Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002
Whitman, Walter G. (Walter George), b.1874.
Wiener, Norbert, 1894-1964.
Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994
Wilbur, John Benson, 1905-
Williams, Robert S. (Robert Seaton), b.1880.
Wilson, Carroll L.
Wilson, Robert E. (Robert Erastus), 1893-1964.
Wurster, William Wilson.
Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986
Air University (U.S.)
Albert Farwell Bemis Foundation.
American Council on Education -- History.
American Institute of Physics -- History.
American Society for Engineering Education -- History.
Association of American Universities -- History.
Atoms for Peace Awards, inc.
Brookhaven National Laboratory.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
Ford Foundation -- Research grants.
Ford Fund.
General Electric Company -- History -- 1928-1957.
General Motors Corporation -- History -- 1943-1958.
Harvard University -- History -- 1926-1958.
Kresge Auditorium (Cambridge, Mass.)
Land Grant College Engineering Association -- History -- 1935-1956.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Administration.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Academic Council -- 1949-1958.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Administrative Council -- 1940-1957.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Buildings -- Design and construction.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chapel.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Charles Hayden Memorial Library -- Design and construction.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Commencements -- 1931-1958.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Committee on Educational Survey.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Faculty.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nuclear Reactor Laboratory.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radar School.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radiation Laboratory -- History.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Round Hill Field Station -- History -- 1932-1955.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Staff Administration Committee -- 1938-1954.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Student-Faculty Curriculum Committee -- 1934-1951.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Student housing -- 1951-1957.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Tuition -- History -- 1933-1958.
MIT Press -- History -- 1932-1958.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Project Troy.
Project Whirlwind.
Research Corporation -- History -- 1937-1960.
Rockefeller Foundation -- History -- 1932-1958.
Stone & Webster, inc. -- History -- 1940-1945.
United States Army Scientific Advisory Panel.
United States. Army. Reserve Officers' Training Corps -- 1931-1958.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
United States. Navy -- Research.
United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. National Defense Research Committee
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission -- History -- 1945-1957.
Mid-Century Convocation on the Social Implications of Scientific Progress (1949 : Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
White House Conference on Education 1955 : Washington, D.C.)
Community and college -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge.
Disarmament -- History -- 1945-1947.
Guided missiles -- History -- 1946-1950.
Military education -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- 1931-1958.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Science -- United States.
Cambridge (Mass.) -- History -- 1930-1958.
AIP-ICOS
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections. M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA