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Table of Contents

Institutional History

AbstractChairs and Science Advisers to the PresidentImportant DatesPlacesSubjectsCitations

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

United States. President’s Science Advisory Committee

Photo

Dates

1957 – 1973

Authorized Form of Name

United States. President’s Science Advisory Committee

Additional Forms of Names

Wissenschaftlicher Beratungsausschuss

President’s Science Advisory Council (U.S.)

President's Science Advisory Committee

PSAC

United States. Office of Defense Mobilization. President's Science Advisory Committee

アメリカ大統領科学諮問委員会

Institutional History

Abstract

This committee operated between 1957 and 1973 in order to provide advice and analysis to the president and the federal government on a wide range of scientific and technological matters. It was disbanded in 1973 by President Nixon.

Chairs and Science Advisers to the President

1957-59, James Killian.

1959-61, George Kistiakowsky.

1961-64, Jerome Wiesner.

1964-69, Donald Hornig.

1969-70, Lee DuBridge.

1971-73, Edward David Jr.

Important Dates

1957In response to the launching of Sputnik 1 and 2, President Eisenhower upgraded the Science Advisory Committee, renamed it the President's Science Advisory Committee, and moved it to the White House, Washington (D.C.).

1957 – 1958Jerrold Zacharias was a member.

1957 – 1958Caryl Haskins was a member.

1957 – 1958Lloyd Berkner was a member.

1957 – 1958James Doolittle was a member.

1957 – 1958Herbert York was a member.

1957 – 1959William Baker was a member.

1957 – 1959H. P. Robertson was a member.

1957 – 1959Hans Bethe was a member.

1957 – 1959Edwin Land was a member.

1957 – 1959Robert Bacher was a member.

1957 – 1960I. I. Rabi was a member.

1957 – 1960Edward Purcell was a member.

1957 – 1960James Fisk was a member.

1957 – 1961James Killian was a member.

1957 – 1962Detlev Bronk was a member.

1957 – 1963George Kistiakowsky was a member.

1957 – 1964Jerome Wiesner was a member.

1958 – 1959Paul Weiss was a member.

1959Britton Chance was a member.

1959Cyril Smith was a member.

1959 – 1961Glenn Seaborg was a member.

1959 – 1962John Bardeen was a member.

1959 – 1962Emanuel Piore was a member.

1960George Beadle was a member.

1960 – 1962Robert Loeb was a member.

1960 – 1962Walter Zinn was a member.

1960 – 1962Alvin Weinberg was a member.

1960 – 1963John Tukey was a member.

1960 – 1964Harvey Brooks was a member.

1960 – 1969Donald Hornig was a member.

1961 – 1962Franklin Long was a member.

1961 – 1964Paul Doty was a member.

1961 – 1964Edwin Gilliland was a member.

1961 – 1964Colin MacLeod was a member.

1961 – 1964Jerrold Zacharias was a member.

1961 – 1964Frank Press was a member.

1962 – 1965Edward Purcell was a member.

1962 – 1965Richard Garwin was a member.

1962 – 1970Frederick Seitz was a member.

1963 – 1964Wolfgang Panofsky was a member.

1963 – 1966Melvin Calvin was a member.

1963 – 1966Franklin Long was a member.

1963 – 1966William McElroy was a member.

1963 – 1966Philip Handler was a member.

1964 – 1967Herbert York was a member.

1964 – 1969Charles Slichter was a member.

1965 – 1967Lewis Branscomb was a member.

1965 – 1968Kenneth Pitzer was a member.

1965 – 1969Marvin Goldberger was a member.

1965 – 1969George Pake was a member.

1965 – 1969Gordon MacDonald was a member.

1966 – 1969William Hewlett was a member.

1966 – 1970Ivan Bennett was a member.

1966 – 1970Sidney Drell was a member.

1966 – 1970Charles Townes was a member.

1967 – 1970Michael Ference was a member.

1967 – 1970James Fletcher was a member.

1967 – 1970Lewis Thomas was a member.

1967 – 1970F. H. Westheimer was a member.

1968 – 1971Herbert Simon was a member.

1968 – 1972Harland Wood was a member.

1969 – 1971Patrick Haggerty was a member.

1969 – 1972Richard Garwin was a member.

1969 – 1973Lee DuBridge was a member.

1969 – 1973John Baldeschwieler was a member.

1969 – 1973Murray Gell-Mann was a member.

1969 – 1973Gerald Tape was a member.

1970 – 1973Lloyd Smith Jr. was a member.

1970 – 1973John Truxal was a member.

1970 – 1973Val Fitch was a member.

1970 – 1973Herbert Friedman was a member.

1971 – 1973Theodore Cairns was a member.

1971 – 1973James Coleman was a member.

1971 – 1973Edward David Jr. was a member.

1971 – 1973Daniel Moynihan was a member.

1971 – 1973Kenneth Olsen was a member.

1971 – 1973Solomon Buchsbaum was a member.

1972Howard Turner was a member.

1972 – 1973James Wyngaarden was a member.

1973Luis Alvarez was a member.

1973President Nixon eliminated the committee, Washington (D.C.).

Places

Headquarters

Washington (D.C.)

Subjects

Science -- International cooperation.

Science and state.

Science consultants.

Citations

Historical information can be found here: Zuoyue Wang, In Sputnik's Shadow: The President's Science Advisory Committee and Cold War America (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008).

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Member.

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Member.

Baker, William O. (William Oliver), 1915-2005

Member.

Baldeschwieler, John D., 1933-

Member.

Bardeen, John

Member.

Beadle, George Wells, 1903-1989

Member.

Bennett, Ivan L., Jr.

Member.

Berkner, Lloyd V. (Lloyd Viel), 1905-1967

Member.

Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005

Member.

Branscomb, Lewis M., 1926-

Member.

Bronk, Detlev W. (Detlev Wulf), 1897-1975

Member.

Brooks, Harvey

Member.

Brown, Harold, 1927-2019

Member.

Buchsbaum, Solomon J.

Member.

Cairns, Theodore L. (Theodore Lesueur), 1914-1994

Member.

Calvin, Melvin, 1911-1997

Member.

Chance, Britton

Member.

Coleman, James S., 1926-1995

Member.

David, Edward E.

Director; Member; and Chair and Science Adviser to the President.

Doolittle, James Harold, 1896-1993

Member.

Doty, Paul M., 1920-2011

Member.

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Member.

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Director; Member; and Chair and Science Adviser to the President.

Ference, Michael, 1911-

Member.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Member and Consultant.

Fitch, Val L., 1923-2015

Member.

Fletcher, James Chipman, 1919-1991

Consultant; Member; Member of Command Control and Intelligence Panel; Member of Military Aircraft Panel; and Member of Strategic Weapons Panel.

Friedman, Herbert, 1916-2000

Member; Member, Rocket Panel; and Member, Panel on Atmospheric Science.

Garwin, Richard L.

Member and Consultant.

Gell-Mann, Murray

Member.

Gilliland, Edwin Richard, 1909-1973

Member.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Member.

Griggs, David, 1911-1974

Member.

Haggerty, Patrick E.

Member.

Handler, Paul

Member.

Haskins, Caryl P. (Caryl Parker), 1908-2001

Member.

Hewlett, William R.

Member.

Hopfield, John J.

Member, Strategic Military Panel.

Hornig, Donald F., 1920-2013

Member and Chair and Science Adviser to the President.

Killian, James Rhyne, 1904-1988

Member and Chair and Science Adviser to the President.

Kistiakowsky, George B. (George Bogdan), 1900-1982

Member and Chair and Science Adviser to the President.

Land, Edwin Herbert, 1909-1991

Member.

Loeb, Robert F. (Robert Frederick), 1895-1973

Member.

Long, Franklin A., 1910-1999

Member.

MacDonald, Gordon J. (Gordon James), 1929-2002

Member and Member, Panel on Atmospheric Sciences.

MacLeod, Colin M. (Colin Munro), 1909-

Member.

McElroy, William David, 1917-

Member.

McLean, William B. (William Burdette), 1914-1976

Member, Military Aircraft Panel.

Moynihan, Daniel P. (Daniel Patrick), 1927-2003

Member.

Olsen, Kenneth H.

Member.

Pake, G. E. (George Edward)

Member.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Member.

Pierce, John R. (John Robinson), 1910-2002

Member.

Piore, Emanuel Ruben, 1908-2000

Member.

Pitzer, Kenneth S. (Kenneth Sanborn), 1914-

Member.

Press, Frank, 1924-

Member.

Purcell, Edward M.

Member.

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Member.

Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961

Member.

Seaborg, Glenn T. (Glenn Theodore), 1912-1999

Member.

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Member.

Simon, Herbert A. (Herbert Alexander), 1916-2001

Member.

Slichter, Charles P.

Member.

Smith, Cyril Stanley, 1903-1992

Member.

Smith, Lloyd H., 1924-

Member.

Tape, Gerald Frederick, 1915-2005

Member.

Terman, Frederick Emmons, 1900-1982

Consultant.

Thomas, Lewis, 1913-1993

Member.

Townes, Charles H.

Member and Member on Panel on Strategic Weapons.

Truxal, John G.

Member.

Tukey, John W. (John Wilder), 1915-2000

Member.

Turner, Howard Sinclair, 1911-

Member.

Van Allen, James A. (James Alfred), 1914-2006

Consultant.

Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967

Consultant.

Weinberg, Alvin Martin, 1915-2006

Member.

Weiss, Paul A., 1898-1989

Member.

Westheimer, F. H. (Frank Henry), 1912-2007

Member.

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Member and Chair and Science Adviser to the President.

Wood, Harland G. (Harland Goff), 1907-1991

Member.

Wyngaarden, James B., 1924-

Member.

York, Herbert F. (Herbert Frank)

Member.

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Member.

Zinn, Walter H. (Walter Henry), 1906-2000

Member.

Associates & Members

Beckler, David Z., 1918-

Golden, William T., 1909-2007

Hammett, Louis P. (Louis Plack), 1894-1987

Hill, A. G. (Albert Gordon), 1910-1996

Lewis, H. W. (Harold Warren)

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Rechtin, Eberhardt

Salpeter, Edwin E.

Sands, Matthew L. (Matthew Linzee)

Schwarzschild, Martin

Stern, Marvin, 1923-

Other

Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969

Upgraded, renamed, and moved the committee to the White House in 1957.

Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994

Eliminated the committee in 1973.

Institutions

Institutional Hierarchy

United States. Office of Defense Mobilization

United States. Science Advisory Committee

Expanded and moved to the White House on November 21, 1957 by President Eisenhower and renamed the President's Science Advisory Committee.

Collaborators

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Work together on a variety of activities.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

President's Science Advisory Committee records, 1957-1961.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Abilene, KS 67410, USA

U.S. President's Science Advisory Committee records [microform], 1957-1961.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Albert G. Hill papers, 1943-1981.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Audio and video interviews about the life and work of Richard Garwin, 2004-2012.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Charles Hard Townes papers, 1948-1996.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Dwight D. Eisenhower records as President, White House Central files, 1953-1961.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Abilene, KS 67410, USA

Frank Press papers, 1945-1997.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

George B. Kistiakowsky papers, 1928-1982.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Glenn T. Seaborg papers, 1866-1999 (bulk 1940-1998).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

H. Guyford Stever papers, 1930-1990 (bulk 1939-1990).

Gerald R. Ford Library

1000 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Hans Bethe papers, circa 1931-1992.

Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Cornell University

2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Harvey Brooks papers, 1930s-2001.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Herbert F. York papers, 1958-1999.

Mandeville Special Collections Library

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA

I. I. Rabi papers, 1899-1989 (bulk 1945-1968).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

James Fisk papers, 1931-1977.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

James Rhyne Killian papers, 1923-1988.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Jerome B. Wiesner papers, 1949-1983.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Jerrold R. Zacharias papers, 1912-1986.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Melvin Calvin records, 1950s-1985.

Pacific Sierra Region

National Archives and Records Administration

1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA

MIT Office of the President and Chancellor records of the President, Jerome B. Wiesner, 1960-1984.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Oral history interview with Albert G. Hill, 1991 August 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Charles Slichter, 2005 March 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with David Z. Beckler, 2001 August 22 and December 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Eberhardt Rechtin, 1987 April 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Mills Purcell, 1977 June 8 and 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edwin Ernest Salpeter, 1978 March 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Emanuel Ruben Piore, 1977 March 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1982 October 6 and 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gordon J. F. MacDonald, 1994 March 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gordon J. MacDonald, 1986 April 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Hans Bethe, 1966 October 27, 28, 1967 November 17, 1972 May 8 and 9.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harold Warren Lewis, 1986 July 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Herbert F. York, 1986 February 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Robinson Pierce, 1979 April 16-27.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Lee A. DuBridge, 1968 December 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lee A. DuBridge, 1986 February 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lewis McAdory Branscomb, 1986 April 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Louis Plack Hammett, 1978 May 1 and 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Martin Schwarzschild, 1977 March 10, June 3, December 16 and 1979 July 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Marvin L. Goldberger, 1986 February 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Marvin Stern, 1987 May 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Matthew L. Sands, 1987 May 4 and 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Norman Ramsey, 1978 December 19, 1979 January 5 and 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Richard L. Garwin, 1986 October 23 to 8 June 1987.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1981, 1983.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Sidney D. Drell, 1986 July 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Val L. Fitch, 1986 December 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1973 May 15 and 1974 March 6 and June 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1997 April 11 and May 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Panofsky, 2004 April 7, 8, 9 and May 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Physicists advising on national security [sound recording], 2012 April 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

SLAC Director's Office records of Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky, 1938-[ongoing].

National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)

2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

William T. Golden papers, 1950-1989 (bulk 1950-1951).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Published Resources

Author

Report of the Panel on High Energy Accelerator Physics of the General Advisory Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission and the President's Science Advisory Committee, April 26, 1963.

Scientific progress, the universities, and the Federal Government : statement.

Subject

In Sputnik's shadow : the President's Science Advisory Committee and Cold War America / Zuoyue Wang.