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Institutional History
AbstractChairsImportant DatesPlacesSubjectsCitationsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as SubjectPublished as SubjectUnited States. Science Advisory Committee
Dates
April 20, 1951 – 1957
Authorized Form of Name
United States. Science Advisory Committee
Additional Forms of Names
ODM Science Advisory Committee. United States
U.S. Science Advisory Committee
United States. Office of Defense Mobilization. Science Advisory Committee
US Science Advisory Committee
USSAC
Institutional History
Abstract
Established on April 20, 1951 by President Truman as part of the Office of Defense Mobilization. It's goal was to advise the president on scientific matters in general and especially defense issues. The committee was upgraded by President Eisenhower in 1957 in response to the launches of Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 to become the President's Science Advisory Committee.
Chairs
1951-52, Oliver Buckley.
1952-56, Lee DuBridge.
1956-57, I. I. Rabi.
Important Dates
1951William Webster was a member.
1951 – 1953James Conant was a member.
1951 – 1954J. Robert Oppenheimer was a member.
1951 – 1955Oliver Buckley was a member.
1951 – 1955Robert Loeb was a member.
1951 – 1955Charles Thomas was a member.
1951 – 1955Walter Whitman was a member.
1951 – 1956Lee Dubridge was a member.
1951 – 1956Bruce Old was a member.
1951 – 1956Alan Waterman was a member.
1951 – 1956Hugh Dryden was a member.
1951 – 1957James Killian was a member.
1951 – 1957Detlev Bronk was a member.
1951 – 1957James Fisk was a member.
April 20, 1951Established by President Truman as part of the Office of Defense Mobilization, Washington (D.C.).
1952 – 1957Charles Lauritsen was a member.
1952 – 1957I. I. Rabi was a member.
1952 – 1957Jerrold Zacharias was a member.
1953 – 1956Robert Bacher was a member.
1955 – 1957Norris Bradbury was a member.
1955 – 1957Caryl Haskins was a member.
1956 – 1957Hans Bethe was a member.
1956 – 1957Edwin Land was a member.
1956 – 1957Jerome Wiesner was a member.
1957In response to the launching of Sputnik 1 and 2, President Eisenhower upgraded the committee, changed the name to the President's Science Advisory Committee, and moved it to the White House, Washington (D.C.).
Places
Headquarters
Subjects
Science -- International cooperation.
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
Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004
Member.
Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005
Member.
Member.
Bronk, Detlev W. (Detlev Wulf), 1897-1975
Member.
Buckley, Oliver Ellsworth, 1887-1959
Member and Chair.
Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978
Member.
Dryden, Hugh L. (Hugh Latimer), 1898-1965
Member.
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994
Member and Chair.
Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981
Member.
Haskins, Caryl P. (Caryl Parker), 1908-2001
Member.
Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949
Member.
Killian, James Rhyne, 1904-1988
Member.
Land, Edwin Herbert, 1909-1991
Member.
Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968
Member.
Loeb, Robert F. (Robert Frederick), 1895-1973
Member.
Old, Bruce S.
Member.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Member.
Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988
Member and Chair.
Thomas, Charles Allen
Member.
Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967
Member.
Webster, William, -1972
Member.
Whitman, Walter Gordon
Member.
Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994
Member.
Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986
Member.
Associates & Members
Golden, William T., 1909-2007
Other
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Upgraded, renamed, and moved the committee in 1957 in response to Sputnik.
Truman, Harry S.
Established the committee in 1951.
Institutions
Institutional Hierarchy
United States. Office of Defense Mobilization
Committee was established as part of the office.
United States. President's Science Advisory Committee
Committee was upgraded and moved to the White House on November 21, 1957 by President Eisenhower.
Resources
Archival Resources
Subject
Federal science study file, 1950-1951.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Files of the Director (Alan T. Waterman), 1950-1963
Office of the National Archives
National Archives and Records Administration
8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408, 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
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
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 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 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 Robert F. Bacher, 1981, 1983.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, 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
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
Subject
In Sputnik's shadow : the President's Science Advisory Committee and Cold War America / Zuoyue Wang.