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Conversations: 1950
December 19, 1950 MEMORANDUM FOR THE FILE SUBJECT: Telephone conversation with Dr. James R. Killian, Jr., President of MIT Dr. Killian called me on the telephone from Boston this afternoon to report on the meeting of the ad hoc group under the auspices of the RDB that was held last Saturday [Dec. 16] morning. I previously had reports on this from Henry Loomis of the RDB, from Dr. Mervyn Kelly [Bell Telephone Laboratories], and from Dr. Bob Robertson, all of whom were present. Although Dr. Kelly was specifically delegated to tell me about the meeting, apparently the other individuals felt called on or a desire to do so in addition. Dr. Killian said that he would send me, in the near future, what he called an anonymous document which recorded the sense of the meeting. He had apparently been delegated to draw this up and to send me a copy. He will include names. For fuller details on this meeting see my memorandum of December 18,[1] comprising notes of the report to me by Henry Loomis. There was present in the meeting, in addition to Webster and Loomis of the RDB, most of the members of the "Killian Review Group of the RDB," plus a number of specially invited additions as listed hereafter: The Killian review Group consisted of Killian, Bronk, Kelly, DuBridge, and [Merle] Tuve [Carnegie Institution of Washington]. ([Fred] Hovde [Purdue University] and R. E. Wilson [Standard Oil Company], also members of the group were not present.) Others present by invitation were: Dr. H.P. Robertson, WSEG, Dr. Karl Compton of MIT, Dr. V. Bush, Dr. Irvin Stewart, and Dr. Jerome Hunsaker of MIT and the NACA, and Dr. Berkner [Carnegie Institution of Washington]. In reply to my question Dr. Killian said that Oppenheimer’s name was included among those on the list, apparently it was mentioned after Dr. Kelly left the meeting. I took this opportunity to get more clearly in mind than I had before the matter of whether a scientific adviser to the President, specifically with that title and in that capacity, was quite agreeable to this group, or whether they wanted some less formal or less close relationship. This had not been completely clear to me from Henry Loomis’ report. He said that they would very definitely be pleased with a scientific adviser to the President, as such, although they did not feel that the precise degree of relationship was vital. He said that they did regard it as important that this man, the scientific adviser we shall call him, although he did not care about the title either, should be the rallying point of the sample of representation of the scientific community and that he should have access to the President when necessary. They did not care whether he was called adviser to the President, as such, or not. I told him that I was very close to making this specific recommendation, which he and the group clearly knew from my talks with a considerable number of them individually. He also said there had been some discussion about a committee of one kind or another to this individual leader, but there had been no definite decision as to what the relationship would be. One such suggestion was that the committee should be of three people consisting of the chairman of the RDB, the chairman, or president rather, of the National Academy of Sciences, and the chairman of the National Science Foundation. But he said that neither he nor the meeting as a whole felt convinced that this was desirable. That is, it did not seem necessary to formalize the availability of these people in a committee. At any rate, he agreed, when I put the question that way. He did say there was a definite feeling that representation should not be of the physical sciences exclusively; that is, there was a genuine recognition of the growing importance of the social sciences, in .particularly of the interrelationship of the social sciences with the physical sciences. He referred specifically to the Troy Report now under way as a project at MIT. Dr. Berkner, as I recall, is working on this and I shall ask him about it when I see him. Dr. Killian spoke very highly of Berkner. I told him of my conversation with Dr. Conant and asked whether he had yet talked with him since Conant was not at the meeting, and he said no, but he intended to do so in the very near future.* He will be in Washington the beginning of January. William T. Golden ____________________________ |
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