James Rhyne Killian

Dr. James Rhyne Killian, Jr. (1904-1988) was the 10th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from 1948 until 1959. He was Special Assistant for Science and Technology to President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1957 to 1959, making him the first true Presidential Science Advisor. Killian headed the Killian Committee and oversaw the creation of the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) shortly after the launches of the Soviet artificial satellites, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, in October and November 1957. PSAC was instrumental in initiating national curriculum reforms in science and technology and in establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He (co-)authored a book, "The Education of a College President" (1985), which serves as an autobiography as well.

Two locations on MIT's campus bear Killian's name: Killian Court, a tree-lined courtyard with views of MIT's Great Dome, and Killian Hall, a concert hall (actually named after Killian's wife, Elizabeth Parks Killian, a Wellesley College alumna.

References

* [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/biographies/killian.html Official MIT biography]
* [http://cryptome.org/cia-spy-tech/cia-spy-tech.htm Discussion] of his involvement with the C.I.A. and Pres. Eisenhower
* [http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=killian&id=I4387 Genealogical data]
*cite book | author=Stever, H. Guyford | title=In War and Peace: My Life in Science and Technology | location=| publisher=Joseph Henry Press | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-30908-411-3

External links

* [http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/listofholdingshtml/finding_aids_w.html Records of the White House Office of the Special Assistant for Science and Technology, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library]