Killian, James Rhyne, 1904-1988
Dates
- Existence: 1904 July 24 - 1988 January 29
Biographical Note
James Rhyne Killian, 1904-1988, was assistant managing editor, then managing editor, of Technology Review, the magazine of the Alumni Association. He was editor from 1930 to 1939, and helped found the Technology Press, now the MIT Press. He received his SB in management in 1926 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1939 he became executive assistant to MIT President Karl Taylor Compton. During World War II, when Compton was involved with the National Defense Research Committee, Killian acted as Compton’s surrogate in directing the operation of MIT, which was also heavily involved in wartime research and development. He was appointed executive vice president in 1943, and vice president and member of the MIT Corporation in 1945. He became the tenth president of MIT in 1948 and served until 1959; he was then chairman of the MIT Corporation, 1959-1971.
As special assistant for science and technology to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957-1959, Killian formed the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) which was instrumental in initiating national curriculum reforms in science and technology and in establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He participated in many other government advisory and study groups including President Harry S. Truman’s Communications Policy Board, 1950-1951; the President’s Advisory Committee on Management, 1950-1952; the Board of Visitors of the US Naval Academy, 1953-1955; the Army Scientific Advisory Panel (chairman), 1951-1956; and the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, 1961-1963. He was chairman of the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, 1965-1967, which led to the “Public Television Act of 1967”; he then served as director of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1968-1974. He was a member of the General Advisory Committee of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1969-1974. Among his books are Sputnik, Scientists and Eisenhower (1977); Flash! Seeing the Unseen by Ultra-High Speed Photography, with Harold E. Edgerton (1939, 1954); and p>
Occupations
Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) Identifier
- 14416165
Found in 152 Collections and/or Records:
Atoms for Peace Awards records
James R. Killian, Jr.'s Address in Cleveland, 1950 October 31
News Release issued by the MIT Office of Public Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
James R. Killian papers
Karl T. Compton Memorial Convocation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Karl Taylor Compton Memorial Tribute, WGBH radio broadcast
The collection comprises an audio recording of the October 4, 1954 Karl Taylor Compton Memorial Tribute speeches given by Ralph Lowell and James R. Killian on WGBH radio broadcast.
Letter from Chair James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding New Corporation Members, 1964 June 23
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Death of Robert E. Wilson, 1964 September 2
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Death of Theodore V. Houser, 1963 December 19
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Election of Life Members to the Corporation, 1963 June 7
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Election of Robert C. Gunness as Life Member in MIT Corporation, 1963 December 3
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding Election of Life Members of the Corporation, 1966 June 13
News Release issued by the MIT Office of Public Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Appointment of Five Alumni to the Corporation, 1961 July 24
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Appointment of Two New Corporation Members, 1961 December 5
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Death of Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., 1966 February 17
News Release issued by the MIT Office of Public Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Death of Francis J. Chesterman, 1963 January 22
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Election of Gilbert M. Roddy as Life Member of MIT Corporation, 1962 December 6
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Election of John J. Wilson as Life Member of the MIT Corporation, 1962 October 9
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Election of New Corporation Members, 1965 June 14
News Release issued by the MIT Office of the Chair of the Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Inaugeration of Howard Johnson as President of the Institute, 1966 May 11
News Release issued by the MIT Office of Public Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chair of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Retirement of Julius A. Stratton, 1965 November 16
News Release issued by the MIT Office of Public Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from Chairman of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Appointment of Five Alumni to the Corporation
Letter from Chairman of the Corporation James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding the Appointment of Two New Corporation Members
Letter from President James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding August 1957 Administrative Appointments, 1957 August 9
News Release Issued by the MIT Office of the President at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Letter from President James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding Claude E. Shannon's Appointment as Professor of Communications Sciences
Letter from President James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding Claude E. Shannon's Appointment as Professor of Communications Sciences, 1957 February 1
Letter from President James R. Killian, Jr. Regarding E. Francis Bowditch's Leave of Absence, 1957 August 6
News Release Issued by the MIT Office of the President at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology