James Rhyne Killian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the NFL football player, see James Kilian.
Dr. James Rhyne Killian, Jr. (1904-1988) was the 10th president of MIT from 1948 until 1959. As Special Assistant for Science and Technology to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957-1959, Killian 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).
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.
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Presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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| William Barton Rogers (1862–1870, 1879–1881) • John Daniel Runkle (1870–1878) • Francis Amasa Walker (1881–1897) • James Crafts (1897–1900) • Henry Smith Pritchett (1900–1907) • Arthur Amos Noyes (acting 1907–1909) • Richard Cockburn Maclaurin (1909–1920) • Elihu Thomson (acting 1920–1921, 1922–1923) • Ernest Fox Nichols (1921–1922) • Samuel Wesley Stratton (1923–1930) • Karl Taylor Compton (1930–1948) • James Rhyne Killian (1948–1959) • Julius Adams Stratton (1959–1966) • Howard Wesley Johnson (1966–1971) • Jerome Wiesner (1971–1980) • Paul Edward Gray (1980–1990) • Charles Marstiller Vest (1990–2004) • Susan Hockfield (2004—) |
