James Killian

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For the NFL football player, see James Kilian.

Dr. James Rhyne Killian, Jr. (July 24, 1904 to January 29, 1988) was the 10th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from 1948 until 1959.

1 Government service
2 Legacy
3 References
4 External links

Government service

Legacy

In 1932 while serving as the editor of MIT's alumni magazine, Killian was instrumental in the founding of Technology Press, the publishing imprint that would later become the institute's independent publishing house, MIT Press.

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). In 1956, James R. Killian Jr was named as the 1st Chair to the new President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board by the Eisenhower Administration; a position which he held until April of 1963.

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).

References

Official MIT biography
Discussion of his involvement with the C.I.A. and Pres. Eisenhower
Genealogical data
Stever, H. Guyford (2002). In War and Peace: My Life in Science and Technology. Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 0-30908-411-3.