MIT President Emeritus Jerome B. Wiesner, 79, died of heart failure on October 21, 1994, at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts. Although Dr. Wiesner had recovered from a stroke in 1989 that hampered his speech and ability to walk, he suffered from an unspecified illness at the time of his death. His distinguished record of service to government and MIT includes RLE director, MIT provost, MIT president, and presidential science advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. As a scientific statesman, Dr. Wiesner shaped national policy and programs related to science and technology. As a scientist, he studied ionospheric scattering techniques used to transmit radio waves and was an authority on communications science and engineering. In his educational and leadership roles at MIT, he actively promoted and enriched the institute's programs in social science, humanities, and the arts.
Dr. Wiesner was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1915, and raised in nearby Dearborn. He graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (BS'37, MS'38, PhD'50). As a graduate student, he served as associate director of the student radio station. Fr om 1940 to 1942, he was chief engineer for the Acoustical and Record Library of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. During this time, he worked on the development of advanced sound recording facilities. He accompanied folklorist Alan Lomax on a tour through the South and Southwest, recording regional American folk music for the Library of Congress' archives.
In 1942, Dr. Wiesner joined the staff at MIT's Radiation Laboratory to work on X-band radar components. He became an associate member of the laboratory's steering committee and group leader for Project Cadillac, a forerunner of the AWAC airborne radar system. Following the Radiation Lab, he spent one year at the Univers ity of California's Los Alamos Laboratory, where he worked on the development of electronic components used at the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests in 1946. Dr. Wiesner returned to MIT in 1946, and joined the faculty as assistant professor in the Departmen t of Electrical Engineering. He was promoted to associate professor in 1947 and full professor in 1950. He also served as the department's acting head from 1959 to 1960.
Dr. Wiesner was appointed assistant director of RLE in 1947, became associate director in 1949, and served as director from 1952 to 1961. During his tenure in RLE administration, the laboratory's research broadened from its original emphasis on physics and communications. RLE began to stimulate scientific attention and attract researchers from all over the world while it developed its multidisciplinary style of research. It was this style, according to Dr. Wiesner, that was passed on to Lincoln Labora tory when it was founded in 1951.
Dr. Wiesner was a devoted advisor to government officials on matters related to science and technology. Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he served on the President's Science Advisory Committee in 1957, and as staff director of the U.S. delegation to the Geneva Conference in 1958. In 1961, he took a three-year leave of absence from MIT to join President John F. Kennedy as his special assistant for science and technology and to chair the President's Science Advisory Committee. Dr. Wiesner also served briefly in these roles during President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. As an advocate of nuclear arms control, Dr. Wiesner helped to establish the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and to restrict deployment of antiballistic missile systems. His efforts led to the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed by the U.S., the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. This historic treaty banned all nuclear tests, except those underground. In his 1965 book, Where Science and Politics Meet, he warned, "Only by agreeing to effective disarmament measures and employing the resources thus made available for constructive purposes can we have any hope of ultimate survival." He also coauthored the book ABM: An Evaluation of the Decision to Deploy and An tiballistic Missile System.
From 1962 to 1971, Dr. Wiesner held the rank of institute professor. In 1964, he returned to MIT as dean of the School of Science. From 1964 to 1981, he also continued to serve on the Technology Advisory Council of the Office of Technology Assessment. Dr. Wiesner was appointed MIT provost in 1966, and became the institute's thirteenth president in 1971. He served as president until his retirement in 1980, when he resumed the rank of institute professor.
During his retirement years, Dr. Wiesner continued his efforts to bring together humanism, science, and technology. He actively promoted teaching and research in technology policy and social issues. His efforts helped to establish MIT's Program in Scienc e, Technology and Society. As a founder and supporter of MIT's Media Laboratory, he promoted the creative use of advanced technology and computers to education and the arts. In 1985, the Wiesner Building, which houses the Media Lab and the List Visual A rts Center, was dedicated to Dr. and Mrs. Wiesner. He also fostered the development of research in brain and cognitive sciences as well as programs to encourage innovation at all levels of education. As a founding member of the International Foundation for the Survival and Development of Humanity, Dr. Wiesner joined other U.S. and Soviet scientists and educators to raise funds for research on global problems. He also continued to speak out against the nuclear arms race. In 1993, along with MIT scient ists Philip Morris and Kosta Tsipis, Dr. Wiesner proposed deep cuts in the U.S. military budget and published Beyond the Looking Glass: The United States Military in 2000 and Later.
Dr. Wiesner's many professional and public service awards cited him for his steadfast efforts to use science and engineering in solving humanitarian problems. The National Science Board honored him in 1992 with the Vannevar Bush Award, recognizing his ro le to further public understanding of the risks of nuclear testing. In 1993, he was awarded the National Academy of Sciences' Public Welfare Medal for his devoted and successful work in science policy, education, nuclear disarmament, and world peace. Hi s many other meritorious awards included: the President's Certificate of Merit (1948), the IEEE Founder's Medal (1977), the IEEE Centennial Medal (1984), and the National Academy of Engineering's Arthur M. Bueche Award (1985). He also served on both the Watertown, Massachusetts, school committee and planning board as well as on the board of numerous foundations, corporations, and educational institutions.
Dr. Wiesner is survived by his wife Laya (Wainger) Wiesner; three sons, Stephen J. of Mitzpeh Ramon, Israel, Zachary K. of Watertown, and Joshua A. of Cambridge; and a daughter, Dr. Elizabeth A. of Branford, Connecticut.
Remembrances for Dr. Wiesner may be sent to the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, 125 Nashua Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, or to Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02238.