1975

Marconi Prize recipient

Cited in honor a lifetime of public service in science and engineering. In association with Lord Briggs Of Lewes Oxford University, England. To commission a study of the social implications of radio in the development of the science and art of broadcasting.

James R. Killian, 1975

Presented by: The Honorable Nelson A. Rockefeller, Vice President of the United States of America, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Killian served as the tenth President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1949 and 1959. Under his presidency, the School of Humanities and Social Studies, the Sloan School of Management, the Lincoln Laboratory and the Center for International Studies were added to MIT. President Killian encouraged MIT’s movement into the field of digital computers and information-processing, and was widely known for his strong defense of academic freedom. Dr. Killian also served as the first presidential science advisor, during a leave from MIT between November 1957 and July 1959. The photo above shows Dr. Killian being sworn in as presidential science advisor in 1957.

Dr. Killian died in 1988.