Guyford Stever

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Horton Guyford Stever (born October 24, 1916 in Corning , New York , † April 9, 2010 in Gaithersburg , Maryland ) was an American physicist, university president and science manager.

Live and act

Stever studied physics at Colgate University until 1938 with a bachelor's degree. He then went to the California Institute of Technology , where he received his doctorate in 1941 with an experimental thesis on cosmic particle radiation . In 1941 he moved to the Radiation Laboratory of MIT , where he was involved in the development of radar. From 1942 until the end of the Second World War he was the liaison officer of the Office of Scientific Research and Development in London and responsible for coordinating joint military research projects. After the end of the war, he returned to MIT and worked there from 1946 with a short break (1955 to 1956) in various positions until 1965, such as Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics from 1956 to 1965. From 1955 to 1956 he was chief scientist of the US Air Force .

In 1965 he became President of the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and, during his term of office in 1967, initiated the merger of this institution with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University . Until 1972 he was president of this university. He was then director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and advisor to various government agencies until 1976 . From 1976 to 1977 he was director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under US President Gerald Ford . This agency had ceased operations under President Nixon . In his role as presidential advisor, he promoted, among other things, scientific cooperation with the USSR and research on renewable energies. After 1977 he worked as a consultant for several private companies as well as for public institutions. From 1982 to 1985 he was President of the Universities Research Association and from 1988 to 1993 a member of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government .

Stever received numerous awards and honors. In 1991 he was awarded the National Medal of Science , and in 1997 he received the NSF's Vannevar Bush Award . Stever became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1947 . He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1953), the National Academy of Engineering (1965), the National Academy of Sciences (1973), the American Philosophical Society (2001) and the Royal Academy of Engineering .

In 2002 he published his autobiography under the title In War and Peace .

Fonts (selection)

  • H. Guyford Stever: Whither NSF? - The higher derivatives . In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA . tape 72 , no. 8 , 1975, p. 2853-2855 .
  • Janet H. Muroyama, H. Guyford Stever (Eds.): Globalization of Technology. International Perspectives . National Academy Press, Washington DC 1988, ISBN 978-0-309-03842-3 .
  • H. Guyford Stever: Science Advice to the Seats of Power in Government . In: William T. Golden (Ed.): Science and Technology Advice to the President, Congress, and Judiciary . 2nd Edition. Routledge, London, New York 2017, ISBN 978-1-56000-829-3 , pp. 330-335 .
  • Guy Stever: In War and Peace. My Life in Science and Technology . Joseph Henry Press, Washington DC 2002, ISBN 978-0-309-08411-6 , pp. 424 .

literature

  • T. Kenneth Fowler : H. Guyford Stever . A Biographical Memoir. Ed .: National Academy of Sciences (=  Biographical Memoirs of the NAS . Volume 92 ). Washington DC 2010 ( nasonline.org [PDF]).
  • Sheila E. Widnall: H. Guyford Stever . Ed .: National Academy of Engineering (=  Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering . Volume 15 ). National Academies Press, Washington DC 2011, ISBN 978-0-309-21306-6 , pp. 383-386 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Members: H. Guyford Stever. National Academy of Engineering, accessed October 12, 2018 .
  2. ↑ member History: H. Guyford Stever. American Philosophical Society, accessed October 12, 2018 (English, with a short biography).
personal data
SURNAME Stever, Guyford
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stever, Horton Guyford (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist and science manager
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Corning (New York)
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 2010
Place of death Gaithersburg