James Bryant Conant was a
chemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, educational administrator, and government official. As the
PresidentThe President of Harvard University is the chief administrator of the university. Ex officio the chairman of the Harvard Corporation, he or she is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to him or her the day-to-day running of the university...
of
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
he reformed it as a research institution.
Biography
Conant was born in
Dorchester, MassachusettsDorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
in 1893 and graduated from the
Roxbury Latin SchoolThe Roxbury Latin School is the oldest school in continuous operation in North America. The school was founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. Since its founding in 1645, it has educated boys on a continuous basis.Located...
in
West RoxburyWest Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston bordered by Roslindale to the north, the Town of Dedham to the east and south, the Town of Brookline and the City of Newton to the west. Many people mistakenly confuse West Roxbury with Roxbury, but the two are not connected. West Roxbury is separated from...
in 1910. He went on to study
chemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
at
HarvardHarvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
(
B.A.A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, Phi Beta Kappa 1914;
Ph.D.Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
, 1917). At Harvard he studied under
Charles Loring JacksonCharles Loring Jackson was the first significant organic chemist in the United States. He brought organic chemistry to the United States from Germany and educated a generation of American organic chemists.-Personal life:...
, and became acquainted with
Roger AdamsRoger Adams was an American organic chemist. He is best-known for the eponymous Adams' catalyst, and his work did much to determine the composition of naturally occurring substances such as complex vegetable oils and plant alkaloids...
,
Farrington DanielsFarrington Daniels , was an American physical chemist, is considered one of the pioneers of the modern direct use of solar energy.- Biography :Daniels was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 8, 1889...
,
Frank C. WhitmoreFrank Clifford Whitmore , nicknamed "Rocky", was a prominent chemist who submitted significant evidence for the existence of carbocation mechanisms in organic chemistry.He was born in 1887 in the town of North Attleborough, Massachusetts....
and
James B. SumnerJames Batcheller Sumner was an American chemist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946 with John Howard Northrop and Wendell Meredith Stanley.-Biography:...
. As a Harvard
professorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, he worked on both
physicalPhysical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
and
organic chemistryOrganic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
. He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1924.
In 1933, Conant accepted an appointment as the
President of Harvard UniversityThe President of Harvard University is the chief administrator of the university. Ex officio the chairman of the Harvard Corporation, he or she is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to him or her the day-to-day running of the university...
, a post he held until 1953. In 1941,
Sir Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, as Chancellor of the
University of BristolThe University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
, conferred upon Conant an Honorary degree. The
American Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
honored him with its highest prize, the
Priestley MedalThe Priestley Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society and is awarded for distinguished service in the field of chemistry. Established in 1922, the award is named after Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen who immigrated to the United States of America in 1794...
, in 1944. Between 1941 and 1946, he also served as chairman of the
National Defense Research CommitteeThe National Defense Research Committee was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the United States from June 27, 1940 until June 28, 1941...
; from that position he played a key role, along with his close friend and MIT vice president
Vannevar BushVannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator known for his work on analog computing, his political role in the development of the atomic bomb as a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project, the founding of Raytheon, and the idea of the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer...
, in ramping up the
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
which developed the first nuclear weapons. After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was an adviser to both the
National Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
and the
Atomic Energy CommissionThe United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
.
Concerned about growing criticism of the use of nuclear weapons by prominent figures like
Norman CousinsNorman Cousins was an American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate.-Early life and education:...
and
Reinhold NiebuhrKarl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
, President Conant played an important behind-the-scenes role in shaping public opinion by instigating and then editing an influential February 1947
Harper'sHarper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
article entitled "The Decision," written (with the help of
McGeorge BundyMcGeorge "Mac" Bundy was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from 1961 through 1966, and president of the Ford Foundation from 1966 through 1979...
) by former Secretary of War
Henry L. StimsonHenry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
. The article first promulgated the notion that the atomic bomb was
usedDuring the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
to avoid "over a million casualties," a figure for which no basis has so far been found in the
historical recordHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
of atomic-bomb decision-making.
Conant served as
U.S. High CommissionerThe Allied High Commission was established by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France after the 1948 breakdown of the Allied Control Council to regulate and supervise the development of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany The Allied High Commission (also known...
(1953–1955) and
United States Ambassador to GermanyThe United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany and its predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice while Germany and the United States were at war...
(1955–1957). In 1960 he served on President Eisenhower's
Commission on National GoalsThe U.S. President’s Commission on National Goals was organized in February 1960 as a non-official body whose purpose was to develop a broad outline of national objectives and programs for the next decade and longer. It operated under the auspices of the American Assembly The U.S. President’s...
.
As the university's president, Conant was instrumental in transforming Harvard, until then still somewhat parochial into an increasingly 'diverse' and world-class research university. He introduced aptitude tests into the undergraduate admissions system so that students would be chosen for their intellectual promise and merit, rather than their social connections.
Many American colleges followed Conant's lead. Conant became an advocate for educational reform in society generally, and this campaign led eventually to the adoption of the
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
. In this regard, Conant also did much to move general undergraduate curriculum away from its traditional emphasis on the
classicsClassics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, and towards a more scientific and modern subject matter. He was active throughout his career on issues of education and scientific policy on both the secondary and collegiate level, being a strong advocate for the establishment of community colleges. In 1959 he authored the book, "The American High School Today."For this work, he was awarded the prestigious
Sylvanus Thayer AwardThe Sylvanus Thayer Award is an award that is given each year by the United States Military Academy at West Point. Sylvanus Thayer was the fifth superintendent of that academy and in honor of his achievements, the award was created...
by the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.
Conant also actively promoted the discipline of
history of scienceThe history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
, instituting the Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science and including history of science in the General Education curriculum. For Conant, an approach to the history of science that emphasized the internal and intellectual dimensions of scientific development — as opposed to the so-called external factors of sociology, economics and politics — reinforced the American
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
ideology and would help Americans understand the importance of science since the
Second World WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During that time, American science (and especially the field of physics that Conant viewed as exemplary) was rapidly becoming dominated by
military fundingThe military funding of science has had a powerful transformative effect on the practice and products of scientific research since the early 20th century...
, and Conant sought to defuse concerns about the possible corruption of science. Conant was instrumental in the early career of
Thomas KuhnThomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
, whose book
The Structure of Scientific RevolutionsThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions , by Thomas Kuhn, is an analysis of the history of science. Its publication was a landmark event in the history, philosophy, and sociology of scientific knowledge and it triggered an ongoing worldwide assessment and reaction in — and beyond — those scholarly...
has been extremely influential for the various fields of
science studiesScience studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in a broad social, historical, and philosophical context. It is concerned with the history of academic disciplines, the interrelationships between science and society, and the alleged covert purposes...
.
Death and remembrance
Conant died in
Hanover, New HampshireHanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
in 1978. James B. Conant Middle School is a former school named after the man in
Neenah, WisconsinNeenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...
, though it has since become the "Conant" building, in addition to the
Neil ArmstrongNeil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
building and a large building connecting the two known simply as "The Link."
James B. Conant High SchoolJames B. Conant High School is a public four-year high school located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States...
in
Hoffman Estates, IllinoisHoffman Estates is a northwestern suburb of Chicago in Illinois. The village is located primarily in Cook County with a small section in Kane County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 49,495 and estimated to be 52,520 in 2003...
was named after Conant, as was James B. Conant Elementary School in
Bloomfield Hills, MichiganBloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan, northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,869...
.
He was presented with the
Presidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
, with special distinction, by President Lyndon Johnson on December 6, 1963. He had been selected for the award by President
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, but the ceremony had been delayed, and was presented with the award after Kennedy's assassination in November 1963.
Perhaps his most famous quote is also repeatedly mis-stated. He is quoted as saying, "Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out," but the actual quote was "Behold the turtle. He makes progress when his neck is out."
Controversies
As the president of Harvard, Conant led the administration in welcoming the
Hitler regimeNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. He had high ranking Nazi officials visit the campus and give speeches, including the 1934 commencement address by
Ernst HanfstaenglErnst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl , was a Harvard-educated German businessman who was an intimate of Adolf Hitler before falling out of favor and defecting. He later worked for Franklin D...
, while he restricted admission of Jewish students and hiring of Jewish faculty. In the words of
historianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s Morton and Phyllis Keller, he "shared the mild antisemitism common to his social group and time."
Another incident in his career took place in 1940 when he apologized
to the commanding admiral of Annapolis after the Harvard lacrosse team attempted to field a player of African-American descent. Navy's coach refused to field his team. Harvard's athletic director, William J. Bingham, overruled his lacrosse coach and had the player, Lucien Victor Alexis Jr., sent back to Cambridge on a train. After serving in World War II, Alexis was subsequently refused admittance to Harvard Medical school on the grounds that, as the only black student, he would therefore have no one to room with.
Sources
External links