Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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THE FACLI LTY President Conant fvigbrj leaves the White House with Bernard President Roosevelt on the national rubber problem. As in the Baruch and Karl T. Compton of M. I. T., after reporting to last War, Mr. Conant is again doing vital scientific research. iso?

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sneezes or the sprains, the Hygiene Department headed by Dr. Arlie V. Bock provided prompt and eflicient solace. Most students chose to study. And when they did they had access to thousands of books well-classified by the numbers of capable librarians, under the direction of Keyes Dewitt Metcalf. Not even the autumn blackout of Boylston upset the methodical exactness of the staff. Less in the lime' light than these bookworms, but equally important were the many members of the Maintenance Department. The part of Harvard that never changes, the buildings and equipment, was their province. Business Manager Aldrich Durant and Dining Hall Director Roy Westcott provided the physical comforts and Publicity Director Arthur Sampson the emotional angle. There were others, many too numerous to name but all deserving of mention. They were the worksg they made Harvard click. From the moment when Chairman of Admissions Rich- ard M. Gummere said okay to the end of their college career, '45 and '44 saw the University through the eyes of its adminis- trators. And the visions they evoke in future years will be more the product of these men than of professors, as much of biddies as of instructors. ,,,.4--V x lux Dean R. F. French held office from March to October of this year. Dean Hanford discusses undergraduate academic affairs at periodic meetings with assistant deans in his office in University Hall. ' 'T V ar.. .saw . ,..:,..,?,,-T: 7' ' if-Y . l in r l 1 Jl29l

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and the W HE participation of Harvard experts and scholars in government planning under the New Deal became of greater size and importance after September 1939, and in- creasingly so since December 7th. Our entry into the war did not create an original condition, but intensihed the in- tegration of faculty activities in national efforts as it had effected a reorientation of university policy. Financial and legal experts, political scientists and historians, had been known to visit Washington prior to the war, but neither in such numbers nor with such frequency as later. As the needs of the National Defense Program increased, younger men, especially, had the opportunity to make considerable contributions in research and administration. Pre-war work done by Faculty men has often fitted into the trend of events, and they have adopted themselves to war conditions. john D. Black, author of the AAA pro- grams, has turned to work on Allied food problems, Rupert Emerson is an adviser on foreign and colonial arfairsg and Alvin Hansen's dehcit hnance plans have been adapted to war time needs. james M. Landis, William Y. Elliott,-lohn H. Williams, and other experienced men are devoting all or part of their time in civilian war capacities. Many men have almost entirely removed themselves from Cambridge to do war work, including Arthur N. Holcombe, special adviser in the WPB, Lincoln Gordon and Merle Fainsod in the OPA. William Langer, Donald McKay, and Edward S. Mason pro- vide the Office of Strategic Services with vital information. The amount of secrecy that has come over their work is indicated more by the removal of scientific research in Cambridge from the public view. Details which are now necessarily obscured will provide an illuminating record of Harvard's contribution to victory. The amount of special consultative and research work that is being carried on by Harvard scientists is of great diversity and magnitude, and anticipating the minutest needs of total war. Many commissioned faculty men are already close to the nerve points of action. Perry Miller, Charles Taylor, james Casner, Mason Hammond, and Myron Gilmore are in such positions. Crane Brinton and Bruce Hopper are among others on secret missions of a civilian nature. In these four wartime capacities-Military, Civilian, Scientific, and Consultativeh-over 400 Faculty men are now engaged. As Harvard further adjusts herself to final victory, increasing numbers of trained men will turn to the vital and varied tasks which the government has already indicated it demands of our universities. Prof. Alvin H. Hansen describes his views on economic post-war President Conant, on the day after Pearl Harbor, speaks to a planning in a nationwide Town Meeting of the Air broadcast. huge Sanders Theater audience on the role of Harvard in the war. fail