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Jerome Wiesner
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<p>Jerome Bert Wiesner (May 30, 1915 – October 21, 1994) was a professor of <a href="/facts/Electrical_engineering/YYXW1KLW">electrical engineering</a>, chosen by President <a href="/facts/John_F._Kennedy/1cdDaswg">John F. Kennedy</a> as chairman of his <a href="/facts/President%2527s_Science_Advisory_Committee/RKangyel">Science Advisory Committee</a> (PSAC). Educated at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Michigan/6e1Ea5xh">University of Michigan</a>, Wiesner was associate director of the university's radio broadcasting service and provided electronic and acoustical assistance to the <a href="/facts/National_Music_Camp/kLACMaBu">National Music Camp</a> at <a href="/facts/Interlochen%2c_Michigan/mzGb0LLI">Interlochen, Michigan</a>. During <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, he worked on <a href="/facts/Microwave_radar/jk9BTbFA">microwave radar</a> development at the <a href="/facts/Radiation_Laboratory/hYcQJtxR">MIT Radiation Laboratory</a>. He worked briefly after the war at the <a href="/facts/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory/tlrLkV7r">Los Alamos National Laboratory</a>, then returned to MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics from 1946 to 1961. After serving as Kennedy's science advisor, he returned to MIT, becoming its <a href="/facts/List_of_presidents_of_the_Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology/Q7GfRDP2">president</a> from 1971 to 1980. </p><p>He was an outspoken critic of crewed exploration of <a href="/facts/Outer_space/R3LRKyFs">outer space</a>, believing instead in automated space probes. He challenged <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>'s choice of developing the <a href="/facts/Apollo_Lunar_Module/XtvQS5K5">Apollo Lunar Module</a> as a means to achieving Kennedy's goal of landing men on the Moon. At Kennedy's direction, he investigated <a href="/facts/Rachel_Carson/WAWPPC3g">Rachel Carson</a>'s criticism of the use of the pesticide <a href="/facts/DDT/RfYXlCuF">DDT</a>, and issued a report in support of her claims. He was an advocate for <a href="/facts/Arms_control/Jzpvsxwm">arms control</a>, and a critic of <a href="/facts/Anti-ballistic_missile/FsgNKeP4">anti-ballistic missile</a> defense systems. While MIT president, he was put on President <a href="/facts/Richard_M._Nixon/HS8uXAoC">Richard M. Nixon</a>'s <a href="/facts/Master_list_of_Nixon%2527s_political_opponents/BRYcjzkY">extended "enemies list"</a>. </p>