Lee Alvin DuBridge

Preceded byOliver BuckleySucceeded byIsidor Rabi2nd President of the California Institute of TechnologyIn office
1946–1969Preceded byRobert MillikanSucceeded byHarold Brown Personal detailsBorn(1901-09-21)September 21, 1901
Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.DiedJanuary 23, 1994(1994-01-23) (aged 92)
Duarte, California, U.S.EducationAwardsVannevar Bush Award (1982)Scientific careerFieldsPhysicsInstitutionsThesisVariations in the photo-electric sensitivity of platinum (1926)Doctoral advisorCharles MendenhallDoctoral students

Lee Alvin DuBridge (21 September 1901 – 23 January 1994) was an American educator and physicist, best known as president of the California Institute of Technology from 1946–1969.^[1]

Background

Lee Alvin DuBridge was born on 21 September 1901, in Terre Haute, Indiana. His father was Fred DuBridge, a football coach at Indiana State Normal School.^[2] He graduated from Cornell College in 1922, and then began a teaching assignment at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, from which he received an M.A. degree in 1924^[3] and a Ph.D. in 1926.^[4] DuBridge continued his academic work at the California Institute of Technology, as assistant, then associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis (1928–1934), and the University of Rochester.^[1][5]

Career

Academia

At Rochester, DuBridge began a long career as an academic administrator, serving as dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. On leave from Rochester between 1940 and 1946, he became the founding director of the Radiation Laboratory at MIT. In 1946, DuBridge began serving as president of the California Institute of Technology through 1969.^[1]

Civil service

In 1958, he, along with William A. Fowler, Max Mason, Linus Pauling, and Bruce H. Sage, was awarded the Medal for Merit.^[6][7] DuBridge served as presidential Science Advisor under President Harry S. Truman from 1952–53 and under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953-55, and (after retiring from Caltech) under President Richard Nixon from 1969–70.^[1]

Associations

DuBridge served on boards for: RAND Corporation (1948–1961), National Science Board (1950–1954), Western College Association (president, 1950–1951),^[8] Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1951–1957), Air Pollution Foundation (1953–1961), Institute for Defense Analysis (1956–1960), Rockefeller Foundation (1956–1976), National Science Board (vice chair, 1958–1964), board of governors for the Los Angeles Town Hall (1959–1963), Edison Foundation (1960–1968), KCET (1962–1968), Huntington Library (1962–1968), and National Educational Television (1964–1968).^[1]

Personal and death

DuBridge died of pneumonia at a retirement home in Duarte, California, on 23 January 1994.^[2]

Awards

• 1942: American Philosophical Society^[9]
• 1943: National Academy of Sciences^[1]
• 1946: American Academy of Arts and Sciences^[10]
• 1947: Research Corporation Award^[1]
• 1948: United States Medal for Merit^[6]
• 1967: Governor's Award, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences^[11]
• 1968: Sesquicentennial Award, University of Michigan^[1]
• 1969: Lehman Award, New York Academy of Sciences^[1]
• 1974: Golden Plate Award, Academy of Achievement^[1][12][13]
• 1982: Vannevar Bush Award, National Science Foundation^[1]
• Minor planet 5678 DuBridge discovered by Eleanor Helin is named in his honor.^[14]

References

External links

• Oral history interview transcript with Lee DuBridge on 13 December 1968, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
• Oral history interview transcript with Lee DuBridge on 9 June 1972, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
• Oral history interview transcript with Lee DuBridge on 14 February 1986, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
• Oral history interview transcript with Lee DuBridge on 6 March 1987, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
• "Lee A. Dubridge - Key Participants - It's in the Blood! A Documentary History of Linus Pauling, Hemoglobin, and Sickle Cell Anemia". Oregon State University. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
• "Lee A. Dubridge - Key Participants - Linus Pauling and the International Peace Movement: A Documentary History". Oregon State University. Archived from the original on 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
• 1959 film on Golden Key award, "The School Story" on YouTube
• Prowitt, David; Mossman, Tom; et al. (Dubridge, Lee A. and Ramo, Simon). "Science and Society: A Race Against Time". Spectrum. Episode 52. Los Angeles: KCET. Archived from the original on 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
• DuBridge, Lee (1981-02-19). "Lee Alvin DuBridge (Part I) (1901-1993)" (PDF). Caltech (Interview). Interviewed by Goodstein, Judith R. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
• DuBridge, Lee (1981-02-19). "Lee Alvin DuBridge (Part II) (1901-1993)" (PDF). Caltech (Interview). Interviewed by Goodstein, Judith R. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
• DuBridge, Lee (1983-03-30). "Lee DuBridge's Interview - Part 1". Voices of the Manhattan Project (Interview). Interviewed by Sherwin, Martin. Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
• DuBridge, Lee (1983-03-30). "Lee DuBridge's Interview - Part 2". Voices of the Manhattan Project (Interview). Interviewed by Sherwin, Martin. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2022-03-23.

Academic offices
Preceded by Robert Millikan	President of the California Institute of Technology 1946–1969	Succeeded by Harold Brown
Government offices
Preceded by Oliver Buckley	Chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee 1952–1956	Succeeded by Isidor Rabi
Preceded by Donald Hornig	Director of the Office of Science and Technology 1969–1970	Succeeded by Ed David