Background
Killian, James R. was born on July 24, 1904 in Blacksburg, South Carolina. Son of James Robert and Jeannette (Rhyne) Killian.
Killian, James R. was born on July 24, 1904 in Blacksburg, South Carolina. Son of James Robert and Jeannette (Rhyne) Killian.
Student, Trinity College Duke U., 1921-1923; honorary Doctor of Laws, Trinity College Duke U., 1949; Bachelor of Science, Massachusetts Institute Technology, 1926; Doctor of Science (honorary), Middlebury College, 1945; honorary degrees, Bates College, 1950; honorary degrees, U. Havana, Cuba, 1953; honorary degrees, Notre Dame U., 1954; honorary degrees, Lowell Technology Institute, 1954; honorary degrees, Columbia, College Wooster honorary degrees, Oberlin College, 1958; honorary degrees, U. Akron, 1959; honorary degrees, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1960; honorary degrees, U. Maine, 1963; Doctor of Laws, Union College, 1947; Doctor of Laws, Bowdoin College Doctor of Laws, Northeastern U., 1949; Doctor of Laws, Boston University Doctor of Laws, Harvard, 1950; Doctor of Laws, Williams College Doctor of Laws, Lehigh University Doctor of Laws, University Pennsylvania, 1951; Doctor of Laws, University Chattanooga, 1954; Doctor of Laws, Tufts U., 1955; Doctor of Laws, University California Doctor of Laws, Amherst College, 1956; Doctor of Laws, College William and Mary, 1957; Doctor of Laws, Brandeis U., 1958; Doctor of Laws, Johns Hopkins Doctor of Laws, New York University, 1959; Doctor of Laws, Providence College Doctor of Laws, Temple University, 1960; Doctor of Laws, University South Carolina., 1961; Doctor of Laws, Meadville Theological School, 1962; D.Applied Science, U. Montreal, 1958; Doctor of Engineering, Drexel Institute Technology, 1948; Doctor of Engineering, University of Illinois, 1960; Doctor of Engineering, U. Massachusetts, 1961; Doctor of Education, Rhode Island College, 1962; Doctor of Humanities, Rollins College, 1964; D.P.S., Detroit Institute Technology, 1972.
Assistant managing editor, Technology Review, 1926-1927; managing editor, Technology Review, 1927-1930; editor, Technology Review, 1930-1939; executive assistant to president, Massachusetts Institute Technology, 1939-1943; executive vice president, Massachusetts Institute Technology, 1943-1945; vice president, Massachusetts Institute Technology, 1945-1948; president, Massachusetts Institute Technology, 1948-1959; chairman corporation, Massachusetts Institute Technology, 1959-1971; honorary chairman, Massachusetts Institute Technology, 1971-1979. Director Polaroid Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation, 1959-1962, General Motors Corporation, 1959-1975, Cabot Corporation, 1963-1975, AT & T, 1963-1977, Ingersoll-Rand Company, 1971-1976.
Chairman Carnegie Commision on Ednl. television, 1965-1967. Board directors Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1968-1975, chairman, 1973-1974. Member President Communication Policy Board, 1950-1951, President's Committee on Management, 1950-1952.
Member science advising committee ODM, 1951-1957. Chairman Army Science Advisory Panel, 1951-1956, President's Board Cons. on Foreign Intelligence Activities, 1956-1957. Special assistant to President United States.for science and technical, 1957-1959.
Chairman President's Science Advisory Committee, 1957-1959, member, 1957-1961, consultant, 1961-1973. President Atoms for Peace Awards, 1955-1958,59-69. Member Advisory Council on State Depts.
Education, United States Office Education, 1965-1968. Chairman President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, 1961-1963. Member general advisory board United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1969-1974.
Board visitors United States Naval Academy, 1953-1955. Moderator American Unitarian Association, 1960-1961. Trustee Nutrition Foundation, 1954-1970, Washington University, 1966-1970, Mount Holyoke College, 1962-1972, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 1954-1977, Boston Museum FineArts, Mitre Corporation.
Chairman, 1967-1969; board directors National Merit Scholarship Corporation, 1960-1963, Winston Churchill Foundation United States Ltd. Member Massachusetts Board Education, 1962-1965. Fellow American Academy Arts and Sciences.
Member National Academy Engineering, American Society Engineering Education (honorary), Sigma Chi, Phi Beta Kappa (honorary), Tau Beta Pi (honorary).
Married Elizabeth Parks, August 21, 1929 (deceased November 1986). Children: Carolyn (Mistress Paul Staley), Rhyne Meredith.