MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Jerome B. Wiesner, Institute Professor, Emeritus, dies at age 79

October 23, 1994

Subject:
Jerome Bert Wiesner, May 30, 1915 - October 21, 1994

I regret to report to you the death of Jerome B. Wiesner, emeritus faculty member of the department, and formerly President of MIT. Jerry died late Friday from a heart attack. Extensive obituaries have appeared in The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and other newspapers, emphasizing his national role and international impact.

Jerry grew up near Detroit and attended the University of Michigan. He was working on his doctorate (which he later received in 1950) when the second world war interrupted his studies. He came to MIT to help develop radar at the Radiation Laboratory in 1942, and stayed here, with brief interruptions, ever since.

He joined the faculty of our department in 1945 but spent the first year at Los Alamos. Returning in 1946, he rapidly rose through the ranks to become full professor just four years later.

Jerry served our department, RLE, and MIT well. He was chair of our Graduate Committee for many years, and served on the Undergraduate Policy Committee. In 1952 he became RLE's third Director. In 1959 - 1960 he served as Acting Department Head, while continuing as Director of RLE.

In 1961 he took a leave of absence to work for the election of John F. Kennedy. He served as science adviser to Kennedy and then to President Lyndon B. Johnson.

In 1964 he returned to MIT as Dean of Science. This was an unusual move for an engineer, but for years he had held the rank of Institute Professor, in recognition of his broad interests. In 1966 he was appointed Provost of MIT, and in 1971 became President.

While at the University of Michigan Jerry had been active in using advanced technology for education (in this case, radio broadcasting). For a brief period before the war he worked for the Library of Congress, recording folk music in the field. In 1980, after his service as President, he rejoined the faculty, again as Institute Professor, and resumed his interest in the application of technology to music and other arts. He helped form the Media Lab, and saw it settled in the building that bears his name.

Five years ago Jerry suffered a stroke which affected his speech, but he kept active and retained his full intellectual powers. Nobody minded waiting a few seconds for him to express his thoughts, because they were always worth hearing.