Lewis M. Branscomb - Curriculum Vitae

Aetna Professor in Public Policy and Corporate Management, emeritus, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government and Adjunct Professor, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, and Research Associate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego; Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for Global Conflit and Cooperaton, University of Califonia. 

Born August 17, 1926 in Asheville, North Carolina, to Harvie and Margaret Branscomb. Died May 31, 2023. Married to Margaret Anne Wells (attorney, deceased 1997),Two children, Harvie H. Branscomb and KC Branscomb, one grandchild: Clara Louise Kelley. Married July 3, 2005, to Constance Hammond Mullin, (biologist, musical talent agent).

Address: 1600 Ludington Lane, La Jolla, CA 92037.

email: lbranscomb@branscomb.org

Education:

A.B., summa cum laude, Duke University, 1945, physics

M.S., Harvard University, 1947, physics

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1949, physics

Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, 1949-1951

Brief Career Summary

Academic:

Officer, U.S. Naval Reserve, Ensign 1944-1945, Lt (jg) 1945-1949.

Harvard Society of Fellows: Junior Fellow 1949-1951

Instructor, physics, Harvard University, 1950-51

Lecturer, physics, University of Maryland, 1952-54

Visiting staff member, University College, London, 1957-58

Adjoint Professor, physics, University of Colorado, 1962-69

Professor from Public Service, John F. Kennedy School of Government 1986-1988

Albert Pratt Public Service Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government (1988 - 1994)

Aetna Professor in Public Policy and Corporate Management, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1994 - 1996

Aetna Professor in Public Policy and Corporate Management, Emeritus, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1996 -

Director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1986 - 1996

Adjunct Professor, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California at San Diego, 2005 -

Research Associate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, 2005 -

Government:

Physicist, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, 1951-54Chief, Atomic Physics Section (1954-60) and Division (1960-62), National Bureau of Standards, Washington, 1954-60

co-founder, Fellow and Chairman, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado, 1962-69. Chief, Laboratory Astrophysics Division, National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado, 1962-6Director, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, 1969-72.

Chairman, National Science Board, Washington, 1980-1984.

Industry: 

Vice President and Chief Scientist, International Business Machines Corp. Armonk, NY 1972-86; Member, Corporate Management Board, 1983-86); President R & D Incorporated, subsidiary of IBM, 1972-86.  Director, IBM World Trade Europe/Middle East/Africa Corporation, 1984-1987

Director, General Foods Corp., 1975-1985

Director, Mobil Corp., 1978-1999

Director, MITRE Corp., 1987-1999

Director, Lord Corp., 1987 - . Chairman, Strategy Committee, Member Compensation Committee.

Director, Charles Draper Laboratories, Inc. 1988 - 1998; Member of the Corporation, C.S. Draper Laboratories 1988-

Director, Arcturus Pharmaceutical Corp, 1992-1993

Presidential Appointments:

Member, President Johnson's Science Advisory Committee, 1965-68; Chairman, Panel on Space Science & Technology, 1967-68

Director, National Bureau of Standards, 1969-1972

Member, President Carter's Commission for the Medal of Science, 1970-72

Member, National Science Board, 1979-84 (chairman, 1980-84)

Member, President Reagan's National Productivity Advisory Committee; Chairman, Subcommittee on Research, Development and Technological Innovation, 1982-83

Other Career Related Appointments:

Member, JASON Division, Institute for Defense Analyses, 1962-69

Member, Standing Committee on Controlled Thermonuclear Research, Atomic Energy Commission, 1966-68

Member, High Level Policy Group on Scientific and Technical Information, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1968-70

Member, President's Board of Visitors, University of Oklahoma, 1968-70

Member, Defense Science Board, 1968-1969; Member-at-Large, Defense Science Board, 1969-72..

Member, Astronomy and Applied Physics Visiting Committees, Harvard University; Board of Overseers, 1969-83

Chairman, General Committee, International Conference on the Physics of Electron and Atomic Collisions, 1969-71

Member, Board of Directors, American National Standards Institute, 1969-72.

U.S. representative to CODATA Committee, International Council of Scientific Unions, 1970-73.

Chairman, Commission on Atomic and Molecular Physics and Spectroscopy, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, 1972-75

Member, Advisory Committee on Science and Foreign Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 1973-74

Member, Physics Visiting Committee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1974-79

Member, U.S.-U.S.S.R. Joint Commission on Science and Technology, 1977-80

Chairman, Commission on Scholarly Communications with the People's Republic of China, 1977-80

Chairman, Panel on the Applications of Science and Technology, Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress, 1977-79

Member, Advisory Council, Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, and

Chairman, Task Force on Teaching as a Profession, 1985-1986

Director-at-Large, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., 1987-1989.

Member, Advisory Board on Technology Trends, to Presidents of the International Standards Organization and the International Electrotechnical Commission, 1988-1994.

Member, Committee on Japan Affairs, National Academy of Sciences, 1989-199?

Member, Technology Assessment Advisory Committee, Technology Assessment Board, U.S. Congress, 1990-1995

Member, Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government, 1989 - 1993.  Chairman, Carnegie Commission Task Force on the Federal Role in K-12 Math and Science Education 1990-1991

Member, Governor's Council on Economic Growth and Technology, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1991 -

Member, Expert Group on Management of the Intelligent Vehicle Highway System, DOT 1992-1993.

Member, Advisory Board, Rand Corporation's Critical Technologies Institute, 1992-199?

Member, National Science Board Commission on the Future of NSF, 1992.

Member, Advisory Council to Research Subcommittee, House Science, Space and Technology Committee, 1993-1995

Member, Science Policy Advisory Committee, Subcommittee on Science, House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Member, Commission on the Global Information Infrastructure, 1995 -

Public Service Directorships and Trusteeships:

Trustee, Commonwealth Fund, 1974-80

Trustee, Polytechnic Institute of New York, 1974-1978

Trustee, Guggenheim Foundation, 1976-1978

Trustee, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, 1979-1985

Member, Board of Overseers, Harvard University, 1984-1986

Director, RAND Corp., 1972-1982

Director, Massachusetts Centers of Excellence Corporation, 1988-1991

Director, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 1987-1989

Trustee, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1973-1989

Trustee, Vanderbilt University, 1980-2004; emeritus trustee 2004-

Trustee, National Geographic Society, 1984-2003

Trustee, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1985-1991, 1992-199?

Trustee, Telluride Institute, 1995-1997

Awards, Grants, Prizes:

U. S. Public Health Service Fellow, 1948-49

Jr. Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, 1949-51

Rockefeller Public Service Award, 1957-58

Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award, Washington Academy of Sciences, 1959

Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1961

Arthur Flemming Award, D.C. Jr. Chamber of Commerce, 1962

Samuel Wesley Stratton Award, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1966

Career Service Award, National Civil Service League, 1968

Procter Prize, Scientific Research Society of America, 1972

Carnegie Plaque, Carnegie Corporation of New York, 1986

Arthur Bueche Prize, National Academy of Engineering, 1987

Okawa Prize, Okawa Foundation for Information and Telecommunications, 1998

William Carey Lecture, Medal and Prize, AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy, May 2008. 

San Diego Tech Coast Angel (Investors) 2007-