Dale Corson

It appears a new book and DVD has come out on the life of Cornell President Dale Corson. I look forward to reading this.


http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept09/CorsonLegacy.html

I had the opportunity to interview Dale a couple times at the Kendall retirement community in preparation for a 50th anniversary Sputnik panel discussion. He is, today, at 95 years young, a bright and wonderful conversationalist. I began to understand WHY there are jokes about Kendal having a better physics department than Cornell - there are a lot of brilliant people there.

I think the book focuses on his tenure as Cornell President and controversies centered around the Vietnam protests. But I'm actually more interested in his earlier years. From what I gathered, Corson was a figure in the Presidential Science Advisory Council and was party to the remarkable post-Sputnik efforts in science education. He was also a key figure in creating Cornell's Science and Technology Studies department.

If you're interested in science policy or the history of science in postwar America get a chance, try to get a chance to speak with him. His legacy continues to be written - as are all of ours - by simple words and stories that, unknown to the speaker, sticks with the listener for a long time.