The Month at Caltech

The Month at Caltech Royal Society Gerald B. Whitham, professor of aeronautics and mathematics at Caltech, has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society, Britain's top scientific body. He is one of two United States scientists to receive the honor this year - the other being John Ward, physicist at Johns Hopkins University. Whitham, who is chairman of Caltech's committee for applied mathematics, is interested in the structure and propagation of waves. His current work involves the mathematical investigation of the structure of plasma shock waves. Leader of America Simon Ramo, president of The Bunker-Ramo Cor-poration, research associate in electrical engineering and a member of the Caltech board of trustees, will be on campus April 7, 8, and 9 as a YMCA-spon-sored Leader of America. Ramo will discuss the impact of technology on society in informal meetings with students and faculty and in an evening lecture in Beckman Auditorium. To illustrate one aspect of his advice to young scientists and engineers - "participate in cultural activities" - Ramo plans to bring his violin and an accompanist for some of his campus appearances. The next Leader in the series will be John Ciardi, poetry editor of the Saturday Review and director of The Bread Loaf Writers Conference, who will be at Caltech May 10 to 12. Sloan Foundation Grants Four Caltech men are among the 91 young scientists selected to share $1,400,000 in basic research grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: Fred C. Anson, associate professor of analytical chemis-try, who is studying the chemical changes produced by the flow of electrical currents through solutions; Sunney I. Chan, associate professor of chemical physics, investigating the interacting forces of molecules in gases and liquids; Alan T. Moffet, research fellow in radio astronomy, mapping the structures of celestial sources emitting radio energy; and Hugh 24 P. Taylor, Jr., associate professor of geology, studying the processes of formation and temperatures in igneous and metamorphic rock. Choices in Vietnam "Choices in Vietnam," a one-day institute sponsored by the Caltech YMCA, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Friends Committee on Legislation, will be held on the campus on April 3. Speakers and discussion leaders will include Jason Finkle, professor of public administration at USC; Stanley Sheinbaum, from the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions; Herbert Alexander, professor of history at Los Angeles City College; Joel Edelman, of The RAND Corporation; J. Stuart In-nerst, chairman of the China committee of the AFSC; and George Noronha, professor of political science at San Francisco College for Women. An evening address, "Toward a Peaceful Solution in Vietnam," will be given in Beckman Auditorium by Gilbert F. White, professor of geography at the University of Chicago, consultant to the Lower Mekong Co-ordination Committee, and national chairman of the AFSC. McGeorge Bundy McGeorge Bundy, special assistant to the President for national security affairs, will be at Caltech April 20 and 21, under the auspices of the Institute Assemblies and Programs Committee. Bundy, who went to his present position from Harvard, where he was professor of government and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, will give an evening address in Beckman Auditorium, and will speak at the humanities division seminar on national security. Community Affairs Robert W.Oliver, associate professor of economics at Caltech, faces a runoff election April 1 for the Pasadena Board of City Directors. Although he polled more votes than either of his two opponents continued on page 26 Engineering and Science The Month at Caltech. • . continued from the Fifth District in the March 11 election, Oliver must rerun against his nearest contender, incumbent Clarence Oakley, because he did not receive a simple majority of the total vote. Ernest B. Hugg, assistant director of Caltech's physical plant, is a candidate for member of the Pasadena Board of Education in the May 11 elec-tion. Hugg served on three Citizens Staff Advisory committees to study school needs. In 1959 he was given the Pasadena Education Association's Distinguished Service Award. Television Director Mrs. Rose Blyth has returned to Caltech as director of television, radio, and film activities to develop and distribute program material to TV sta-tions, schools, and other organizations. Mrs. Blyth worked at Caltech from 1955 to 1962, when she left to help organize the new Los Angeles educational television station, KCET. In 1964 she won the Robert Eastman Award as "Outstanding Woman in Broadcasting." Putnam Winners A Caltech team of three undergraduate students has won the 25th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, against 219 teams from United States and Canadian colleges. Sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America, the contest consisted of a six-hour written examination on general college math and was given December 5 at each of the competing schools si-multaneously. Winners were announced this month. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology placed second and Harvard third Computer Debate The role of Caltech's 7040 and 7094 computers was expanded to include programming for the invitational debate tournament held on campus February 19 and 20. It was the first tournament of its kind in the country in which the machines were used entirely to schedule debates and to determine results. Fed the necessary statistics by the tournament committee, the machines scheduled the six preliminary rounds involving complicated juggling of the 104 students and the 26 judges taking part; computed the results of the ratings; and, finally, sched- 26 uled the three elimination rounds for the eight teams involved. The winner - Washburn Univer-sity, Topeka, Kansas. Honors and Awards William H. Pickering, director of Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, received three awards this month in connection with the Ranger program. In Paris on March 4, he was awarded the Galabert International Prize for astronautics; in London on March 8, he was presented with a silver replica of Ranger VII, by the British Interplanetary Society; and in Washington on March 19, he received the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy for 1965 from the National Space Club. Harris M. Schurmeier, Ranger project manager, received the National Space Club's astronautics engineer award for contributing to the success of the Ranger VII lunar photography mission. Aron Kuppermann, professor of chemical physics at Caltech, has been appointed to the editorial advisory board of The Journal of Physical Chemistry, a monthly publication of the American Chemical Society. Henry Dreyfuss, associate in industrial design and a member of Caltech's board of trustees, was given an Ambassador Award for Achievement at the Royal College of Physicians in London this month for his "unrivaled contribution to industrial design in human terms." The award was presented by Princess Margaret. Roy W. Gould, professor of electrical engineering and physics at Caltech, has been elected a fellow in The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., for "contributions to the theory of microwave tubes." Theodosius Dopzhansky, professor at The Rockefeller Institute in New York, and one-time assistant professor of genetics at Caltech, (1929-1936) received the National Medal of Science from President Johnson last month, along with ten other distinguished scientists, for "their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical or engineering sciences. Kenneth V. Thimann, Higgins professor of biology at Harvard, and formerly instructor of biochemistry at Caltech (1930-35), has been named provost of College III and a professor of biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Engineering and Science