The Double-Edged Sword Of Technology

EVENT SERIES: 

Thursday, April 7, 1988 - 11:00pm (ended)

Victor Weisskopf
University Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Weisskopf was director-general from 1961 to 1965 of the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, heading an international research establishment that operated the world's second most powerful large particle accelerator or "atom smasher" just as it started to be used for research. Under his direction, CERN developed into one of the foremost institutions in this field. 

When he returned to MIT from CERN in 1966 he was given the rank of Institute Professor. From 1967 to 1973, Weisskopf was head of the Department of Physics, where he was a major force in the development of physics research--both through the many students he taught and the research group he built up to become the present Center for Theoretical Physics. In 1973, he was awarded the James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award.