Walter A. Rosenblith (September 21, 1913 – May 1, 2002) was a biophysicist and
Institute Professor
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
. He was elected to all three National Academies (
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
, the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
and the
Institute of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, E ...
).
From 1943 to 1947 Rosenblith was a member of the physics faculty at the
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a public university in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers ba ...
in
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
. In 1947, he became a research fellow at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory. He joined the MIT faculty in 1951 as an associate professor of communications biophysics in the Department of Electrical Engineering, was tenured in 1957, chair of the faculty from 1967 to 1969, and named Institute Professor in 1975. Rosenblith was MIT's associate provost from 1969 to 1971 and provost from 1971 to 1980. He helped to found the Whitaker College, Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies, as well as the Program in Science, Technology, and Society.
External links
MIT News Office obituary*
1913 births
2002 deaths
20th-century American educators
Harvard University staff
MIT School of Engineering faculty
Massachusetts Institute of Technology provosts
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Austrian emigrants to the United States
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
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