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 ...

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 {{US-physicist-stub