Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
The Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics Incorporated met in response to call of the Chairman, at ten-fifteen a.m. at the office of the Institute, 57 East 55th Street.
Present: Chairman Klopsteg and Governing Board members Messrs. T. D. Cope, Floyd A. Firestone, R. C. Gibbs, K. S. Gibson, George B. Pegram, John T. Tate, L. W. Taylor, N. W. Taylor, Wallace Waterfall, A. G. Worthing
Members absent: Messrs. R. B. Dow, L. A. DuBridge, Harvey Fletcher, Hermann Mark
| Guests | |
|---|---|
| Mr. G. P. Harnwell | Editors of Institute Journals |
| Mr. Elmer Hutchisson | |
| Mr. J. E. Mayer | |
| Mr. R. Bowling Barnes | Representing Electron Microscope Society of America |
| Mr. Lester H. Germer | Representing American Society of X-ray and Electron Diffraction |
Administrative Staff
- Mr. Henry A. Barton
- Miss Madeline M. Mitchell
- Mr. George H. Burnham
I. Membership of Governing Board:
The Secretary reported the Elections to Membership on the Governing Board at the annual meeting of the Corporation on February 26, 1944 as follows:
| On nomination of: | |
|---|---|
| American Physical Society | John T. Tate to succeed himself – term to 1947 |
| Optical Society of America | A. G. Worthing to succeed A. C. Hardy – term to 1947 |
| Acoustical Society of America | Harvey Fletcher to succeed himself – term to 1947 |
| Society of Rheology | N. W. Taylor to succeed himself – term to 1946 |
| R .B. Dow to succeed himself – term to 1946 | |
| Hermann Mark to succeed himself – term to 1946 | |
| American Association of Physics Teachers | L. W. Taylor to succeed A. G. Worthing – term to 1947 |
The full membership of the Board is as follows:
| Members | Term to end at Annual Meeting |
|---|---|
| John T. Tate | February 1947 |
| L. A. DuBridge | February 1945 |
| George B. Pegram | February 1946 |
| A. G. Worthing | February 1947 |
| K. S. Gibson | February 1945 |
| R. C. Gibbs | February 1946 |
| Harvey Fletcher | February 1947 |
| Floyd A. Firestone | February 1945 |
| Wallace Waterfall | February 1946 |
| N. W. Taylor | February 1946 |
| R. B. Dow | February 1946 |
| Hermann Mark | February 1946 |
| L. W. Taylor | February 1947 |
| Paul E. Klopsteg | February 1945 |
| Thomas D. Cope | February 1946 |
II. The minutes of the meeting of the Governing Board for March 12, 1943 and July 24, 1943 were read. On motion the minutes were voted approved as read.
III. Report of the Chairman:
The Chairman made a brief oral report referring to the extensive activities of the institute through the past year.
IV. Report of the Secretary:
On motion the following actions taken by the Board through mail ballots were ratified and ordered to be recorded:
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Ballot No. 1, August 3, 1943 – Resolution authorizing establishment of special bank account for physics building fund – approved 15 – 0
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Ballot No. 2, August 20, 1943 – Confirmation in writing of vote on resolution passed at the Board meeting of July 24, 1943 as recorded on pages 3 and 4 of the minutes of that meeting. – 15 ballots in favor of that resolution were received, and are attached to the minutes of this meeting. (The necessity for careful record arose on account of the requirement of the State Membership Corporation Law of a 2/3 vote of the Directors to validate any real estate transaction.)
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Ballot No. 3, November 8, 1943 – authorizing the establishment of a custodian account in the Irving Trust Co. to handle securities owned by the Institute. – 14 – 0.
V. Report of the Treasurer:
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The Treasurer submitted the report of the auditors, the firm of Pasley & Conroy, certified public accountants, as a complete report on the financial operations through the year ending December 31, 1943.
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The Treasurer requested the approval of the Board of the action of the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer in investing $7,400. of the funds of the Institute in Government bonds, Series “F” at a price of $740. for a $1,000 bond maturing in twelve years. On motion the Board voted approval of this investment.
VI. Report of the Director:
The Director presented a report on the work of the Institute in 1943 and some of the needs of the future which constituted part of the annual report to the Board to the Corporation at the meeting of the Corporation on February 26, 1944. Copies of the report were on hand for the uses of the Board members. A copy is attached to the official copy of these minutes.
Discussion of the report of the Director centered mainly on the suggestion of a conference of physicists under the auspices of the National Research Council to discuss the organization of physics and the relation of physics in education, in industry and as a profession.
VII. Reports of Editors of Institute Journals:
Mr. Harnwell for the “Review of Scientific Instruments” stated that on account of his war work he has not been able to keep in closest touch with the editorial work on the Journal. He gave commendation especially to the work of Mr. Burnham and to Mr. Wildhack, Mr. Harris, Mr. Ridenhour and Mr. Schiff and requested that Messrs. George H. Burnham, I. Schiff and A. W. Lawson be made associate editors.
Mr. Hutchisson for the “Journal of Applied Physics” stated that he has more material for publication than the present paper restrictions will permit him to publish. The question of the effect of the paper restrictions was referred to editor, the Adviser on Publication and the Publication Manager.
Mr. Hutchisson suggested that Prof. Caldwell be continued on the Board of Editors.
Mr. Mayer, editor for the “Journal of Chemical Physics” stated that there had been some decrease in contributed papers but that it did not appear that the decrease will be troublesome.
VIII. Budget and Building Fund:
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Mr. Barton presented for consideration a proposed budget schedule for 1944 which had been approved in substance by the Executive Committee. Copy of this budget is attached to these minutes.
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On motion the budget for 1944 was adopted as presented.
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The Director then presented a discussion of the state of the Physics Building Fund and the costs of alteration and furnishing of the building. On motion the Board voted to send an expression of the formal thanks of the Institute to corporations and associations which have made gifts toward the Building Fund to be applied toward alterations or furnishings.
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On motion the Board voted to authorize the Director to name a proxy for the Institute to attend the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Normandy Farms Corp., stock of which corporation has been given to the Institute for the Building Fund.
IX. Report of the Nominating Committee and Election of Officers:
Mr. Fletcher, for the nominating committee, reported renomination of all the officers of the Institute as follows:
| Chairman | Paul E. Klopsteg |
| Secretary | George B. Pegram |
| Treasurer | George B. Pegram |
| Assistant Treasurer | H. A. Barton |
| Assistant Treasurer for Payroll Accounts | Madeline M. Mitchell |
| Adviser on Publications | John T. Tate |
On motion the Board voted unanimously that the Secretary be instructed to cast a single ballot for the Board for the several officers as nominated. The ballot was so cast and the Chairman declared the officers elected to serve to the close of the next annual meeting of the Board.
X. Election of Editor of the “Review of Scientific Instruments”:
On motion it was voted that Mr. Harnwell be elected Editor of the “Review of Scientific Instruments” from January 1, 1945 to December 31, 1947.
(The Board adjourned for lunch at 1:05 and reconvened at 2:50 p.m.)
XI. Report of Committee on Revision of Plan of Allocation of Support of the Institute:
A written report of this committee was submitted by Mr. Hardy and a copy is attached to these minutes. The Board voted unanimously to adopt the recommendations of the report and to transmit them to the Secretary of the several Founder Societies of the Institute. Subsequently there was discussion as to whether it would be better to call the payments by the societies in support of the Institute “Contributions” or “Dues.” On motion it was voted that the payments should be referred to as “Dues.”
XII. Appointment of Committees:
On motion the Board voted that the Chairman be authorized to appoint the following committees to serve to the end of the next annual meeting:
- Executive Committee
- Editorial Committee
- Council on Applied Physics
- Policy Committee (in place of “War Policy Committee”)
- Physics Building Fund Committee
XIII. The Board voted to authorize the Chairman to nominate a representative on the National Research Council in response to the request from the Council.
The Chairman nominated Mr. H. A. Barton as representative of the American Institute of Physics on the National Research Council.
XIV. New Associates:
On motion the Board voted the approval of the following firms as associates:
- Sun Oil Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
- Tung-Sol Lamp Works, Inc., Newark, N.J.
- The Bristol Co., New York City
(the foregoing were already approved by the Executive Committee)
- The Corning Glass Works, Corning, New York
- Sprague Specialties Co., North Adams, Mass.
XV. Report of the Executive Committee:
The Secretary reported actions of the Executive Committee summarized as follows and contained in full in minutes of Executive Committee:
Meeting of December 10, 1943
- Appointment of a subcommittee on preparation of the building.
- Authorization of concession of four months rent to new tenant of old quarters of the Institute at 175 Broadway.
- Amendment of budget for operations and maintenance from deficit of $5000 to deficit of $7300.
- Approval of investment of funds from surplus of Institute in any government bonds received as contributions to the Building Fund.
- Approval of inviting each Associated Society to have one of its officers attend as a guest the annual meeting of the Governing Board.
- Appointment of a counsel. Authorization of a retainer of $500 to cover legal counsel.
Meeting of February 19, 1944
- Retainer of legal counsel revising action of December 10, 1943.
- Authorization of advance from surplus of Institute for building not to exceed $30,000.
- Resolutions as to cost of building. Contributions and account procedure.
On motion the Board ratified and confirmed the foregoing actions of the Executive Committee.
XVI. Discussion of Organization:
At this point it was agreed to return to a discussion of the report of the Director and topics relating to the general progress of the Institute. Mr. Worthing referred to information he had received that a group interested in applied spectroscopy, especially infrared spectroscopy, were preparing a petition to the American Physical Society for the formation of a Division of Applied Spectroscopy in that Society. Mr. Worthing further stated that he understood response to such a plan had not been wholly enthusiastic but that the group, including especially some of the physicists at the University of Michigan, were reported to be going ahead with the plan.
In general discussion it was brought out that the Optical Society of America has always been very active in the field of Applied Spectroscopy and that the Journal of the Optical Society has done a great deal of publication in this field, that a Division of Applied Spectroscopy might line up better with the Optical Society of America than with the American Physical Society.
It was stated that probably a reason for the present desire of a number of physicists to have an organization for Applied Spectroscopy is that there is some tendency for chemists to consider this a field for chemists rather than for physicists. The discussion proceeded to consideration of the general situation with respect to the activities of special groups; such as those that have led to the recent formation of the two divisions in the Physics Society and of two new societies affiliated with the Institute.
In the discussion the advantages and disadvantages of specialized societies and meetings as compared with large unified societies and meetings were compared and contrasted. Mr. Barnes especially spoke in favor of more meetings of combined groups and steering committees for the programs of such meetings.
The discussion became an inquiry into the question of what further developments in the organization of physicists in the Institute, in the member societies, or otherwise might be of advantage to the greater progress of physics. Mr. Barton suggested that a conference of physicists to discuss this question might appeal to the National Research Council as worthy of financial support.
XVII. Adjourned Meeting:
On motion it was voted to continue the foregoing discussion at an adjourned meeting of the Governing Board to be held at the office of the Institute on April 14, 1944 at 10 a.m.
It was voted also that a number of physicists known to be interested in the subject of the meeting be invited to attend the meeting on April 14. Among the names of guests suggested were Messrs. W. F. Busse, L. H. Germer, A. C. Hardy, R. M. Sutton, Glenn W. Warner, N. Wright, H. L. Dodge, O. S. Duffendack.
XVIII.Acting Chairman:
Chairman Klopsteg stated that he would have to be out of the country for a considerable period and would not be able to attend the Board meeting on April 14. He asked that the Board elect an Acting Chairman to serve during his absence from the country.
Mr. J. T. Tate was nominated and unanimously elected Acting Chairman to serve during the absence of the Chairman on duty taking him out of the country.
XIX. On motion the meeting adjourned.
Addendum to the Minutes of the Governing Board meeting of March 10, 1944.
Committees for 1944
Shortly after the Board meeting the Chairman made appointments as follows:
Policy Committee
- John T. Tate, Chairman
- Oliver E. Buckley
- Karl T. Compton
- Homer L. Dodge
- Lee A. DuBridge
- R. Clifton Gibbs
- Gaylord P. Harnwell
In the absence of the Chairman from the country the Acting Chairman, Mr. Tate, made the following appointments:
Executive Committee
- Paul E. Klopsteg
- Harvey Fletcher
- K. S. Gibson
- John T. Tate
- George B. Pegram
Editorial Committee
- Elmer Hutchisson
- Joseph E. Mayer
- Gaylord P. Harnwell
- John T. Tate
- George R. Harrison
- Floyd A. Firestone
- Duane Roller
- M. M. Mitchell
- J. W. Buchta
- Henry A. Barton