James R. Killian Jr.

American engineer and president of MIT (1948-59) who became the first chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) under President Eisenhower, created in direct response to Sputnik — the first in the line of modern U.S. presidential science advisors.

Matters to this vault as the figure Herbert York himself credits, in a direct 1975 interview, with his selection to be ARPA's founding chief scientist: York describes the move from PSAC membership to ARPA as "no accident," attributing it to Killian's judgment that he "knew what was necessary, could contribute effectively, and was available," while explicitly denying it was simple favoritism ("I was not a long time associate of Killian").

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