Chapter 16

In 1965, after proposals seeking Science Development Program (SDP) grants had been made to the National Science Foundation by both CIT and WRU, there was increased pressure from various quarters (including the NSF) for the merger of the two institutions. Ultimately, the NSF granted $3.5 million each to CIT and WRU, essentially contingent on their eventual federation. Of this, a total of $2.6 million was assigned to the two physics departments. It took several years for the combined department to reach equilibrium. There were some bumps in the road. To put it simplistically, these were rooted in the differences between the “pure physics” research, “university” atmosphere, and the BA degree at WRU and the “applied physics” research, “tech school” atmosphere, and the BS degree at CIT. The two departments had a total of 31 faculty in 1963, which grew to 53 by 1966. By 1971, four years after federation, this number had dropped back to 34, following the departure of such established players as Reines, Smith, Kisslinger, Weinberg, Zilsel, Klein, Reichert, as well as the non-reappointment of several young tenure-track assistant professors who had been hired around the time of federation. There were no new hires between 1974 and 1980. (Thanks to Chandrasekhar for his compilation of these numbers.)