Conant, James Bryant

Conant, James Bryant

(1893–1978) chemist, diplomat, educator; born in Dorchester, Mass. A Harvard-educated organic chemist noted for his work on chlorophyll and hemoglobin, he taught at Harvard (1916–33) and was president there (1933–53), where he strengthened the professional schools, increased the geographic and social diversity of students, opened the university to women, and introduced curricular reforms. Conant chaired the National Defense Research Committee (1941–46), which developed the atomic bomb, and was instrumental in the targeting of Hiroshima, Japan. He helped found the National Science Foundation (1950). His diplomatic career in the 1950s included four years as high commissioner and ambassador to West Germany. Finally turning toward the reform of public education, Conant conducted an extensive Carnegie Corporation study of American high schools which resulted in The American High School Today (1959). His many other educational contributions include Slums and Suburbs (1961), The Education of American Teachers (1963), and The Comprehensive High School (1967).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.