Wohlstetter, Albert J.

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Albert J. Wohlstetter Biographical Note

  • 1913 December 19: Born in New York City
  • 1934: B.A., College of the City of New York
  • 1934 - 1935 : Studied, Columbia University Law School
  • 1937: M.A. in mathematical and symbolic logic from Columbia University, Graduate School of Philosophy
  • 1939: Married Roberta Morgan
  • 1941 - 1942 : Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
  • 1942 - 1943 : Consultant, Planning Committee, War Production Board
  • 1942 - 1945 : Factory Manager and Quality Control Manager, Atlas Aircraft Products Corporation
  • 1945 - 1946 : Director of Research, General Panel Corporation, New York
  • 1946 - 1947 : Program director, National Housing Agency, Washington, D.C.
  • 1947 - 1951 : Vice President, then President, General Panel Corporation, Burbank, California
  • 1951 - 1997 : Senior Analyst and Consultant, Rand Corporation, Economics Department
  • 1958: Adviser to United States delegation, Geneva Conference on Surprise Attack
  • 1961 - 1967 : Consultant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense, and thereafter consultant to the Department of Defense throughout his career
  • 1962: Adviser to President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis
  • 1962 - 1964 : Ford Professor, Universities of California at Berkeley, and visiting professor at Los Angeles
  • 1964 - 1972 : Served as consultant to various corporations and institutions, including Research & Analysis Corp., Stanford Research Institute, General Electric, and the Northrop Corporation
  • 1964 - 1980 : University Professor, later University Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago
  • 1965: Author (with Roberta Wohlstetter), Controlling the Risks in Cuba
  • 1965: 1976: Awarded Medal for Distinguished Service, Department of Defense
  • 1969 - 1971 : Consultant to the National Security Council, Washington D.C.
  • 1970 - 1971 : Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford, England
  • 1970 - 1992 : Member, Executive Committee and Director, Strategy Group, California Seminar on Arms Control and Foreign Policy (also known as California Seminar on International Security and Foreign Policy)
  • 1971? - 1997 : Member, Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel
  • 1974 - 1997 : Founding partner and Senior Consultant, PanHeuristics, affiliated with Science Applications Inc., and subsequently with RDA
  • 1975 - 1975 ? : President, European American Institute for Security Research (EAI)
  • 1975 - 1988? : Chairman, New Alternatives Workshop
  • 1979: Author (with Roberta Wohlstetter), Swords from Plowshares: The Military Potential of Civilian Nuclear Energy
  • 1979 - 1992? : Vice President, Security Conference on Asia and Pacific (SECAP)
  • 198? - 1997 : President, American Institute for Strategic Cooperation (AISC)
  • 1980 - 1997 : Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University
  • 1985: Author, Between an Unfree World and None: Increasing Our Choices
  • 1985 November: Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter jointly awarded Medal of Freedom by President Reagan
  • 1985 - 1992 : Member, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB)
  • 1986 - 1992 : Member, Defense Policy Board
  • 1986: Appointed Co-Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Integrated Long-Term Strategy
  • 1990 - 1997 : Active in the affairs of the Balkan Institute
  • 1994: Honorary Ph.D., City University of New York
  • 1997 January 10: Died, Los Angeles, California

Roberta Wohlstetter Biographical Note

  • 1912 August 22: Born, Duluth, Minnesota
  • 1930 Summer: Studied, Stanford University
  • 1931 Summer: Studied, Sorbonne, Paris
  • 1932 Summer: Studied, University of Heidelberg
  • 1933: B.A., Vassar College
  • 1934 - 1935 : Studied, Columbia University Law School
  • 1936: M.A. in psychology, Columbia University
  • 1937: M.A. in comparative literature, Radcliffe College
  • 1937 - 1938 : Teaching assistant, University of Southern California
  • 1939: Married Albert Wohlstetter
  • Early 1940s: Taught at Barnard College
  • Mid 1940s: Taught at Howard University Attended Washington School of Psychiatry
  • 1947 - 2002 : Consultant, Rand Corporation, Social Science Department
  • 1962: Author, Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision
  • 1962: Awarded the Bancroft Prize in Diplomatic History
  • 1963: Named the Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year
  • 1965: Author (with Albert Wohlstetter), Controlling the Risks in Cuba
  • 1965 - 1968? : Taught at the University of Chicago
  • 1970 - 2007 : Member, Council on Foreign Relations (first woman to be invited to join)
  • 1970 - 1971 : Fellow, St. Hilda's College, Oxford, England
  • 1970 - 1992 : Member, California Seminar on Arms Control and Foreign Policy (also known as California Seminar on International Security and Foreign Policy)
  • 1979: Author (with Albert Wohlstetter), Swords from Plowshares: The Military Potential of Civilian Nuclear Energy
  • 1979 - 1982 : Member, Defense Science Board
  • 1981 - 1985 : Member, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Advisory Board, Ad Hoc Task Force on Terrorism
  • 1982 - 1984 : Consultant, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  • 1985 November: Awarded (with Albert Wohlstetter) the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan
  • 1986 - 1989 : Consultant, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
  • 1988 - 1998 : Consultant to the Director, Net Assessment
  • 1994 - 2007 : Served on Board of Advisors, Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC)
  • 1997: Awarded the Defense Special Weapons Agency Lifetime Achievement Medal
  • 2007 January 6: Died, Manhattan, New York

From the guide to the Albert J. and Roberta Wohlstetter Papers, 1929-2007, (Hoover Institution Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Van Sickle, Leftist Pamphlet Collection, 1900-1993 Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries,
referencedIn National Air and Space Museum. Dept. of Space History. The Rand History Project, 1985-1990. American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library
creatorOf Albert J. and Roberta Wohlstetter Papers, 1929-2007 Hoover Institution Archives
creatorOf Wohlstetter, Albert James. Language and empiricism. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Harry Levin papers Houghton Library
referencedIn George Sarton additional papers, 1901-1956 Houghton Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Levin, Harry, 1912-1994 person
associatedWith National Air and Space Museum. Dept. of Space History. corporateBody
correspondedWith Sarton, George, 1884-1956 person
associatedWith Van Sickle person
associatedWith Wohlstetter, Roberta. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
United States
United States
Security, International
Nuclear weapons
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1913-12-19

Death 1997-01-10

Americans

English

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