Midwestern Universities Research Association

Midwestern physicists who had attended the dedication of the Cosmotron at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the winter of 1952-1953 began discussing the need for a high energy research facility in the Midwest. In the spring of 1953, Professor Enrico Fermi addressed physicists from the Midwest at the Institute of Nuclear Studies in Chicago, giving his views. As a result, physicists from the Universities of Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Chicago formed an ad-hoc committee to guide the development of the facility. Dr. Donald W. Kerst (University of Illinois) was asked to act as the technical director. University presidents, comptrollers and other business officers cooperated. Meetings were held during 1953 and 1954 to discuss the development of a Cosmotron in the Midwest.

As early as 1953, the ad-hoc committee sought financial support from the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The attempt was unsuccessful so the committee went to the National Science Foundation (NSF) which made a grant to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for support of the project through the winter and spring of 1953 and 1954. (There was no formal corporation at that time to administer funds.)

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