Morse died in 1985.
From the description of Autobiographical data, ca. 1962. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81716656
Philip McCord Morse was born August 6, 1903, in Shreveport, Louisiana. His parents, Allen Crafts Morse, a telephone engineer, and Edith McCord Morse, soon moved to Cleveland where he grew up. In 1921 Philip Morse started attending Case Institute, but he took the following year off to work in the Radiolectric Shop that he owned with friends. Upon his return to Case he began studying physics with Professor Dayton C. Miller and received his B.S. degree in 1926. That fall Morse went to Princeton University with the help of a scholarship. There, his gas discharge research with Karl Taylor Compton formed the basis for his thesis, "A Theory of the Electric Discharge through Gases." He spent the summer of 1928 at the University of Michigan as a research associate for an industrial research project on electric gas discharge.
In his final year at Princeton Philip Morse received the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship, which is given to the graduate student with the highest standing. During this year he worked with Edward U. Condon to produce the book Quantum Mechanics . In April of 1929 he married Annabelle Hopkins and received his Ph.D. in physics two months later. That summer he worked for Bell Laboratories under the guidance of C. J. Davisson.
Philip Morse was an instructor at Princeton for the 1929 academic year, and the following summer he returned to the University of Michigan, this time as a special lecturer in quantum mechanics. He spent the next year on a Rockefeller Fellowship studying with Arnold Sommerfeld in Munich, Germany, and with N. F. Mott and W. S. Massey in Cambridge, England.
At the behest of the new president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Karl T. Compton, Philip Morse joined the physics department as an associate professor in 1931. His research concentrated on acoustics and on astrophysics. His work on the theory of sound absorption resulted in his 1936 book, Vibration and Sound .
Contacts with colleagues at the Harvard Observatory led to the formulation of calculations on the opacities of stellar interiors. Arnold Lowan's WPA work at Columbia on the construction of mathematical tables also interested Morse. He participated in the various mathematical tables projects carried on by the National Bureau of Standards and other federal programs throughout his career. Beginning in 1933, Morse became the graduate registration officer for the physics department, and he continued in this guidance role until 1965 whenever he was at MIT. He was promoted to associate professor in 1934 and professor in 1938.
In response to the growing threat of war, scientists began to change the focus of their research, and Philip Morse was no exception. His association with the Radiation Laboratory housed on the MIT campus started in 1941. There, he identified the similarities of certain ideas used in acoustics to microwaves. At Harvard he served as chairman of a National Research Council project that studied ways to reduce the noise and vibrations made by fighter and bomber planes. During this time he also worked on a National Defense Research Council (NDRC) project for the U.S. Navy, studying methods of countering the new acoustic mines that the Germans were using. In 1942 Morse went to Washington, D.C. to organize and direct a civilian task force to evaluate the United States antisubmarine program. While directly connected with the Navy, the Anti-Submarine Warfare Operations Research Group (ASWORG) was funded by the NDRC. The group not only evaluated data, but also visited Navy bases to make direct observations. Before disbanding, the group wrote a report about their efforts, Methods of Operation Research, which was declassified and widely used after 1950. For his war work Philip Morse received the U.S. Medal of Merit.
In 1945 Morse returned to MIT and helped to establish the Acoustics Laboratory with Richard Bolt and Leo Beranek. Morse's return was shortlived, however. The Associated Universities Inc. wanted to start a civilian nuclear research laboratory in connection with the Atomic Energy Commission. In July 1946 he became the scientific director of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. At this time he was also an active member in the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists (the Einstein committee) which sought to educate the public about atomic power.
By 1948 Brookhaven was a firmly established facility and Philip Morse returned briefly to MIT. His assistance was again sought for public service. He went to Washington to organize an operations research team for the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The result was the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group (WSEG), and he served as deputy director and director of research until 1950. The WSEG's civilian unit became the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in 1956, and he served on their Board of Trustees. A similar group, RAND, was established to advise the Air Force in 1948, and he was on their Board of Trustees until 1962.
Finally, in 1950 Philip Morse returned to MIT for a longer stay, although his public service activities never ceased. His interest in the new discipline of operations research continued at MIT. He was instrumental in promoting wide acceptance of operations research for non-military uses. By 1952 the Institute offered summer courses in operations research and the Operations Research Center became an official interdepartmental facility in 1956. Morse served as director from 1956 until 1969.
Philip Morse initiated another interdisciplinary program at MIT in an effort to introduce students and professors to the uses of computers in research. The Committee on Machine Methods of Computation began in 1952 with him as chairman. This committee supervised research assistantships that were given to graduate students using computers. In 1955 Morse convinced IBM to fund a computer installed in a building that was partially paid for by IBM. Part of the agreement allowed other New England schools to use the facility. This arrangement eventually became the New England Regional Computing Program (NERComp). By 1957, the Computation Center was dedicated at MIT with Philip Morse as director, a position he held until 1967. The Center received funds from NSF and the Rockefeller Foundation to supplement its costs. After several expansions, timesharing was introduced in the 1960s.
Philip Morse remained active outside of MIT as well. He helped to organize the first International Operations Research Conference in 1957. The International Federation of Operations Research Societies originated at this conference. International interest in operations research led to a 1959 NATO conference where the Advisory Panel on Operations Research (APOR) began with Morse as chairman. The panel, in association with the United States Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development, started training programs, organized conferences, and sponsored visiting consultants to NATO countries. Another APOR was started by Morse in 1964 for the Organization for Educational and Cultural Development. This panel emphasized that operations research could be used for many problems that were not military or industrial. Other international operations research projects that Morse was associated with include lecture tours in Japan, India, Israel, and Taiwan sponsored by the Ford Foundation and in Australia sponsored by the Fulbright Foundation, as well as a fact-finding trip to Nigeria and Tunisia that was associated with the International Relations Committee of the National Academy of Sciences.
Philip Morse's endeavors helped to prove the myriad applications of operations research. His study of the MIT Libraries was one of the first of its kind. Other studies helped him to develop some of his queuing theories.
Philip Morse became an emeritus professor at MIT in 1969. He died in 1985.
1923
24
Salesman, Radiolectric Shop, Cleveland
1924
25
Commercial
May 1924
Recipient, Reid Prize in Physics, Case Institute
May 1925
Inducted Tau Beta Pi, Case Chapter
May 1926
Inducted Sigma Xi, Case Chapter
June 1926
Bachelor of Science, Case Institute
1926
28
Class of 1883 Fellow, Princeton University
Jan. 1927
Member, American Physical Society
June 1927
Master of Arts, Princeton University
1928 June
Sept. 1928
Research Assistant, University of Michigan
1928
29
Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellow, Princeton University
June 1929
Doctor of Philosophy, Princeton University
1929 June
Sept. 1929
Research Physicist, Bell Telephone Laboratories
1929
30
Instructor in Physics, Princeton University
1930 June
Sept. 1930
Lecturer at Summer Program, University of Michigan
Oct. 1930
April 1931
Rockefeller International Fellow, University of Munich
1931 April
Aug. 1931
Rockefeller International Fellow, Cambridge, England
1931
34
Assistant Professor of Physics, M.I.T.
1932
36
Secretary-Treasurer, New England Section, American Physical Society
1933
39
Member, Acoustical Society of America
1933
41
Graduate Registration Officer, Dept. of Physics, M.I.T.
May 1934
Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1934
39
Associate Professor of Physics, M.I.T.
April 1936
Elected Fellow, American Physical Society
Feb. 1937
Elected Fellow, Physical Society of London
1939
69
Professor of Physics, M.I.T.
May 1939
Elected Fellow, Acoustical Society of America
1940
42
Member, Board of Editors, American Physical Society
March 1940
Doctor of Science (Hon.), Case Institute
1940
41
Chairman, New England Section, American Physical Society
1940
46
Consultant, Radiation Laboratory, M.I.T.
1940
44
Chairman, NRC Committee on Sound Control
1940
42
Director, Navy-M.I.T. Underwater Sound Project DIC5985
1941
49
Associate Member, New York Academy of Sciences
1942
46
Member, NDRC, Section 6 Board (Undersea Warfare)
1942
46
Director, U.S. Navy Operations Research Group
Feb. 1945
Elected Member, Cosmos Club of Washington
Dec. 1945
Distinguished Service Award, U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance
Sept. 1946
Sept. 1948
Director, Brookhaven National Laboratory
1946
48
Vice President, Acoustical Society of America
1946
48
Member, Naval Research Advisory Committee
1946
48
Member, NRC Undersea Warfare Committee
1946
49
Member, NRC Committee on Program for Nuclear Sciences
1946
50
Technology Review
Dec. 1946
Awarded U.S. Presidential Medal for Merit
1947
50
Member, Council, American Physical Society
Dec. 1947
Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecturer, American Mathematical Society
1948
49
Member, Board of Trustees, RAND Corp.
1948
50
Member, Board of Governors; American Institute of Physics
1948
49
Member, Visiting Committee for Department of Mathematics, Case Institute
Nov. 1948
Lecturer, Armed Forces Staff College, Washington, D.C.
March 1949
June 1950
Deputy Director and Director of Research, Weapons Systems Evaluation Group
1949
55
Member, Committee on Operations Research, NRC Division of Mathematics and Physical Sciences
1950
65
Graduate Registration Officer, Department of Physics, M.I.T.
1950
52
Consultant, Weapons Systems Evaluation Group
1950
62
Member, Board of Trustees, RAND Corp.
1950
51
President, Acoustical Society of America
1950
51
Consultant, A.D. Little, Inc., on Operations Research
1950
51
Secretary, M.I.T. Chapter, Sigma Xi
1950
52
Committee on Machine Aids to Computation, M.I.T.
1950
53
Lecturer, Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
1951
52
Member, Steering Committee, Acoustics Laboratory, M.I.T.
1951
53
Member, Board of Trustees, Research Society of America (part of Sigma Xi)
1951
58
Member, Ordnance Research Advisory Board (U.S. Army)
1951
52
Member, Founding Committee, Operations Research Society of America
Dec. 1951
Invited Lecturer, AAAS, on O.R. and Physics
1951 March
April 1951
Lecturer, Department of Physics, University of California, Los Angeles
1951 Aug.
Sept. 1951
Consultant, RAND Corp., at Santa Monica
1952
54
Member, Science Library Advisory Committee, M.I.T.
1952
61
Member, Committee on the M.I.T. Centennial
1952
69
Chairman, Operations Research Committee, M.I.T.
1952
55
Member, Libraries Executive Committee, M.I.T.
1952
53
First President, Operations Research Society of America
1952
56
Member, Steering Committee, Operations Evaluation Group (U.S. Navy)
1952
53
Member, Advisory Committee, Ordnance Research Office (U.S. Army)
1952
56
Member, Applied Mathematics Advisory Committee, National Bureau of Standards
1952
53
Member, Reorganization Committee, Operations Research Office (U.S. Army)
Dec. 1952
Lecturer on O.R., Westinghouse Research Laboratories
1953
67
Chairman, Computation Committee, M.I.T.
1953
55
Member, Governing Board, American Institute of Physics
1953
54
Consultant, Corning Glass Co.
1953
54
Member, Bulletin Committee, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
April 1954
Invited Lecturer, Symposium on Applied Mathematics, American Mathematical Society
1954
64
Chairman, NRC Committee on Revision of Mathematical Tables
Dec. 1954
Sigma Xi Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania
1955
63
Member, Advisory Panel on University Computing Facilities of the National Science Foundation (Chairman, 1961-63)
1955
56
Consultant, Philco Corp.
May 1955
Elected Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
1955
Member, ORSA Prize Committee
Feb. 1955
Lecturer, Research Society of America
1956
57
Member, Ad Hoc Committee on NROTC, M.I.T.
1956
69
Chairman, Committee of Institutional Representatives to the M.I.T. Computation Center
1956
62
Member, Long Range Planning Committee, M.I.T.
1956
61
Member, Board of Trustee, Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA)
1956
78
Annals of Physics
1956
60
Member, Physical Science Study Committee, M.I.T.
April 1956
Phi Beta Kappa Lecturer, Duke University (on O.R.)
1956
58
Member, Committee on the Future of the Graduate School (Chairman, 1957-58), M.I.T.
Dec. 1956
Sigma Xi Lecturer, Tufts University (on Computers)
1956
69
Director, Operations Research Center, M.I.T.
Oct. 1956
Alfred P. Sloan Award for Outstanding Performance of M.I.T. Faculty Member
1956
60
Member, Winchester Citizens Advisory Committee to School Commissioner
1957
67
Director, Computation Center, M.I.T.
Sept. 1957
Invited Lecturer, First International Conference on O.R., at Oxford, England
Sept. 1957
Invited Lecturer, First Meeting, French O.R. Society in Paris
1958
60
Chairman of the Faculty, M.I.T.
1958
60
Member, Academic Council (ex-officio), M.I.T.
1958
60
Member, Science Library Committee, M.I.T.
1958
69
Member, Faculty Council, M.I.T.
Feb. 1958
Member, President's Conference on Automobile Traffic (Williamsburg, Virginia)
1958
61
Lecturer, AIP College Visiting Program (St. Olaf College, Carleton College, Hope College Manhattan College)
1959
Member, Goodwin Medal Committee, M.I.T.
1959
68
Journal of Mathematics and Physics
1959 Aug.
Sept. 1959
Lecturer, NATO Symposium on O.R. at TCEA, Brussels; Aachen; Oslo
1960
61
Member, Long Range Computation Study Group, M.I.T.
1960
61
Member, Ad Hoc Committee on Proposed Graduate Center, M.I.T.
1960
68
Member, Board of Directors, Adage, Inc.
1960
64
Chairman, NATO Advisory Panel on Operations Research (APOR)
April 1960
Chairman, Symposium on University Computers, in Chicago (sponsored by National Science Foundation)
1960
64
Science
1961
64
Secretary General, International Federation of O.R. Societies (IFORS)
1961
62
Member, NSF Fellowship Panel for Physics
May 1961
Awarded Silver Certificate, Acoustical Society of America
1961
62
Member, NAS Committee on Natural Resources of U.S. (requested by President Kennedy)
1961
Member, Board of Trustees, Council on Library Resources
1961
62
Member, Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of the M.I.T. Library
1961
Member, Nominating Committee, American Physical Society
May 1961
Awarded Silver Medal of Acoustical Society of America
Aug. 1961
Director, Visiting Lecture Series on O.R., in Japan (IDA-JUSE sponsored)
Oct. 1961
Visiting Lecturer, Conference on O.R., University of Athens
1962
73
Member, Board of Trustees, Analytic Services Inc. (AnSer)
1962
68
Chairman, OECD Advisory Panel on O.R.
1962
63
Member, Visiting Committee on Mathematics and Physics, Case Institute
March 1962
Distinguished Lecturer, Fulbright Program in Mexico, sponsored by Mexican-American Cultural Society
April 1962
Lecturer, Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley
May 1962
Chairman, Press Conference on Computers and Physics, American Institute of Physics
1962
66
Member, NAS Committee on Computational Needs in Universities
1963
64
Member, Computation Advisory Panel, Honeywell Corp.
July 1963
Organizer, IFORS Conference at Oslo
1964
Member, IDA Review Committee
June 1964
Invited Lecturer, First Meeting, Hellenic O.R. Society, Athens
Aug. 1965
Member, Intrex Planning Conference, M.I.T.
Feb. 1965
Awarded Silver Medal, Operational Research Society (U.K.)
1965
66
Member, Advisory Panel, U.S. Army Development Command
1965 June
July 1965
Director, Visiting O.R. Team to Taiwan, Japan, India (Kanpur-IIT) and Israel
September 1965
Invited Lecturer, NATO Conference on Queuing Theory, Lisbon
October 1965
Chairman, OECD Conference on O.R. in Government, Dublin
1966
69
Member, Faculty Committee on the M.I.T.-Harvard Joint Center for Urban Studies, M.I.T.
1966
Member, Board of Directors, Control Data Corporation
1966
Consultant, Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) MGH Program
1966
67
Member, Advisory Panel for BBN Program for Advanced Study (PAS)
1966
Member, Panel on Telecommunication Sciences, U.S. Dept. of Commerce
April 1966
Invited Lecturer, Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley
September 1966
Chairman, OECD Conference on O.R. in Education, Sandefiord, Norway
December 1966
Chairman, OECD Conference on Urban Planning and Transport, Rome
1967
70
Chairman, Advisory Panel to Technical Analysis Division (TAD), National Bureau of Standards
1967
70) 1967
Member, Advisory Committee to the AIP Information Program (Chairman, Subcommittee on System Development of AIP Panel,
1967
70
Member, Scientific Advisory Council, TCU Research Foundation (Texas Christian University)
1967
68
Member, Advisory Panel on Computing to Associated Universities, Inc. (Glennan Panel)
Dec. 1967
Member, OECD Conference on Urban Simulation Models, London
Dec. 4, 1967
U.S. Representative, Royal Society Celebration of 30th Anniversary of O.R., London
1968
70
Consultant, OECD
1968
70
Technical Advisor, Lecturer, BBN Program for Advanced Study
1968
69
Member, Advisory Panel on Regional Medical Programs, U.S. Public Health Service
March 1968
Invited Lecturer, AIAKORSA Conference on Systems Analysis and Social Change
October 1968
Delegate, OECD Conference on Computer Simulation and Urban Planning, Paris
1969
70
Member, NAE Committee on Engineering Education
1969
Chairman, Financial Committee, Union of Concerned Scientists
1969
73
Member, Board of Directors, Teknekron
Aug. 1969
Invited Lecturer, University of Chicago Library School
Oct. 1969
Invited Lecturer, University of North Carolina Library School
November 1969
Awarded Lanchester Prize, ORSA
November 13, 1969
In Honor of Philip M. Morse
1970
Vice-President-Elect, American Physical Society
1970 April
June 1970
Visiting Professor of Operations Research, Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley
1970
71
Member, Statistical Data Panel, NAS Physics Survey Committee
1970
71
Member, Committee on Unified Science and Mathematics for Elementary Schools, M.I.T. Education Development Center
1970
74
Chairman, Board of Trustees, New England Regional Computing Network (NERComP)
1971
Vice-President, American Physical Society
1971
Member, Advisory Committee to HUD Sub-Committee for Integrated Planning and Management for Community Development
March 1971
Invited Lecturer, University of Hawaii (on O.R. and on physics)
April 1971
Distinguished Visitor to Universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney, Fulbright Program in Australia, sponsored by the Australian-American Educational Fund
April 1971
Invited Speaker, O.R. Society of South Australia, Adelaide
May 1971
Invited Speaker, Operations Research Society of America Conference, Dallas
May 1971
Invited Lecturer, Lecture Series on Systems Concepts for the Private and Public Sectors, California Institute of Technology
August 1971
Invited Lecturer, University of Chicago Center for Continuing Education (on library O.R.)
1972
President, American Physical Society
1972
Member, Committee on the Future of the APS, American Physical Society
1972
Member, Ad Hoc Committee on Physics and National Domestic Problems, American Institute of Physics
1970
75
Member, Council, American Physical Society
April 1973
Awarded Gold Medal, Acoustical Society of America
1974
Member, Committee on the American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society
1974
Chairman, Lanchester Prize Committee, Operations Research Society of America
February 1974
Invited Speaker, University of Mexico (in honor of Professor M. Vallarta)
March 1974
Feb. 1977
Member, Governing Board, American Institute of Physics
Feb. 1974
Vice-Chairman, Board of Trustees, New England Regional Computing
1974
76
Network (NERComP)
1974
75
Chairman, Special Study for Strengthening the Capabilities of Less Developed Countries in Systems Analysis, NAS Board on Science and Technology for International Relations
October 1974
Awarded Kimball Prize, Operations Research Society of America
1975
1980
Chairman, Governing Board, American Institute of Physics
1975
76
Chairman, Panel on Public Affairs, American Physical Society
Jan. 1975
Invited Lecturer, Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley
July 1975
Invited Speaker, Plenary Session, International Federation of O.R. Societies Conference on O.R. in the Service of Developing Economies, Kyoto, Japan
July 1975
Director, Visiting O.R. Lecture Team, System Science Institute, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
1975
80
Member, Visiting Committee for the School of Library Science, Case Western Reserve University
1977
79
Member, Board of Directors, Perception Technology Corporation
1980
Chairman, National Academy of Science Committee on Technical Assistance to the Navaho Nation
From the guide to the Philip McCord Morse papers, 1927-1980, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections)
