Lewis M. Branscomb

Lewis M. Branscomb, a trustee since 1980, becoming trustee emeritus in 2003, is a summa cum laude graduate of Duke University and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Harvard University in 1947 and 1949.

During his career, he has taught at University College in London, the University of Maryland, the University of Colorado, and Harvard, where he was a member of the Society of Fellows. In 1951, he joined the National Bureau of Standards, where he served as chief of the Atomic Physics Division, and, in 1969, President Nixon appointed him director of the Bureau. A noted physicist, Mr. Branscomb joined IBM as a chief scientist in May 1972 and was elected vice president the following month.

He has received the Rockefeller Public Service Award, the Samuel Wesley Starton Award, the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service from the United States Department of Commerce, the Procter Prize from the Scientific Research Society of America, and the National Civil Service League Award. He has served on the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on Science and Foreign Affairs, is a former member of the board of directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a former chairman of the Panel on the Applications of Science and Technology of the Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress. Mr. Branscomb has also served as a member of the boards of directors of General Foods Corporation, Mobil Corporation, the Rand Corporation, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

He is the father of Harvie and Katharine and is married to Constance.