The First NSF Grants and Early History of the Agency

Who were the very first scientists to receive NSF research grants?

What were the original NSF grants for?

How did the success of big science during the Second World War and the Cold War affect the establishment of the NSF?

How was the NSF practically abolished before the end of its first year and what role did President Truman play in keeping the agency functioning?

The Birth of the NSF, 1945 to 1952

The birth of the National Science Foundation can be traced to a meeting of the Senate Subcommittee on War Mobilization on July 22nd, 1945. The committee proposed to establish a means of funding scientific research which after months of deliberation and debate would emerge as the NSF. At the time it was felt that the United States was too dependent on Germany for basic scientific research. The country’s war time success at developing new technologies made the government confident that the country could continue its leadership in science and technology.

Seven months later in February of 1946 Senator Pepper of Florida cited six national needs where a government funded research program would have benefits for the entire country.

I-- Atomic Research

II-- Rheumatic Fever

III-- Pollution of Waters

IV-- The Proximity Fuse, the first important device in what would become "electronic warfare"

V-- The Ionosphere

VI-- Microbiology

The senate approved the Kilgore-Magnuson Measure which would establish the NSF in early July of 1946. But the measure did not have widespread approval in the Congress and it was far from clear what the structure of the proposed NSF should be. The Kilgore-Magnuson Measure would remain in Congress for additional debate.

It was not until May of 1947 that the Senate voted 79 to 8 to establish a national research foundation to be headed by a director to be named by the president. At the time it was estimated that the foundation’s budget would be about $20,000,000 per year.

By the time the Kilgore-Magnuson Measure reached the House of Representatives, Congressional opponents were criticizing the idea by citing the possibilities of pork barrel spending, the corruption of research by government control, and threats of Socialism. Critics also complained that the bill would not train enough young men for careers in science. (At the time few women entered the professions.) The House of Representatives passed a bill creating the science foundation in by the middle of July, 1947.

The bill that reached the president's desk in July of 1947 called for "fundamental" research not applied research to create "gadgets." The bill also freed the federal funding from Land Grant Colleges so that research dollars would be channeled into the most promising institutions.

Although the idea of establishing the NSF had become popular, President Truman reluctantly vetoed the bill in August of 1947. Among other reservations, Truman wanted the President to have more control over the foundation. In order to keep scientific research funded, Truman did call for 1% of the National income (or about 2 billiion dollars) to go into science and said that he did favor a National Science Foundation.

The Senate revised the bill and sent it to the House in May of 1948. In September of 1948, President-elect of the American Chemical Society, Linus Pualing, told a convention of chemists in St. Louis that America needed a Science Foundation. He said that the majority of the science funding came from the military, and this was not sufficient for the country’s needs.

Debate in Congress continued. On March 6, 1949, S249 was released from Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee which would establish the National Science Foundation, meanwhile no fewer than 6 similar bills were being debated in the house. Six months later, the House Rules Committee shelved the NSF proposal. Observers considered the measure effectively killed for the remainder of the Congressional session. Rumors of the measure’s death were confirmed by October of that year.

Impetus for federal science spending was provided by the development of a nuclear weapon by the Soviet Union. While at home a number of Polio outbreaks caused widespread fear among the population. It appears that the Cold War abroad and economic issues at home were giving scientific research new urgency, but there was a great difference of opinion as to whether the NSF should be how the research was funded.

The nation’s scientists received an early Christmas gift in early December 1949 when the federal government announced the largest-ever grants program for scientific research. A whopping $100,000,000 would go for research in colleges and universities. Private industry added another $25,000,000 to the program. The applied sciences were to receive the bulk of the money. About half of the funds would go to physical sciences and medical research.

In speech about national defense in January, 1950, president Truman called for an extension of the military draft and once again called for a national science foundation.

Two months later the House of Representatives agreed on a plan to establish the foundation.

With the Cold War entering a new and dangerous phase, new questions arose over security. A major step forward came in early April 1950 when the Congress agreed that "strong security" measures would be part of the NSF but background checks by the FBI for scholars, administrators, and even students receiving NSF scholarships would not be part of the program. Students would have to take a loyalty oath and sign "non-communist affidavits." Only persons handling sensitive data would be subject to background checks

After almost five years of debate, on April 5, 1950, Congress appropriated $500,000 dollars for the first year's operation of the National Science Foundation. Spending would rise gradually and be capped at $15,000,000 annually

On May 10, 1950 Truman signed bill to create the NSF. In announcing the signing, the President told the press that the goal of the NSF was to maintain the country's leadership in science for both military and commercial reasons

By the end of the summer Congressional opponents had managed to halt the establishment of the NSF when the House Appropriations Committee had refused to release $475,000 appropriated for the NSF. Critics of the House Appropriations Committee pointed out the importance of scientific research for national defense. The committee’s action might have killed the foundation but President Truman called on Congress to release the money.

In Early October of 1950 Truman appointed the first 24 members of the NSF governing board. Dr. James Bryant Conant president of Harvard chaired the first meeting of the NSF Board on December 12 1950. Alan T. Waterman, Technical Director of Naval Research, was appointed by Truman to head the NSF in March of 1951.

But by August of 1951, the House of Representatives still had not appropriated the funds. Only $225,000 was appropriated by the House which only covered administrative expenses. The NSF had hoped to be spending $8,000,000 for research, $5,000,000 for fellowships, and $1,000,000 for expenses. The foundation’s budget had been cut by 98%. In September of 1951 the funding level was still less than $300,000

Funding was eventually restored and the NSF could begin its business of making grants and providing fellowships.

On November 14, 1951 the NSF announced that 400 students, both men and women, would receive NSF scholarships for the 1952 - 1953 academic year. The recipients would be in the field of mathematics, physical sciences, biology, medical research, and engineering. The fellowships would be $1,400 for the student’s first year, $1,600 for their second year, and postdocs received the princely sum of $1,700 annually.

By the time Waterman issued his first annual report the Korean War was already in progress and additional progress would be restricted by the war effort.

The NSF announced the first research grants to be awarded on February 8, 1952. They are listed on the table below.

List of the first scientists to be awarded NSF grants, February 8, 1952, average award $14,500

Biochemistry

Dr. Sidney Weinhouse, Dept of Metabolic Chemistry, Institute of Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Anterior Pituitary Hormone Effects on Fatty Metabolism, , $10,300

Dr. Willis H. Johnson, Wabash College, Nutrient Requirements of Paramecium Multimicronucleata, $3,200

Dr. Robert A. Alberty, Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Molecular Kinetics and chemical kinetics of Fumarase, $9,000

Enzyme Chemistry

Dr. Elliot Juni, Dept of Bacteriology, University of Illinios, Mode of Action of Cocarboxylas in carbohydrate metabolism, $17,250

Biophysics

Dr. Theodore Holmes Bullock. UCLA, Neurological Responses to Infra-Red Radiation, $5,300

Dr. Britton Chance, University of Pennsylvania, Components of Blood, $37,100

Systematic Biology

Dr. E. Raymond Hall and Dr. Rollin H. Baker, University of Kansas, Speciation of North American Mammals, $23,900

Dr. Truman G. Yuncker, DePauw University, Botanical Survey of the Tongan Islands, $3,000

Dr. Frank N. Young, Indiana University, Biology and Taxonomy of Aquatic Beetles, $2,400

Dr. John R. Reeder, Yale University, Embryos of Gramineae as an Aid to Classification and Phylogency, $4,800.

Dr. John W. Hall, University of Minnesota, Coal Ball Floras, $780

Microbiology

Dr. Paul R. Burkholer, Yale University, Development of a National Collection of Algae, $10,000

Aquatic Biology

L. R. Blinks, Stanford University, Basic Biology of Marine Organisms, $34,500

Dr. G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Yale University, Amino Acid Analyses of Water, Mud, and Organisms of Lakes, $1,400

Experimental Embryology

Dr. James D. Ebert, Indiana University, Origin of Tissue-Specific Proteins in the Chick Embryo, $16,500

Dr. I.C. Kichen, University of Mississippi, Culture of the Intact Amphibian Neural System as an Isolated Explant, $10,350

Dr. Louis E. Delanney, Wabash College, Causative Factors in the Development of the Spleen, $3,200

Genetics

Dr. Charles B. Heiser Jr., Indiana University, Variety and Speciation in Sunflowers, $5,300

Dr. Frits W. Went, California Institute of Technology, Differences Among Races and Varieties of Higher Plants, $21,700

Dr. I.M. Lerner and Dr. E.R. Dempster, University of California Berkeley, Polygenic Variability, $50,000

Immunology

Dr. Manfred Mayer, Johns Hopkins University, Cytotoxic Reactions Mediated by Antibody and Complement, $41,400

J.W. Williams, University of Wisconsin, Kinetic Methods for the Determination of the Valence of Precipitating Antibodies, $14,200

Experimental Plant Biology

Dr. James Bonner, California Institute of Technology, Photoperiodism and vernalization, $17,700

Dr. James Bonner, California Institute of Technology, The Biochemistry of Plant Growth, $5,000

Dr. Arthur D. Galston, California Institute of Technology, Auxin Physiology, $5,000

Dr. Victor M. Cutler Jr., Yale University, Isolation and Culture of Plant Rusts, $9,900

Photosynthesis

Dr. Robert Emerson, University of Illinois, Carbon Dioxide exchange during the induction period of photosynthesis, $18,600

Other

National Academy of Sciences, Pacific Science Board, operating expense, $24,000

These awards were listed in the New York Times, February 9, 1952, page 9.

This information posted by:

Kevin Olsen

Instrumentation Specialist

Chemistry and Biochemistry Department Support Staff

Montclair State University

Montclair, NJ, 07043