Carl Kaysen was born March 5, 1920 in Philadelphia, PA. He attended a variety of educational institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and Harvard Law School. Dr. Kaysen served as Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs from 1961 until his resignation in June 1963 working directly under National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy. Dr. Kaysen took over the position from Walt Rostow and focused on some of the key issues of the Kennedy presidency including foreign trade, economic policy, and the potential use of nuclear weapons. Dr. Kaysen advised President Kennedy on a wide variety of topics, including disarmament, National Security Policy and balance of payments.
Upon accepting his resignation President Kennedy wrote: "I know of no one who has the comparable ability to analyze a large amount of material and then put the essential information in a report in a way which makes the decision process much easier and more precise. We are going to miss you greatly."
A staff memo prepared for McGeorge Bundy described "the limits of Kaysen's empire, like that of Darius, were undefined and expanding." Dr. Kaysen continued to serve as a Special Consultant to President Kennedy after his resignation.
In addition to his time in the White House, Mr. Kaysen's professional career spans over 60 years and includes work for a wide variety of institutions including the National Bureau of Economic Research (1940-1942), U.S. Office of Strategic Services, U.S. Army Air Force, Harvard University, Princeton University, and most recently the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1920 Born, Philadelphia, PA.
1940 A.B., University of Pennsylvania
1940-1942 Graduate study at Columbia University
1940-1942 Staff, National Bureau of Economic Research
1942-1943 Economist, U.S. Office of Strategic Services
1943-1945 Intelligence, U.S. Army Air Forces
1947 M.A., Harvard University
1950-1955 Assistant professor, Harvard University
1950-1952 Clerk to Judge E. E. Wyzanski, U.S. District Court
1954 Ph.D., Military / Wartime Service
1955-1957 Associate Professor, Harvard University
1957-1966 Professor of Economics, Harvard University
1961-1963 Deputy Special Assistant to President Kennedy for National Security Affairs
1960-1966 Associate Dean, Graduate School of Public Administration, Harvard University
1963 Special Consultant to the President
1964 Chairman, President’s Task Force on Foreign Economic Policy
1964-1966 Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University
1966-1976 Director, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ
1968 Member, Carnegie Commission on Higher Education
1977 David W. Skinner Professor of Political Economy
1977-1979 Vice Chairman and Director of Research, Sloan Commission on Government and Higher Education
1981-present Director, Program in Science, Technology and Society, MIT
Author
“United States v. United Shoe Machinery Corporation”: An Economic Analysis of an Anti-Trust Case, 1956
The American Business Creed (with F.K. Sutton, W.E. Harris, and J. Tobin), 1956
Anti-Trust Policy: An Economic and Legal Analysis (with Donald F. Turner), 1959
The Demand for Electricity in the United States (with Franklin M. Fisher), 1962
The Higher Learning: The Universities and the Public, 1969
Content and Context: Essays on College Education (editor), 1973
A Debate on “A Time to Choose” (with William Tavoulareas), 1977
Program for Renewed Partnership: A Report, 1980.
Source:
Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 1999