Akera, A. (2012, June), The MIT Lewis Survey: Creating a Blueprint for a Cold War Technological University, 1947-1949  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22079

\bibitem{asee_peer_22079}
  Akera, A. (2012, June), \emph{The MIT Lewis Survey: Creating a Blueprint for a Cold War Technological University, 1947-1949}
  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas.
  10.18260/1-2--22079

Atsushi Akera.  "The MIT Lewis Survey: Creating a Blueprint for a Cold War Technological University, 1947-1949".  2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2012.  https://peer.asee.org/22079 Internet.  11 Jan, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_22079}
  Atsushi Akera.
  "The MIT Lewis Survey: Creating a Blueprint for a Cold War Technological University, 1947-1949".
  \emph{2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2012.
  https://peer.asee.org/22079 Internet.  11 Jan, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_22079
author = "Atsushi Akera"
title = "The MIT Lewis Survey: Creating a Blueprint for a Cold War Technological University, 1947-1949"
booktitle = "2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2012"
month = "June"
address = "San Antonio, Texas"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/22079}
number = {10.18260/1-2--22079}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -           The MIT Lewis Survey: Creating a Blueprint for a Cold War                    Technological University, 1947-1949ABSTRACTAlthough there are many conversations related to structural changes and the “reengineering” ofU.S. higher education today, historical perspective can serve as an invaluable resource forgaining a more reflexive vantage point from which to reflect on these changes. This paperapproaches this opportunity through a study of MIT’s Committee on Educational Survey (morepopularly known as the Lewis Survey) whose 1949 report came to be regarded by many as the“blueprint” for MIT during the Cold War era. Rooted in conversations that originated within oursociety (SPEE, then ASEE), MIT faculty embraced the notion of a broader and morefundamental education for all engineers, even as they grappled with MIT’s unique wartimeexperience and the prospects for an expanded program of sponsored research. Without question,the MIT administration, beginning with MIT President Karl Compton, played a key role inMIT’s postwar transformation. Yet it was the Committee on Educational Survey that built aconsensus among the faculty, advanced a “Four School” model that altered MIT’s organizationalstructure, and began the work of redefining the role of the faculty in a “technological university”that was consistent with MIT’s expanding postwar opportunities. The paper will look closely atthe intense efforts of the Lewis Survey—the five members of this committee met no less than119 times over the course of two years to deliberate about MIT’s future—and how their viewsevolved in conversation with the MIT administration and others working to transform highereducation institutions in their time. Especially amidst present-day concerns about the erosion ofshared governance at many U.S. colleges and universities, a historical study of the Lewis Surveyprovides one window into the challenges and benefits of a collaborative approach towards thetransformation of a key institution in the U.S. system of higher education.
AU  - Atsushi Akera
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - The MIT Lewis Survey: Creating a Blueprint for a Cold War Technological University, 1947-1949
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/22079
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--22079
ER  -