Emanuel Ruben Piore Papers, American Philosophical Society

Table of contents

Abstract

The physicist, Emanuel Ruben Piore, emigrated from Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1917 at the age of 9. "Mannie," as he was known, became a naturalized citizen in 1924, and obtained both his BA and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin. After gaining nearly ten years experience as a research physicist, first at the Radio Corporation of American then CBS laboratories, he went to work for the Navy, eventually becoming the first civilian to head the Office of Naval Research and playing a major role in the transition of American science from war to peace. Throughout his career, Piore strove to promote research through a close relationship between government, industry, and universities. IBM realized the importance of developing a strong research department and Piore's key role in this endeavor and offered him the position as their first Director of Research. At IBM he continued to encourage research by establishing the IBM Fellow program rewarded to top researchers. Piore held increasingly responsible positions at IBM becoming a vice president, group executive and finally Chief Scientist. He served as a member of IBM's advisory board well after he retired.

The Piore papers contain material relating to his latter years at IBM as Vice President and Chief Scientist, as well as some of his time spent on the Board of Directors. In addition, there are materials, though sparse, concerning his work with the Navy. An extensive series of speeches and lectures illustrates Piore's commitment to scientific research and national policy. In addition to his professional correspondence, the papers contain material pertaining to Piore's involvement in professional organizations such as the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Science, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research and the American Philosophical Society. A number of professional and personal photographs are also found within the papers.

Background note
Scope & content
- Arrangement
Administrative information
Additional information
Added entries
Contact information
Collection overview
- Series I. Subject files, 1930-1986
- Series II. IBM, 1956-1986
- Series III. Speeches, 1951-1982
- Series IV. Finacial Records, 1955-1972
- Series V. Photographs, ca. 1918-1982
Collection inventory
- Series I. Subject files, 1930-1986
- Series II. IBM, 1956-1986
- Series III. Speeches, 1951-1982
- Series IV. Finacial Records, 1955-1972
- Series V. Photographs, ca. 1918-1982

Background note

Emanuel Ruben Piore

Emanuel Ruben Piore was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 19 July 1908 to Ruben and Olga Piore. Piore's early education was provided by a personal tutor, though he later attended school. When the Germans occupied of Vilnius during the First World War, Emanuel and his mother were granted permission to leave. Piore later speculated that his mother had two reasons for leaving: first, to distance herself from Piore's father, whom she felt was a "bad influence," and second, to distance herself from her mother for whom she, as the eldest daughter, was expected to care.

In the fall of 1916, Piore and his mother stopped briefly in Berlin and then proceeded to Rotterdam, Holland, where they embarked on the S.S. Rotterdam for America. The trip was only underway two days when the Germans forced the ship to return to port, and for six months the Piore's were housed in dorms provided by the Holland-American Line. Piore had fond memories of his time there writing that he, "had no worries and enjoyed living on the edge of a business port." In May 1917, he and his mother once again boarded the Rotterdam, and after a perilous crossing, landed on New York's Ellis Island.

Almost as soon as he arrived, Piore was enrolled in a New York City public school, assigned to the first grade due to his inability to speak English. Apparently undaunted, it was not long before he caught up to his peers and surpassed them, winning a scholarship to the Ethical Culture School at age 13. It was here that he first became intrigued with science after reading as book by Arthur S. Eddington. He did so well at Ethical that he skipped a year and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin.

When asked how he became a physicist Piore stated simply, "physics had fewer degree requirements then math," though he was quick to reiterate the important impact that Eddington's book had on his decision. He earned both his his BA (1930) and doctorate in physics (1935) at Wisconsin, after which he found employment in the electrical research laboratory of the Radio Corporation of America.

Much of his work at RCA centered on the development of television, e.g. finding surfaces for multipliers for radio tubes and working out how to use phosphorous for television tubes. In 1938, after three years at RCA, Piore was hired as engineer in charge in the TV laboratory at CBS run by Peter Goldmark, inventor of the 33-rpm record, and worked on the early development of color television.

The onset of the Second World War brought radical changes to the relationship between university research and the federal government. Laboratories which had previously beem manned by civil servants were now manned and managed by universities, and as a vocal advocate for fostering this relationship, Piore received a call from the Navy Department. Arriving in Washington in the spring of 1942, Piore was assigned to the Naval Research Laboratory and given charge of getting new devices to the fleets. His administrative skills led to a rapid rise through ranks, eventually resulting in his appointment as the first civilian to head the Office of Naval Research. The navy recognized his achievements by honoring him with its highest civilian medal, the Distinguished Civilian Award.

With the conclusion of the war, Piore, like many scientists, hoped that the monetary relationship that had been established between the Federal Government and primary research would continue, and as Chief Scientist of ONR, Piore was in a prime position to see that it happened. He left ONR in 1955 to pursue research in industry, and after a brief stay at AVCO, an airplane engine company, where he was responsible for key defense contracts, he was offered the position of director of research at IBM.

Piore with an IBM 705 Data Processing System, ca.1958

Piore's appointment was the first time in the history of IBM that the company went outside to find someone to head a department. In the post-war years, IBM recognized the need to bolster its research in order to make the transition from war to peace. Under Piore, the corporation moved away from a strict emphasis upon product development toward support for basic research on product technologies and promising areas of technology. The scientists under Piore's direction were given unusual latitude to pursue basic research, making IBM an attractive place of employment, and giving IBM the ability to hire newly issued Ph.Ds in extraordinary numbers. Piore also pioneered the technique of attracting university scientists into the ranks by encouraging universities to invite IBM scientists as visiting professors or lecturers. Moreover, he created the IBM Fellowship program that allowed top researchers to engage in their personal interests for a given period of time. Piore's goal was to keep the lines of communications between industry and academia open.

Piore's foresight helped establish IBM as a technological leader in several additional ways, most notably by moving IBM away from the use of vacuum tubes, which required a great deal of power, to transistors and later semiconductors in computers. Other innovative projects did not pan out quite as well: the attempt to create a computer centered on cryotrons (a kind of super conducting wire) floundered due to technical difficulties, as did another to use microwaves instead of electrical current as the basis for a computer.

Promoted to vice president in 1960, Piore became a director in 1962, a group executive in 1963, and finally Chief Scientist in 1965. He was also a member of the board of directors and a member of the advisory committee to the board, a position he held after he officially retired from IBM in 1971. Piore contributed in many other areas of science and industry. He was a member of the National Science Board, the President's Science Advisory Committee and the Naval Research Advisory Committee. Other memberships included the New York State Science and Technology Foundation and the board of Science research Associates, inc. He was a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, chairman of the Committee on Scientific Policy of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a trustee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hall of Science of the City of New York, and a member of the Board of Directors of Resources for the Future. He was elected for membership to various academic and scientific societies including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Aside from his professional achievements, Piore was a devoted family man. As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin he met fellow student Nora Kahn, who later became a successful economist. The two were married on 26 August 1931, and had three children, Michael, Margot and Jane, all of whom went on to excel in some aspect of the field of science. After a long illness Piore died on 9 May 2000 at the age of 91.

Scope and content

The Emanuel Ruben Piore Papers contains approximately 22 linear feet of professional correspondence, an extensive series of lectures given by Piore to public and professional audiences, and a series of IBM material relating to his concluding years as Chief scientist and as an informal consultant after his retirement. These provide valuable insight into Piore's role in fostering the relationship between basic research and the Federal Government,however they contain little of substance relevant to Piore's early career at the Office of Naval Research or at IBM.

Piore often lectured and spoke publicly. The largest series in the collection contains copious lectures delivered by Piore between 1951 and 1982. Piore's favorite topic was the importance of federal support of university research in basic science and technology, believing that the future of any nation was bleak without making continual investments in basic science. Moreover, Piore spoke on the function of research in industry arguing that those within industry had a common mission to make industry more beneficial to society by using their skills in science, engineering, and technology to create new products. While at IBM, Piore also spoke often on the importance of computer technology and its role in society and the future of technology. These speeches are a valuable resource for study of the history of science, technology, and industry and the relationship between the Federal Government and scientific research in the post-WWII years.

Also included in this collection are materials relating to Piore's career at IBM. Although the collection does not include information from his early career there, it does contain wide-ranging information beginning in 1965, when he was promoted to Chief Scientist, to well after his retirement in 1986. More specifically, this series includes minutes of the IBM board of directors and correspondence relating to IBM's Science Advisory board, which Piore continued to stay involved with after his retirement from 1971-1981.

Finally, the Piore papers contain a small sampling of Piore's incoming and outgoing correspondence, both personal and professional, including correspondence relating to the National Science Foundation, National Science Board, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, National Academy of Sciences, President's Science Advisory Committee, and the Office of Naval Research to name a few. Piore's personal financial information including stock options and income tax returns is also represented in Series IV, and Series V contains a collection of miscellaneous personal and professional photographs.

Arrangement


Series I. Subject files	1930-1986	32 boxes; 16 linear feet
Series II. IBM	1956-1986	3 boxes; 1.5 linear feet
Series III. Speeches	1951-1982	5 boxes; 2.5 linear feet
Series IV. Financial Records	1955-1972	3 boxes; 1.5 linear feet
Series V. Photographs	ca. 1918-1982	6 boxes; 1 linear foot

Administrative information

Restrictions

None.

Provenance

Gift of Emanuel Ruben Piore, 1993.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Emanuel Ruben Piore Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Catalogued by Leigh McCuen, April 2003.

Additional information

Separated material

Two cassette tapes of an annual meeting of the National Research Council are stored with the Audiovisual Materials (Rec. 273).

Related material

Additional information on computing and IBM can be found in the Papers of Herman Goldstine (Ms. Coll. 19).

References

Piore, Emanuel, Science and Academic Life in Transition: Emanuel Piore (New Brunswick, N. J.: Transaction Publishers, Rutger-The State University, 1990). Call no.: 501 P65s.

There is also a biographical memoir in APS Proceedings 2001.