On Thursday, April 16, MITEI celebrated the 70th birthday of Institute Professor John Deutch by holding a symposium in recognition of his significant contributions over the last 40 years in the field of chemistry and physics, his role in national security and energy policy, as well as his years of governance at MIT. Professor Deutch has played an important role in promoting the interdisciplinary study of energy and environmental policy at MIT. He played a leadership role in both the Future of Nuclear Power and the Future of Coal studies, in which CEEPR also participated.
Professor Deutch has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1970. He has served as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry, Dean of Science and Provost. He has published over 140 technical publications in physical chemistry, as well as numerous publications on technology, energy, international security, and public policy issues.
He has also held significant government and academic posts throughout his career. He was Director of Central Intelligence from May 1995 until December 1996. In this position, he was the head of all foreign intelligence agencies of the United States and directed the Central Intelligence Agency. From March 1994 to May 1995, he served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and for a year before that he served as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Technology. Between 1977 and 1980, Professor Deutch worked in several positions at the U.S. Department of Energy.
In addition he has served on many commissions during several presidential administrations: the President’s Nuclear Safety Oversight Committee (1980-81); the President’s Commission on Strategic Forces (1983); the White House Science Council (1985-89); the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (1997-2001), the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (1990-93); the President’ Commission on Aviation Safety and Security (1996); the Commission on Reducing and Protecting Government Secrecy (1996); and as Chairman of the Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (1998-99).
Professor Deutch has received fellowships and honors from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1978) and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Research Fellow 1967-69), and John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (Memorial Fellow 1974-1975). Public Service Medals have been awarded him (?? He has been awarded Public Service Medals) from the Department of Energy (1980), the Department of State (1980), the Department of Defense (1994 and 1995), the Department of the Army (1995), the Department of the Navy (1995), the Department of the Air Force (1995), the Coast Guard (1995), the Central Intelligence Distinguished Intelligence Medal (1996), and the Intelligence Community Distinguished Intelligence Medal (1996). He received the Greater Boston Federal Executive Board’s Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Award for exemplary public service in 2002, the Aspen Strategy Group Leadership Award in 2004, and he was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2007. He is a member of the National Petroleum Council.
Professor John Deutch earned a B.A. in history and economics from Amherst College, and both the B.S. in chemical engineering and Ph.D. in physical chemistry from M.I.T. He holds honorary degrees from Amherst College, University of Lowell, and Northeastern University. He serves as director for the following publicly held companies: Cheniere Energy, Citigroup, and Raytheon. He is a trustee of the Center for American Progress, Resources for the Future, the Urban Institute (life), and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
(April 2009)