Weems, William R.
Person
Dates
- Existence: 1911 August 9 -
Biography
Associated with the Industrial Liaison Program since 1950, Mr. Weems has a rich background of experience in administration, teaching, and research. The son of missionary parents, he was born in Kaesong, Korea, on August 9, 1911. Sent to the United States for his higher education, he graduated with honor from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1933. After a short term as a flying cadet and as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech, he accepted a scholarship for postgraduate study at MIT where he received the degree of master of science in 1935.
Following his graduate study, he worked as a development engineer on aircraft instruments at the Pioneer Instrument Division of Bendix Corporation. In 1937 he returned to Georgia Tech where from 1937 to 1941 he was Instructor and later Assistant Professor of Aeronautical Engineering.
During the war he served in the Army Air Forces with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. From 1941 to 1943 he was executive officer of the Special Weapons Branch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where he was also head of the gyroscope laboratory. In 1943 he was promoted to Assistant Commandant of the Army Air Forces Engineering School at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and until 1945 was in charge of organizing and operating this distinguished professional school which has now become the Ut S. Air Force Institute of Technology.
In 1946 he returned to MIT as Assistant Professor of Aeronautical Engineering and in 1948 was promoted to Associate Professor in that department. Until his appointment as technical industrial liaison officer in 1950, he worked under Dr. C. Stark Draper in the Institute's Instrumentation Laboratory as an expert on gyroscopes and other devices for the automatic control of vehicles and weapons.
He is a member of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi and Phi Eta Sigma, and a former member of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences. He is also active in the American Society for Engineering Education.
Married to the former Hazel H. Rood of Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Weems is the father of three boys.
"William R. Weems Appointed Director of Industrial Liaison Program," Massachusetts Institute of Technology. News Office records (AC-0069)
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Industrial Liaison Program records of member companies
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: AC-0265
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of files of member companies from 1948 on which include agendas for visits of MIT and company personnel; attendance at seminar programs; questionnaires assessing the effectiveness of ILP programs; records of payments; and correspondence about and records of services provided.
Dates:
1949 - 1990