agreement with the Bush thesis. The methods and techniques by which 

 these objectives are to be accomphshed do not coincide at every point with 

 the rather general proposals set forth in the Bush Report; nevertheless, I 

 think it can be said that all the programs that the Foundation has initiated 

 and supported have contributed in significant measure to the principal rec- 

 ommendation of Dr. Bush, namely, that the Nation's pool of scientific talent 

 should be strengthened and improved. 



In the very first year of operation with its total budget only $3.5 million, the 

 Foundation awarded 575 predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships. Over the 

 ten-year period the fellowship program has been gradually expanded to include 

 fellowships in other categories, and more than 12,000 fellowships in all cate- 

 gories have been awarded. 



The Foundation has not embarked upon a program of scholarship support 

 for a number of reasons, the principal one being the conviction of the National 

 Science Board that an undergraduate program of scholarship support should 

 not be limited to a particular field of science or even to science and engineer- 

 ing generally. The Foundation does, however, support several programs of 

 a different type which provide to gifted students, at both the undergraduate 

 and secondary-school levels, research experience and educational opportunities 

 far beyond those afforded by the normal curriculum. 



Financial assistance for undergraduate students was anticipated by Dr. 

 Bush and his Committee. Although Public Law 346 (G.I. Bill of Rights) had 

 been passed in 1944 and is mentioned at some length in Science, the Endless 

 Frontier, its ultimate impact was not apparent at that time. The final sum- 

 ming up is impressive. Of the more than 7.5 million veterans who took 

 advantage of this training, more than two million pursued courses in schools 

 of higher learning. Almost 10 per cent of the total (744,000) pursued 

 courses in scientific fields. The engineering profession attracted 45,000 and 

 medicine and related courses more than 180,000. The remaining 113,000 

 who elected to study in the natural sciences were variously distributed among 

 geology, chemistry, geography, metallurgy, physics, medicine, dentistry, and 

 others. 



About two million veterans of the Korean conflict received similar educa- 

 tional opportunities under the Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952. 

 Engineering, medical, dental, and scientific fields attracted about a quarter 

 million of these. 



Other sources of financial aid for undergraduate students include the 

 National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a nonprofit institution established 

 and supported by philanthropic foundations and business organizations, and 

 the National Defense Education Act of 1958, which provides for loans to 

 students in institutions of higher education. 



Dr. Bush's urgent plea that the generation in uniform should not be lost 

 seems to have been abundantly answered. The evidence suggests also that 

 the military services are making constructi\'e efforts to utilize both draftees 

 and officers in positions in which they can make use of specialized skills and 

 training. The services also have interesting programs for continuing the 

 advanced education of highly qualified men through such mediums as the 

 Navy Postgraduate School and through direct subsidy of advanced education 

 for military men in colleges and universities. 



xvi 



