OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 45 



This threefold secretaryship in the same individual made possible a high 

 degree of uniformity in administrative matters while the two Committees 

 pursued quite different paths in scientific affairs. 



As Secretary of the Committees, Stewart attended all their meetings and 

 prepared minutes of their actions which were submitted to the Director for 

 his approval of the recommendations contained therein. When the Director 

 had questions about particular recommendations, he normally took them up 

 direcdy with the Chairman of the Committee involved. The Director's 

 approval of recommendations was communicated to the Executive Secretary 

 in a memorandum directing him to take the steps necessary to put the 

 recommendations into effect. The necessary authority had previously been 

 given in an administrative order designating the Executive Secretary as 

 contracting officer for the agency. There were a few differences in the prac- 

 tices of the two Committees which were reflected in the contracts drafted 

 upon their recommendation. These differences had been approved in prin- 

 ciple by the Director and the drafting staff were well acquainted with them. 

 The routine of drafting contracts was the same for NDRC and CMR 

 recommendations and the same form was used for both. The Administrative 

 Office was organized along functional lines and served the two Committees 

 with equal facility. 



The Director's immediate staff was kept small at all times. The NDRC 

 was so organized that the central scientific staff reported to the Chairman 

 of the Committee. The same was true of the Committee on Medical Re- 

 search. Wide latitude in the handling of the administrative affairs of the 

 office was entrusted to the Executive Secretary. When the Office of Field 

 Service was established, the immediate responsibility for its operations was 

 placed upon its chief who organized his own staff. The exchange of scien- 

 tific information with the British was handled through the Liaison Office 

 and the problems of scientific personnel through the Scientific Personnel 

 OfiSce. Section T was for a while an anomaly in that it supervised a scien- 

 tific operation reporting to the Director outside the framework of NDRC 

 and CMR; it was closely organized, however, by Merle A. Tuve, its 

 Chairman. 



The heads of various groups reported to Bush as Director of OSRD. 

 He was given invaluable assistance by Carroll Wilson, who had originally 

 been appointed as Executive Assistant to Bush as Chairman of NDRC, had 

 organized the Liaison Office and served as the first Senior Liaison Officer, 

 and then had been brought back into Bush's immediate ofi&ce as Executive 

 Assistant to the Director. In addition to serving as Secretary of the Advisory 

 Council, Wilson possessed Bush's complete confidence and served as his 

 alter ego in matters to which Bush could not give his personal attention. 

 When the load became too heavy for Wilson to carry alone, Lyman Chalk- 

 ley, who came to OSRD from the Foreign Economic Administration, was 



