Introduction 



by 



The Honorable Garrison Norton 



Naval Research Advisory Committee 



There is much that presumably needs to be said on an 

 occasion such as this convocation. Let me, however, resist all 

 temptation and confine myself to a single observation: On its 

 twentieth birthday, we should not assume that the Office of 

 Naval Research has come of age and that from now its place 

 in the world is assured. 



From Dr. Waterman and Secretary Foster, from Admiral 

 Rivero and Congressman Daddario, you have heard well de- 

 served words of praise for the Organization whose 20th an- 

 niversary we celebrate today; but in the interest of future 

 Naval research, I would sound a note of caution at this point. 

 Today, ONR operates in a radically changed and still chang- 

 ing frame of reference. Twenty years ago this office had the 

 distinction of being almost the sole source of government 

 support of basic research in our universities. Under these cir- 

 cumstances ONR earned the respect, I might say the affection, 

 of the scientific community. The idea that a government 

 agency in peacetime should support on a continuing basis, 

 large-scale basic or pure research was a daring one. As an 

 ancient Naval Reserve Officer, I am proud that the United 

 States Navy was the first to accept this challenge. 



Today, however, this idea has been enthusiastically accepted 

 throughout Government. Dollarwise, ONR's contribution in 

 this field is now only a drop in a bucket whose size continues 

 to increase. If we take ONR's future for granted, if we assume 

 that the scientists who today staff this office and its distin- 

 guished laboratories and field activities, will automatically be 



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