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tion on tlieAtlantic Coast * * * to supply necessary facilities for re- 

 search and education * * * and to encourage the establishment of 

 oceanography as a university subject." 



Dr. Henry B. Bigelow served as the secretary of that first commit- 

 tee on oceanography and had a great deal to do with the shaping of 

 its recommendations. He was subsequently asked to become the found- 

 ing director of the new institution, and for the next 10 years gave it his 

 daily guidance. 



_ A strong interdisciplinary staff was built up at Woods Hole under 

 his direction, and major oceanographic research studies were under- 

 taken. At the same time, cooperative studies were undertaken with 

 faculty members and graduate students from many other universities. 

 The major oceanographic research facilities that were available in 

 "Woods Hole were thus made available to the oceanographic commu- 

 nity at large, and friendly advice from the permanent Woods Hole 

 staff helped to increase the probability of experimental success by these 

 other scientists and students. 



A large endowment grant from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled 

 the institution to be financially self-sufficient for the first decade of its 

 life. The demands of the war effort in the early 1940's, however, dras- 

 tically affected the operation of the institution. Increased research in 

 the oceans was essential, and the institution accepted Federal funds to 

 undertake special problems of particular importance to the ISTavy. 



Since that time, the institution has had to rely more and more on 

 Federal grants and contracts to maintain its position as a leading cen- 

 ter for oceanographic studies, and today more than 90 percent of our 

 annual operating costs are met with Federal funds. 



The basic philosophy from the beginning has prevailed — a strong, 

 interdisciplinary permanent staff; major and sophisticated facilities 

 for studying the oceans; and extensive arrangements for cooperative 

 studies with faculty and students from other universities. Thus the 

 institution has been operating in fact, though not in name, much as a 

 University-JSTational Laboratory. 



In answer to a question from the Commission a year ago, I sug- 

 gested that we needed a variety of types of laboratories in the United 

 States concerned with ocean studies. Some should be matched in size 

 and complexity with the problems to be investigated in the oceans. 

 Many important problems are at least as large and complex as an 

 entire ocean basin and can only be solved by teams of scientists and 

 engineers involving many disciplines and talents using highly sophis- 

 ticated research tools such as research ships and specialized computers. 



Consequently, some of the oceanographic laboratories must also be 

 large and complex enough to tackle these problems. Some of these will 

 be involved in obtaining a better fundamental understanding of ocean 

 phenomena and with basic problems about life in the sea. These should 

 be the University-National Laboratories; funded on a continuing 

 stable framework and given a great deal of freedom in planning 

 programs. 



I therefore strongly support the Commission's recommendation for 

 the establishment of University-National Laboratories and feel it ap- 

 propriate to name the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a 

 primary candidate for this proposal. 



