Carl Kaysen (1920-2010) served as the Institute for Advanced Study’s fourth Director from 1966 to 1976, overseeing a decade of growth and change.Kaysen, born in 1920 in Philadelphia, earned his M.S. in 1947 and Ph.D. in 1954 from Harvard University, where he became Professor of Economics in 1957.

Kaysen became a member of the White House Staff in January, 1961. On November 30, 1961 he was appointed assistant to McGeorge Bundy for military and strategic matters with the official titles Deputy Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. As a specialist on nuclear disarmament and European policy Dr. Kaysen was included in the July, 1963 Harriman mission to the Moscow three power (United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union) talks on banning nuclear weapons testing. Dr. Kaysen provided analysis and advice on many of the crucial national and international issues facing the Kennedy Administration including Berlin, the Congo, the China/India border clash and civil defense. He was often called upon for economic advice.

Kaysen was hired by the Institute for Advanced Study in 1966 to help broaden its academic scope to include topics relevant to contemporary society. One of the ways Kaysen fulfilled this mandate was to create the School of Social Science, which began as the Program for Social Change in 1968 and was formalized in 1973 as the Institute’s fourth School, in addition to the Schools of Historical Studies, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences. In 1970, Kaysen appointed the Program’s first Professor, the anthropologist Clifford Geertz, who influenced generations of scholars in interpretive social science. Kaysen himself served as a Professor in the School, along with Albert O. Hirschman, a development economist appointed in 1974.

During his tenure, Kaysen sought to strengthen the institution’s financial standing and independence and enhanced the Institute’s endowment by $8 million. Major enhancements were made to the Institute’s campus during Kaysen’s tenure, including the construction of the Dining Hall, which continues to serve as an important daily gathering place for the entire Institute community, and the West Building, which houses the School of Social Science, as well as scholars affiliated with the School of Historical Studies. While Director, Kaysen served as a Professor in the School of Historical Studies from 1966-73, before becoming Professor in the School of Social Science.

In 1976, Kaysen joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as director of MIT's Program in Science, Technology and Society from 1981 until his death in 2010.