Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Walter W. Heller
JFKWHSFWWH-MF75-005
This folder contains material pertaining to the Panel on Civilian Technology, also known as the Wiesner Committee on Civilian Technology or the Scientific and Economic Policy Committee, which was established circa June 1961 to examine ways for the government to stimulate civilian research and development and use existing technology more effectively. Walter W. Heller represented the Council of Economic Advisers on the committee. The material in this file relates mainly to the creation of the Panel, which originated in a proposal by John Kenneth Galbraith and Jerome Wiesner on the government's role in industrial research and development, and was discussed at a meeting at 4:30 p.m. on 30 March 1961. Items include a paper by Benton F. Massell and Richard R. Nelson of the RAND Corporation, "Scientific Research, Economic Progress, and Public Policy," and a detailed summary of the issues discussed at the first formal meeting of the Panel on 28 June 1961.