Gaylord Probasco Harnwell CBE was an American educator and physicist, who was president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1953 to 1970.
10 Facts About Gaylord Harnwell
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Gaylord Harnwell held a great number of positions in a wide variety of national political and educational boards and committees, as well as senior positions in both the Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania and the United States Navy.
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From 1927 until 1928 Gaylord Harnwell taught physics at the California Institute of Technology and then from 1928 to 1938 he taught at Princeton, becoming associate professor by 1936.
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Gaylord Harnwell returned to the university's physics department until 1953 when he was elected as the university's president, a position he held until 1970.
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Gaylord Harnwell was a member of the Advisory Panel on Ordnance, Transport and Supply of the Department of Defense, Advisory Board of the US Navy Ordnance Laboratory, Science Information Council of the National Science Foundation and congressional Subcommittee on Military Applications of Atomic Energy.
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In 1958, Gaylord Harnwell was awarded the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award.
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Gaylord Harnwell toured educational facilities in the Soviet Union and Iran in 1958 and then 1960 and 1961, discussing the proposal to found an American-style university in Shiraz.
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Gaylord Harnwell held a number of other influential positions, including Public Governor of the New York Stock Exchange, director of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Company, Philadelphia CARE Committee, Rore-Amchem, Inc.
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Gaylord Harnwell was involved in the office of the state governor, as chairman of the Council of Science and Technology, Committee on Tax Administration, Tax Study and Revision Commission and Commonwealth Priorities Commission at various times in the last decade of his time as president of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Gaylord Harnwell received over 34 honorary degrees, as well as the title of Commander of the National Order of the Ivory Coast, Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.