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Digitized materials in this online collection form part of the Jay Wright Forrester papers (MC-0439) in the MIT Libraries Department of Distinctive Collections. For more information about the materials, please consult the collection finding aid.

Collection scope and contents:
Jay Wright Forrester, 1918-2016, BS in electrical engineering, 1939, University of Nebraska; SM in electrical engineering, 1949, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was director of the MIT Digital Computer Laboratory, 1946-1951, and was responsible for the design and construction of Whirlwind I, one of the first high-speed digital computers. He invented magnetic core memory, which for many years was the standard memory device for digital computers. As head of the Digital Computer Division of MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, 1952-1956, he guided the planning and technical design of the Air Force SAGE system for continental air defense. In 1956 he became professor of management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where his work on the development of computer modeling and analysis of social systems led to the field now know as systems dynamics. He became Germeshausen Professor in 1972 and Germeshausen Professor emeritus and senior lecturer in 1989. His many books include INDUSTRIAL DYNAMICS (1961), SYSTEMS DYNAMICS IN MANAGEMENT EDUCATION (1985), and THE CITY: GROWTH, STAGNATION, AND REVIVAL (1968).

Dates:
1940 – circa 2000

Please note:
Materials in this collection may be under copyright. Please consult the collection finding aid or catalog record and the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for more information.

Citation:
Please cite the source item title (dc.title), collection title and identifier, and repository.

Example: MIT presentation to Club of Rome, “World 2 Model,” curtain illustration, 1970. Jay Wright Forrester papers (MC-0439). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections.

Repository details:
Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository https://libraries.mit.edu/distinctive-collections