The Philip D. Reed Chair in Science and Technology

The Philip D. Reed Chair in Science and Technology was established in 1990 in recognition of Philip D. Reed’s contributions to CFR as a member of its Board of Directors from 1945 to 1969. It also recognizes his contributions to the field of science and technology as former chairman of the General Electric Company. The chair was endowed in 1997 by a gift from the Philip D. Reed Foundation, with additional support provided by the Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation.

The Reed chair supports a senior fellow who explores the implications of scientific and technological developments for U.S. foreign policy. In examining this relationship, the Reed senior fellow focuses particularly on questions of economic competitiveness, global environmental change, and international development.

Philip D. Reed (1899–1989)

Philip D. Reed joined General Electric (GE) in 1926 as a member of its law department. He became general counsel to the Incandescent Lamp Department in 1934, and in 1937, he was appointed assistant to the president of the company. In 1939, he was named chairman of GE’s board of directors.

During World War II, Reed became chief of the Bureau of Industries at the War Production Board, and in 1942 went to London as deputy to W. Averell Harriman, who headed a lend-lease mission to England. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the U.S. Mission for Economic Affairs in London and appointed Reed as its chief, with the rank of minister. Following the war, Reed returned to GE and again became chairman of the board of directors, a position he maintained until his retirement in 1959.

Philip D. Reed Senior Fellows in Science and Technology

2017–18
Varun Sivaram

2008–10
Charles D. Ferguson

1997–2004
Richard Garwin

1996–97
Jessica T. Mathews

1990–96
Kenneth H. Keller