The Dedication

MANY physicists who have been closely identified with the Institute during the twenty‐six years of its existence were present at the ceremony on October 21st, when the AIP’s newly occupied headquarters building was dedicated. On that occasion George B. Pegram of Columbia University, who for many years served as an officer of the Institute, received the first Karl Taylor Compton Award, which was recently established by the Institute to honor individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the advancement of physics. The ceremony was held in the new Karl Taylor Compton Memorial Room, named in memory of the Institute’s first board chairman who (together with Dean Pegram) was instrumental in the founding of the organization in 1931. The Compton Medal was presented to Dean Pegram by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, an honored guest from Great Britain and a former president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. President Eisenhower sent his greetings on the occasion and his congratulations to Dean Pegram in a note addressed to Chairman Seitz.