WHOI Office of the Director records, (Columbus O'Donnell Iselin),

Columbus O’Donnell Iselin (1906-1971), the second director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1940-1950), agreed to a temporary term as director from 1956-1958 after Admiral Edward H. Smith retired on August 15, 1956. In the annual report for 1956, Iselin wrote, “we have gradually become aware of the great importance of the future of oceanography on the International Geophysical Year [IGY]…this was the main reason why I reluctantly agreed to resume temporarily the administrative responsibility for our research program.” ₁ Although most staff members initially showed little concern about this major event in the earth sciences, enthusiasm for the program continued to mount in 1957, as prospects of real international cooperation in oceanography and the recording of date on the long-period changes in geophysical phenomena became apparent.

Another notable event during Iselin’s short term as director was Project Nobska.

At Woods Hole, summer studies of scientific and technical problems are as common as seagulls, mainly because the National Academy of Sciences makes its summer headquarters there. But the most important summer study ever held was convened in the mid-1950s by Columbus Iselin, the director… It was called Project Nobska, after the lighthouse just east of the village, and it was attended by a mixed group of naval officers, physicians, engineers and oceanographers. They concluded that it should be possible for a nuclear-powered submarine to carry, and to launch from well below the sea surface, a battery of long-range, inertially guided ballistic missiles, provided these missiles were not too large and were propelled by solid state fuels. Out of this study came the Polaris submarines, and later, their Russian opposite numbers, that were able to roam at will, with little fear of detection, deep within the oceans. Because they are nearly invulnerable and are capable of submerged operation for months on end, the Polaris submarines and their successors, with their terrible weapons, would have probably more to do with keeping the peace between the Soviet Union and the United States in the past 20 years than all the diplomats and politicians put together. ₂

The development of atomic energy raised new concerns for oceanography. Bostwick Ketchum and Allyn Vine served as members of a committee of the National Academy of Sciences to consider the effects of atomic radiation on oceanography and fisheries. In addition, scientists received a grant from the Atomic Energy Commission to conduct research on coastal plankton populations.

During 1957 WHOI underwent financial hardships as funds, normally available through the military services to support basic research, steadily declined. The extra appropriations from IGY, however, enabled the Institution to end the year with only a minor deficit. Another determining factor in the budget problems included the inflationary cost of conducting oceanography. The government began to realize the ineffectiveness of research under a system that resulted in widely fluctuating annual budgets. The National Academy of Sciences- National Research Council established a new Committee on Oceanography (NASCO) to study the needs of oceanography in the US and make recommendations on how to meet these needs. Professor Harrison Brown chaired the new group, which received financial support from the Office of Naval Research, the US Fish Wildlife Commission, and the Atomic Energy Commission.

In February 1958 Mr. Raymond Stevens, President of the Corporation of WHOI, made two announcements naming Paul M. Fye the new director of WHOI (a position he assumed in July), and Iselin the first Henry Bryant Bigelow Oceanographer, a chair recently founded by the WHOI Board of Trustees. Stevens said how fortunate WHOI also was to have the continued services of Iselin, who played a vital role in the development of WHOI and the science of oceanography. Through his skilled efforts and farsightedness WHOI became a leading ocean research institution making significant contributions to knowledge of the seas and the welfare of the nation in peace and in war. Iselin stepped down from his second term as director on May 31, 1958.

Iselin continued to do research, publish and lecture until l965 and in 1966 received the Henry B. Bigelow Medal in Oceanography. After a lengthy illness, he died on January 5, 1971. Paul Fye, in his Columbus O’Donnell Iselin Memorial Lecture delivered to the Marine Technology Society on Sept. 11, 1972, articulated the feelings of many of those who had known or been inspired by Iselin: “Every great adventure has had its great leaders. Columbus O’Donnell Iselin was one of the greats of oceanography. Since the days of Iselin and Bigelow, oceanography in Woods Hole and indeed in the whole nation has had a fair wind.” ₃