The Institute Archives & Special Collections is excited to announce that the Jordan J. Baruch papers are now open for research. See a guide to the collection.

Jordan Baruch was an alumnus of MIT – earning the SB and the SM in 1948 and the ScD in 1950 – as well as an assistant professor in Electrical Engineering in the 1950s and 1960s. He also taught at Harvard, Dartmouth, and Johns Hopkins. In addition to being an educator, Baruch was an inventor and a businessman, and was integral in the founding of several Boston-area companies including Boston Broadcasters, Inc. (WCVB-TV Channel 5) and Bolt, Beranek and Newman.

In 1977 Baruch was appointed to the US Department of Commerce by President Jimmy Carter, serving as Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology. During this tenure, Baruch initiated the founding of the first school of management in China, and was instrumental in fostering economic cooperation between the US and Israel. After leaving  the government, he continued to consult around the world on matters of technological innovation, technology education, and economic cooperation, and was invited to participate in peace talks in the Middle East.

Baruch’s papers include drafts of his unpublished memoir, correspondence, publications, teaching materials, photographs, and materials related to his time in government, his work in China, and his international consulting. Digitization is anticipated for audio recordings of Baruch’s lectures at the management school he helped to establish in China.

To access the Jordan J. Baruch papers, please contact the IASC at mithistory@mit.edu or 617-253-5690. For more information on the collection, please contact Dana Hamlin, Project Archivist, at dgoblask@mit.edu or 617-253-5705.