Quick Facts
Biography
Robert Warren Morse (May 25, 1921 – January 19, 2001) was the first president of Case Western Reserve University.
Career
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of the class of 1943 at Bowdoin College, Morse received his master's degree and PhD in physics at Brown University before becoming a member of Brown's faculty in 1946. He became the college dean in 1962.
In 1956, Morse took part in the National Academy of Science's Nobska Project, which was instrumental in the creation of the UGM-27 Polaris missile submarine. In 1964, he was named Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research and Development) for the United States Navy. Dissatisfied with the United States' role in Vietnam, Morse left the Navy in 1966 to become president of the Case Institute of Technology. In 1967, Case merged with Western Reserve, with Morse becoming the first president of Case Western Reserve. He remained there until 1971, when he left for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where he retired in 1983.