John G. Trump

Trump received his electrical engineering doctorate as the first student of MIT physicist Robert J. Van de Graaff. He joined MIT's faculty in 1935 and designed compact, high-voltage Van de Graaff generators for use in cancer radiotherapy. Trump later directed MIT's High Voltage Research Laboratory, which developed new radiotherapy techniques, trained radiologists, and treated more than 10,000 patients. Under Trump, the lab explored the generation and use of electrostatic power in medical sterilization, spacecraft propulsion, wastewater disinfection, and direct current power transmission.

Ahead of American entry into World War II, Trump joined the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), the government's main effort to organize civilian scientists for war. As technical aide to Karl Compton, he helped establish the Radiation Laboratory to develop microwave radar. He served on the lab's steering committee and as an NDRC divisional secretary, managing the NDRC's portfolio of radar contracts. In February 1944, he went to England to direct the Rad Lab's field operation in Europe. There, he organized radar deployments for the D-Day invasion, aided interception of V-1 missiles, and advised American commanders on radar use in combat. He received service commendations from President Truman and King George VI.

In 1946, Trump organized the High Voltage Engineering Corporation (HVEC) with Van de Graaff and Denis Robinson to build compact Van de Graaff accelerators for cancer therapy. They received one of the first three investments of the American Research & Development Corporation, the first modern venture capital firm. As chairman, Trump oversaw the company's growth and debut on the New York Stock Exchange. HVEC became the largest global supplier of research particle accelerators as government funding for nuclear science expanded, and later diversified into industrial products.

Trump retired from the MIT faculty in 1973 and remained active as a trustee of Boston's Museum of Science and board chairman of the Lahey Clinic, a regional hospital. President Reagan awarded Trump the National Medal of Science in 1983 for the "beneficial application of ionizing radiation to medicine, industry and atomic physics." Trump was the paternal uncle of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States.