Caltech Hall News Today

Robert A. Millikan (1868-1953) was once a beloved figure in American science. In 2021, his name was removed from buildings and awards. What happened?

This unexpected conclusion was discovered by analyzing seismic data recorded continuously since 2001 on the building’s ninth floor.

Print Having traveled the difficult road of coming to terms with racism in its own past, Caltech on Friday said it would remove the names of Robert A. Millikan and five other important figures in its history from campus. The reason is their association with the Human Betterment Foundation, a major promoter of the discredited science of eugenics and of programs to forcibly sterilize those whom eugenicists labeled “feeble-minded” or “unfit.” The move amounts to a major reckoning with the...