Part 1 - The Institute Libraries - Institute for Advanced Study

Cruel indecision now assailed Birkhoff, Aware as he must have
been £ram the beginning of the Director's intentions, he reviewed his
situation at Harvard, the very sumit of American academic distinetlon
in his mid-Western eyes, and found it impossible to turn away from the
course he had entered upon when in 1912 he had left an associate pr-
fessorshfp at Princeton to take an assistant professorship at.Harvard.
He suffered several changes of mind; his occasional resolves to cou~ to
the Institute were supported by the advice of his friend and mentor,
Dean R, G. D. Richardson of Bxown University, uho had great confidence
in Flexner, and was certain that the Institute would benefit Birkhoffts
career as well as Anrericgn arathematics. But constant counter-pressure
frm Hanard prevailed, and, f i ~ l l y Birkhoff visited Flexner personally,
withdrawing his last acceptance, and confirming it later in a note say-
ing that he could not leave Cambridge because of "personal xezsons, d o
I
Flexner was sorely disappointed snd not a little embarrassed. I
He had told the Founders of the earlier acceptance, and of Birkhoff's
pleasure at his prospects. The reversal of field was not comprehensible
to the bus inesmnan. Moreover, Flexner had promised the Board a nmina-
ti on at the next meting, and now had none. The minutes made no mention
of Birkhoff, Einstein or Weyl, but with the agenda Flexner sent a brief
nemorandum to the Trustees about his conversation with Dr. Einstein.
Birkhof f was not mntioned, for later Dr. Aydelotte called Flexner's
attention to an item in Scripta Mathematics for December, 1932, saying
that Dr. Birkhoff had been offered and had declined appointment as Wl-
rectorn of the School of fithematics at the Institute, Flexnerms re-
pressed reply shmed h m he bitterly resented the violation of the