Part 1 - The Institute Libraries - Institute for Advanced Study

professors in the School of Mathematics; all visf tors were called members,
and their stipends were supposed to cone out of the fund. I
It became Professor Veblen's objective resourcefully to persu-
ade Flexner to make exceptions, to permit this or thet item to cme from
the general budget.
Frequently he succeeded, but with the criticel atti-
tude the Board evinced in 1936, the chances of success seemed less Likely,
particularly as there was not enough money to pzy the stipends of mmbers
fax the otter schools. Nevertheless, Veblen decided to invite three emi-
nent European,mathema t icians due to at tend the Fiarvard Tercentenary in
the fall of 1936 to come to Princeton for z visit, giving the Department
an opportunity to share in the fnviction and the $2,000 honorarium he
proposed to offer each. The Department declined, 2nd Veblen, having told
his coZXeag~es he could get the sum from the gener~l budget, asked Flexner.
But the Board declkwd to tiuthorize the appropriation, requiring that the
sum should come from the School of Mathemties stipend fund, It is inttr-
esting to note that even though only two of the three came, (Haxdy of Eng-
57
land and Levi-Civita) the School spent $6,000 over its stipend fund.
Professor Veblen's rmrk that the members formed sub-groups
and conferred among themselves was no exaggexetion. The Bulletins for
these years show a great deal of activity among the members in lecturing, ,
both in series and on single papers, and some conducted semfnars during
their stay. Not infrequently they worked with University students as
well as with the younger post-doctorals. Flexner need not have vorrled ,
that too many members would,interEere with the Institute professors*
'-,
lefsure for reflection snd cr&tfve thinkfng, As for his other concern:
'. \
that the members might telk only "to themselves," it apparently was not