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Ollie Smoot '62
Smoot Lends an Ear
Some 100 people gathered early October 2007 to celebrate the publication of Smoot's Ear: The Measure of Humanity (Yale University Press, 2007), a book by London School of Economics Professor Robert Tavernor (above, on the right) exploring the changing attitudes toward measurement throughout the history of Western civilization. They also saluted the title's namesake, Ollie Smoot '62 (left), who flew in from California to attend the event. Smoot gained fame as the yardstick of the MIT–Harvard bridge almost 50 years ago.
Ollie Smoot '62 joined fellow Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brothers for the biannual repainting of the Smoot marks on the MIT–Harvard Bridge. Coincidentally (or not), Smoot became the chairman of the American National Standards Institute and served as president of the International Organization for Standardization from 2003 to 2005. He is now retired and living in San Diego. View more photos of the event.
