Benjamin Nichols
Benjamin Nichols (1920 – November 24, 2007) was a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University and mayor of Ithaca, New York. He was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and as such was one of few Socialists elected to public office in the United States in the late 20th century. Early life Nichols was born on Staten Island in 1920 to a family of politically active Communist Party members. Nichols's family was active in union organizing and supporting the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War. He enrolled at Cornell in 1937, but his studies were interrupted by his service in the United States Army during World War II. In 1946, he received his B.S. in electrical engineering, and later received an M.S. in 1949. He earned a PhD at the University of Alaska in 1956. Professorship He was admitted to the Cornell faculty as an assistant professor in 1949, but left temporarily to earn his Ph.D. In 1953, he became an associate professor and a full professor in 1959. Initially, his work at Cornell focused on radio waves in the ionosphere, but after he grew concerned that his studies would lead to military applications,