the GAC report, which relied in part on moral grounds, but was not persuaded by the report itself, remarking to a scientist that the GAC members were behaving in the manner of a "bunch of college professors." The debate was decided in January 1950 when President Truman ordered the development to proceed. On July 11, 1950, Dean was announced as the new Chairman of the AEC. He was the second chairman of the commission, following David Lilienthal, and the appointment was again with McMahon's backing. Dean assumed the post immediately. As early as 1950, Dean advocated for the appointment of a Presidential Science Advisor and science advisory task force. Dean was inherently skeptical about military requests, believing they often asked for arbitrary numbers without underlying rationales. But as Cold War tensions heightened and the Korean War raged on, Dean led a massive expansion of the United States nuclear facilities. During his tenure as Chairman the A.E.C. successfully conducted the Ivy Mike test of the first hydrogen bomb. Dean served at the time of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's creation in 1952, having initially opposed the creation but then after a number of months, acceding to pressure for Teller from it to go forward. Dean served for a brief period under President Dwight D. Eisenhower as well, staying until the completion of his term on June 30, 1953. During Dean's tenure as Chairman, McCarthyism reached its peak. Shortly after Dean left the AEC, Oppenheimer came under attack by Lewis Strauss, Teller and others for his alleged foot-dragging at Los Alamos on the hydrogen bomb project. Dean was outraged at some of the accusations and false accounts being made by Strauss and his allies about the course of hydrogen bomb development. At the Oppenheimer security hearing in 1954, Dean defended Oppenheimer. Post-government Upon leaving government service, Dean joined investment bankers Lehman Brothers. He became an executive of General Dynamics in 1955. Dean also became an active board member of the Fruehauf Trailer Company in Detroit. From 1954, Dean chaired a Council on Foreign Relations study group on nuclear weapons and U.S. foreign policy. Members of the group included Paul Nitze, Robert Bowie, David Rockefeller, and Lieutenant General James M. Gavin. Henry Kissinger joined as study group director in 1955. Dean would also join the International Security Objectives and Strategy panel of the Rockefeller Brothers' Special Studies Project in 1956. Death Dean died