The computer ran the program for two or three hours.
The people who ran the program traveled abroad to recruit participants, and their budget was substantial.
A state board ran the program from 1933 to 1977, sterilizing about 7,600 people.
In some parts of the South the Davis administration ran the program.
The Kennedy School ran the program until 2001, when the agency itself took it over.
"I think data collection being led locally gives us an advantage," said Phillip Stevenson, who ran the program.
The C.I.A. said last year that an Alabama-based contractor, Aviation Development Corp., ran the program on its behalf.
Last year, Dr. McGrattan ran the program before the test burning of an actual building at the Underwriters Laboratory.
But to troubleshoot the system, he had turned off the five-minute timer that ran the program.
"It was a very successful promotion for us," said Jim Martin, a former Equitable executive, who ran the program.
("Why advise people if they don't need to know?" asks a rabbi who once ran the program).
