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Finding Aid to the American Institute of Physics Office of the Director records of Kenneth Ford, 1979-1994.

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics Niels Bohr Library & Archives
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740
USA
nbl@aip.org

2008

Encoding Information:

Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Melanie J. Brown in 2008. Any revisions made to this finding aid occurred as part of the editing and encoding process.

Finding aid is written in English

Description of the Collection

Repository:

American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives.

Title and dates of collection:

American Institute of Physics Office of the Director records of Kenneth Ford 1979-1994.

Papers created by:

American Institute of Physics. Office of the Director.

Size of collection:

4.25 linear feet
(1 half manuscript box, 4 records boxes)

Short description of collection:

The collection includes general administrative records from the office of director, including correspondence, committee information, news releases, and member society information, as well as information on electronic publishing and the use of computers.

Language(s) of material:

English

Selected Search Terms

These papers have been indexed in the International Catalog of Sources for History of Physics and Allied Sciences (ICOS) using the following terms. Those seeking related materials should search under these terms.

Historical Note

Kenneth Ford was born on May 1, 1926 in West Palm Beach, Florida. He earned his B.A. from Harvard University in 1948, and received his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 1953.

Ford began his professional career as a Research Assistant at Los Alamos, Princeton, and Indiana University (1950-1954), before moving on to a professorship at Indiana University (1954-1958). He was also a professor at Brandeis University (1958-1964), the University of California, Irvine (1964-1970), and the University of Massachusetts (1970-1975). He served as Education Officer for the American Physical Society before accepting his nomination as Director of the American Institute of Physics in 1987.

Scope and Contents of Collection

This collection documents the actions of Kenneth Ford during his term as director of the American Institute of Physics (AIP). The collection includes correspondence, information on AIP fundraising efforts, documentation of the Science Writing Award and the participation of the U.S. team in the annual International Physics Olympiad competition.

The collection also documents actions of the Publishing Division of AIP, by including information regarding the use of PINET and the evolution of electronic publishing at AIP, as well as information regarding the publication of the journal Chaos.

Organization and Arrangement of Collection

Organized into the following series:

  • Series I: Office of the Director
  • Series II: Physics Olympiad
  • Series III: Electronic publishing and computers
  • Series IV: Chaos
  • Series V: Miscellaneous

This collection is arranged chronologically within each series.

Access to Collection

Permission of an officer of depositing organization required for access to records less than 25 years old. http://www.aip.org/history/nbl/access.html.

Restrictions on Use of Collection

Provenance and Acquisition Information

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Melanie J. Brown in 2008.

Preferred Citation of Collection

Box [number], Folder [number], American Institute of Physics Office of the Director records of Kenneth Ford, 1979-1994. American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, College Park, MD 20740, USA.

Container List

Series I: Office of the Director
Subseries A: Correspondence
Box 1 Folder 1 "Inside AIP" correspondence, 1979-1982
Folder 2 Letters from the Director, 1980-1991
Folder 3 Letters and memoranda, 1987-1988
Folder 4 AIP correspondence, committee and staff meeting notes, memos, 1987-1990
Folder 5 Ken Ford memos, 1988
Folder 6 Hans Frauenfelder correspondence and memos, 1988-1990
Folder 7 Monthly letters from the director, 1989
Folder 8 Letters and memoranda, 1989
Folder 9 Memo, meeting notes and correspondence on location of AIP, 1989-1990
Folder 10 Correspondence, 1989-1990
Folder 11 International correspondence, 1989-1993
Folder 12 Correspondence on the location of AIP, 1990
Folder 13 Hans Frauenfelder correspondence and memos (some confidential materials), 1990-1993
Folder 14 Miscellaneous correspondence and agendas, 1993
Subseries B: Committees
Box 1 Folder 15 Management Committee - minutes and agendas, 1988-1992
Folder 16 Design Committee, 1991
Folder 17 Miscellaneous committees - agendas, notes, memos (1 of 2), 1987-1993
Folder 18 Miscellaneous committees - agendas, notes, memos (2 of 2), 1987-1993
Folder 19 Customer Service Task Force, 1989-1990
Subseries C: Fundraising
Box 1 Folder 20 Fundraising Calls, Pittsburg, photocopies of articles, 1992
Folder 21 PEW Charitable Trust, 1979 - 1988
Folder 22 Grant proposal materials, 1989
Folder 23 Tucker trust fund, 1986-1987
Folder 24 Grant guidelines, 1988-1989
Subseries D: Science Writing Award
Box 1 Folder 25 Science Writing Award nomination of Jerry E. Bishop (Wall Street Journal), 1989
Folder 26 Science writing award materials, 1988
Folder 27 1990 Science writing award letters, 1989
Subseries E: News and reports
Box 1 Folder 28 AIP News Releases, 1985-1989
Box 2 Folder 1 Science Reports, 1989-1990
Folder 2 News Release Information, 1989-1990
Folder 3 News Release, Science Report, etc. (1 of 2), 1989-1992
Folder 4 News Release, Science Report, etc. (2 of 2), 1989-1992
Subseries F: Member Societies
Folder 5 Society Membership Reports, 1981-1989
Folder 6 Member Societies Data, 1982-1986
Folder 7 Member Salaries, 1982-1983, 1985-1987, 1989
Folder 8 Society officers Symposium, 1983-1986
Folder 9 Member Society Clips, 1986
 
Series II: Physics Olympiad
Folder 10 Physics Olympiad, 1991 - 1992
Folder 11 Physics Olympiad, 1991 - 1993
Folder 12 Physics Olympiad, 1991 - 1993
Folder 13 Physics Olympiad Campaign Committee Meeting, 1992
Folder 14 Physics Olympiad, 1992 - 1993
Folder 15 Physics Olympiad, 1992 - 1993
Folder 16 Physics Olympiad, 1993 - 1994
Folder 17 Physics Olympiad, 1993 - 1994
 
Series III: Electronic publishing and computers
Subseries A: PINET
Box 2 Folder 18 PINET & PIMAIL Info, 1986 - 1988
Folder 19 PINET - Computation Physics, 1989
Folder 20 PINET - Computation Physics, 1990
Folder 21 PINET Advisory Committee, 1989
Folder 22 PINET User Guide, 1989
Box 3 Folder 1 PINET, 1991
Folder 2 PINET Strategic plan, 1992
Folder 3 PINET strategic plan, joint society Taskforce notes, 1992
Folder 4 PINET, 1992 - 1993
Folder 5 PINET Strategic Plan for 1993 - 1997, 1992
Subseries B: Electronic publishing
Folder 6 Survey of members needs for future electronic services, 1991
Folder 7 Joint Society taskforce in electronic records, 1991
Folder 8 Joint society taskforce, 1991
Folder 9 Joint Society taskforce in electronic publishing, 1991-1992
Folder 10 Joint society taskforce agendas, correspondence, PINET strategic plan, 1991-1992
Folder 11 Report of the APS taskforce on Electronic Information systems, Survey of members needs for future electronic services, vision of electronic publishing in 1997., 1991, Jan. 1992, Nov. 1991
Folder 12 Joint society taskforce on electronic publishing, 1992
Folder 13 Joint society taskforce on electronic publishing, 1992-1994
Subseries C: Physics Academic Software,
Folder 14 Physics Academic Software, 1987-1988
Folder 15 Physics Academic Software, 1988-1990
Folder 16 Physics Academic Software, 1991-1993
 
Series IV: Chaos
Box 4 Folder 17 Chaos - Sloan foundation and NSF, 1986-1990
Folder 18 Chaos conference materials, 1988-1989
Folder 19 Chaos conference materials, 1989
Folder 20 Chaos conference materials, 1989
Folder 21 Chaos conference materials, 1989
Folder 6 Chaos conference materials, 1989
Folder 7 Chaos conference proceedings, 1989-1990
Folder 8 Chaos conference materials, 1989-1990
Folder 9 Chaos conference materials, 1989-1991
Folder 10 Chaos conference materials, 1989-1991
Folder 11 Chaos Journal taskforce, 1990
Folder 12 Chaos conference, Tarusa River Oka, Russia, 1990
Folder 13 Chaos conference, Tarusa River Oka, Russia, 1990
Folder 14 Chaos conference, 1990
Folder 15 Chaos Editorial board meeting, 1990-1991
Folder 16 Chaos Journal taskforce, 1990-1993
Folder 17 Chaos conference planning, 1991
Folder 18 Chaos conference participant correspondence, 1991-1992
Box 5 Folder 1 Chaos Conference materials, 1991-1992
Folder 2 Chaos conference, 1992
 
Series V: Miscellaneous
Box 5 Folder 3 AIP Woodbury Facility Dedication, 1980
Folder 4 Administration/personnel policy evaluation plan - draft #1, 1981
Folder 5 The Communications Revolutions in Physics (1973), 1982
Folder 6 AIP relocation, 1984-1989; undated
Folder 7 Parity, 1986, 1988
Folder 8 News Release, film proposal and Science TV report, 1986-1988
Folder 9 Facilities and personnel - memos and notes, 1986-1992
Folder 10 Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) - superconductivity - clippings and research file, 1987
Folder 11 The Story of AIP, by H. William Koch (1967-1987), 1987
Folder 12 PHYS-INSPEC databases, 1988-1989
Folder 13 Congressional Fellowship Program - correspondence and memos, 1988-1990
Folder 14 Masters of modern physics, 1988-1992
Folder 15 Environmental concerns, 1989
Folder 16 Proofing notes, 1989
Folder 17 Senior education fellow materials, 1989-1990
Folder 18 Lawsuit materials, 1989-1990
Folder 19 Insurance memos and brochure, 1989-1990
Folder 20 Brochures and announcements, 1989-1992; undated