Access to Collection
Biographical / Historical
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Scope and Contents
Publication Rights
Language of Material:
Undetermined
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Karl R. Spangenberg papers
Identifier/Call Number: SC0851
Physical Description:
14.25 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1935-1960
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36-48 hours in advance. For more
information on paging collections, see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html.
Access to Collection
The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted
to a digital use copy.
Biographical / Historical
Karl Spangenberg (1910-1964) served as a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford. He was a member of the American
Physical Society and became an IRE (now IEEE) Associate in 1934, Senior Member in 1945, and Fellow in 1949. He was an adviser
of numerous scientists at Stanford University, including Willis Harman, Robert Helliwell, and Chih-Tang Sah. During the later
years of World War II, 1944-1945, Spangenberg served as a technical consultant for the United States Office of Scientific
Research and Development. After being awarded a Medal of Freedom from President Truman, he headed the Electronics Division
of the Office of Naval Research from 1948-1949. In 1952 to 1954, he and his family lived in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil,
where he worked as Head of the Electronic Engineering Department of the
Instituto Technologica de Aeronautica, the Brazilian Air Force Institute/Academy. In the early 1960s, Spangenberg was a consultant on engineering management and
education to various companies, primarily in the San Francisco Bay area. During his life, he published two books on the subject
of electrical engineering,
Vacuum Tubes(1948) and
Fundamentals of Electron Devices. Spangenberg's last book,
Electromagnetics in Space: Antenna Considerations as Related to Space Communications(1965), he edited was published posthumously.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Karl R. Spangenberg Papers (SC0851). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Processing Information
Some material required conservation interventions and was remediated in Spring 2023.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains correspondence, teaching materials, subject files, and research notes of Karl R. Spangenberg relating
to his work as an electircal engineer specilizing in vacuum tubes at Stanford.
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.