Collection Guide
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Stanford S. Penner Papers
MSS 0457
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Table of contents
Creator:
Penner, S. S.
Title: Stanford S. Penner Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1938 - 1998
Extent:
3.57 linear feet
(7 archives boxes, 4 oversize folders, and 4 art bin items)
Abstract: Papers of Stanford Solomon Penner, professor of engineering physics and director of the Center for Energy and Combustion Research
at the University of California, San Diego. Penner is known for his research in combustion and energy, applied spectroscopy,
and thermophysics. The papers document Penner's research and many awards and honors, and include manuscripts, correspondence,
published works, photographs, certificates, realia, clippings, and ephemera.
The papers are arranged in three series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 2) WRITINGS, and 3) CORRESPONDENCE.
Repository:
University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Collection number: MSS 0457
Language of Material:
Collection materials in English
Collection is open for research.
Not Available
Stanford S. Penner Papers, MSS 0457. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Born in Unna, Germany, on July 5, 1921, Stanford Solomon Penner (often known as "Sol") came to the United States in 1936,
and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943. He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he earned a B.S.
in chemistry (1942), and the University of Wisconsin, where he earned an M.S. (1943) and a Ph.D. (1946) in physical chemistry.
Penner's graduate work was interrupted for a time in 1944-45 when he went to work full time in rocket research at Allegany
Ballistics Laboratory as part of the war effort.
From 1947 to 1964, S. S. Penner worked at the California Institute of Technology, first as a senior research assistant in
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, then as a professor of jet propulsion. During a leave of absence from 1962 to 1964, Penner
served as the director of the Research and Engineering Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, D.C.
In 1964 Penner began his association with the University of California, San Diego, where he was founding chair of the Department
of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES). At UCSD, Penner was a professor of engineering physics until his
retirement in 1991, as well as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (1968-69), director of the Institute for Pure and Applied
Physical Sciences (1968-71) and director of the Center for Energy and Combustion Research (1974-90). His major areas of research
were combustion and energy, applied spectroscopy, and thermophysics.
Over the course of his career, S. S. Penner collaborated with such scientists as Farrington Daniels and Theodore Von Karman,
received numerous awards and honors, founded and edited such journals as THE JOURNAL OF QUANTITATIVE SPECTROSCOPY AND RADIATIVE
TRANSFER and ENERGY - THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, and wrote or edited hundreds of articles and more than twenty books.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of S. S. Penner contain manuscripts, correspondence, published works, photographs, certificates, realia, clippings,
and ephemera. The papers cover the years 1938-1998 and occupy 3.57 linear feet. The collection is arranged in three series:
1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 2) WRITINGS, and 3) CORRESPONDENCE. The papers document Penner's research and many awards and
honors; they include little correspondence and few early drafts of his writings.
SERIES 1: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series is arranged in four subseries: A) Biographical Materials, B) Awards, C) Memorabilia, and
D) Miscellaneous.
A) This subseries, arranged in alphabetical order, contains a chronology of Penner's life, clippings and press releases related
to his activities and materials relating to his education. It also contains one folder of photographs and one folder of photocopies
of photographs. Most of the photos are of Penner with his colleagues.
B) The materials in this subseries, which is arranged chronologically, contains certificates and plaques, as well as correspondence
and clippings related to Penner's awards and honors;
C) The Memorabilia subseries, which is also arranged chronologically, contains presentation copies of books, a scrapbook containing
dozens of letters and photographs presented to Penner on his 65th birthday, and other memorabilia.
D) Four folders, arranged alphabetically, make up the Miscellaneous subseries: Conferences and Meeting Materials; Ogden Corporation,
on whose Board of Directors Penner served from 1985 to 1998; the Report of the Energy Center Review Committee for 1985; and
a folder dedicated to materials on Theodore Von Karman, the noted scientist with whom Penner worked in the 1950s and 1960s
(see Series 1 for photographs of Penner with Von Karman).
SERIES 2: WRITINGS
The WRITINGS of S.S. Penner are arranged in alphabetical order. A set of four bound volumes, presented "To Sol Penner from
his colleagues in appreciation," contains Penner's collected publications from 1946 to 1968. Also present are two versions
of Penner's Ph.D. thesis, one containing the text of his confidential National Defense Research Council project, and one with
that section omitted. Penner sometimes stapled correspondence and other materials to his copies of his articles; where this
is the case, the other materials have been kept with the writings.
SERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series has been arranged in chronological order. Penner sometimes stapled together letters from different
correspondents on the same subject; the date on the earliest dated letter among each stapled group of letters is used for
purposes of arrangement. Often included with the letters are clippings, copies of articles by authors other than Penner,
and other enclosures.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Penner, S. S., -- Archives
Von Karman, Theodore, 1881-1963
University of California, San Diego -- Faculty -- History
University of California, San Diego -- Administration -- History
University of California, San Diego. -- Dept. of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences -- History
Engineers -- Biography
Chemical engineering -- United States -- History -- 20th Century
Technology -- United States -- History -- 20th Century
Aerospace engineering -- United States
Power resources