Heinrich Waelsch collection of documents pertaining to IBRO (International Brain Research Organization), 1952-1991

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Summary

Creators:
Waelsch, Heinrich 1905-1966
Abstract:
Heinrich Waelsch, M.D., Ph.D., an internationally respected researcher, was intimately connected with both the development of the field of neurochemistry and the founding and growth of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). This collection covers IBRO documents and correspondence from 1952 to 1991 with the bulk from 1960 to 1965, the years in which Professor Waelsch was Treasurer, Chairman of the Education Committee, or Executive Secretary of the organization. Included are minutes and reports of IBRO governing bodies and committees and a great deal of correspondence. A very few folders deal with Dr. Waelsch's personal correspondence and life.
Extent:
2.0 linear ft. (2 cartons)
Language:
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Heinrich Waelsch collection of documents pertaining to IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) (Collection 143). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections for the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists almost entirely of documents and correspondence related to the founding and growth of IBRO (International Brain Research Organization), an independent non-governmental organization with UNESCO affiliation. Included are minutes and reports of IBRO governing bodies and committees and a great deal of correspondence. The bulk of the material dates from 1960 to 1965, the years when Dr. Waelsch was Treasurer, Chairman of the Education Committee, or Executive Secretary of the organization.

The collection is organized into the following series:

  1. Series 1. General (#450), 1952-1966. 31 folders
  2. Series 2. Administrative Bodies (#451), 1960-1965. 11 folders
  3. Series 3. IBRO Bulletin (#452), 1962-1965. 1 folder
  4. Series 4. Subcommittee on Grants and Fellowships (#453), 1961-1965. 4 folders
  5. Series 5. Subcommittee on Brain History (#454), 1962-1965. 1 folder
  6. Series 6. Survey on World Resources and Needs in Brain Research (#455), 1961-1966. 5 folders
  7. Series 7. Subcommittee on Education - Regional Teaching Seminars (#456), 1961-1966. 8 folders
  8. Series 8. Subcommittee on Publications and Scientific Meetings (#457), 1961-1965. 8 folders
  9. Series 9. Major Projects (#458), 1962-1964. 4 folders
  10. Series 10. Miscellaneous (#459), 1957-1991. 7 folders

Biographical / historical:

Heinrich B. Waelsch (1905-1966) was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. He graduated in medicine in 1929 and received a doctorate in chemistry a year later, both from the German University of Prague, where he remained until 1938. A fellowship from Columbia University then allowed him to come to the United States. He remained at Columbia University until his death, serving as Chief of Psychiatric Research (Pharmacology) at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Professor of Biochemistry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Early in his career Dr. Waelsch's interest turned to the chemistry of the nervous system, and he became a pioneer in establishing and consolidating neurochemistry as a distinct discipline. Yet in his thinking he also always stressed the interrelationship of chemistry with morphology, physiology and behavior. Dr. Waelsch was a founder of the "Journal of Neurochemistry"; he was also the leader of a small group who organized five International Symposia on Neurochemistry from 1954 to 1962.

Since he believed that neurochemistry should be closely integrated with the other neurosciences, Dr. Waelsch was an early supporter of the idea of an international society supporting brain research. He became one of the founders of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), and served as its first Treasurer, Chairman of Education Committee, and from 1962-1964 as its second Executive Secretary.

Acquisition information:
The collection was deposited in the UCLA Neuroscience History Archives, which transferred it to History Special Collections for the Sciences, UCLA Library Special Collections, in 2013.
Physical location:
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. All materials are stored off site and require advance notice for use. Please contact History and Special Collections for the Sciences, UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, 310.825.6940, to arrange for use.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All materials are stored off site and require advance notice for use. Please contact History and Special Collections for the Sciences, UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, 310.825.6940, to arrange for use.

Terms of access:

Property rights in the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish if the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Heinrich Waelsch collection of documents pertaining to IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) (Collection 143). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections for the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
12-077 Center for Health Sciences, Box 951798
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798, US
Contact:
(310) 825-6940
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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