Biographical / Historical
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Processing Information
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
Contributing Institution:
California Institute of Technology Archives and Special Collections
Title: Qian Xuesen Papers
Creator:
Qian, Xuesen (1911-2009)
Identifier/Call Number: QianX
Physical Description:
1.5 linear feet
3 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1946-1954
Language of Material:
English , Chinese .
Biographical / Historical
Qian Xuesen (Tsien Hsue-shen) arrived at Caltech in 1936 as a grad student of Theodore von
Kármán, earning his PhD in 1939 in aeronautics. With Frank Malina, he was involved with the
Suicide Squad, whose research secured military funding to establish the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL). He was hired at Caltech as the Robert H. Goddard Professor of Jet
Propulsion in 1949. After accusations of communist party affiliation, which resulted in
house arrest and losing his U.S. government security clearance, he left the United States
for China in 1955.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research. Please contact the Archives to view the collection in
the Archives reading room. The collection has not been digitized.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright has not have been assigned to the California Institute of Technology Archives.
All requests for permission to publish from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the
Caltech Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the California Institute
of Technology Archives as the owner of the physical items and, unless explicitly stated
otherwise, is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Qian papers were included with the Frank E. Marble papers donation. They were
discovered while processing the Marble papers.
Processing Information
The collection was processed in 2016 with the Frank E. Marble papers, originally listed as
boxes 37-39. The Archives decided in an effort to increase discoverability and to highlight
individual provenance, the Qian portion was separated into its own collection in 2022.
Scope and Contents
Throughout the collection, and other collections in the Caltech Archives, Qian Xuesen is
referred to as H.S. Tsien or Tsien. The Qian papers contain administrative files,
correspondence, and research performed during Qian's time at Caltech.
Arrangement
The Qian papers were kept in mostly original order, which is alphabetical order by folder
title.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Aeronautical engineers
California Institute of Technology -- Alumni and alumnae
Manuscript Collection