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Meier (Richard L.) papers
BANC MSS 2008/105
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Meier (Richard L.) papers
Creator:
Meier, Richard L.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2008/105
Physical Description:
15 Linear Feet
(12 cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1928-2007
Abstract: This collection documents the personal and professional life of pioneering regional planner, systems theorist, scientist,
futurist, and University of California, Berkeley professor, Richard Louis Meier. Meier’s papers document his advocacy of sustainability
in planning, his efforts to improve the lives of poor people in developing countries, his concerns about atomic power, his
commitment to social justice, and his family life. Meier's papers include professional and family correspondence; writings
and research; materials related to his work with the Federation of Atomic Scientists, the Society for General Systems Research,
and international planning projects; and course materials.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
No future additions are expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Richard L. Meier papers were given to The Bancroft Library in 2008 by Alan Meier, on behalf of the widow and children
of Richard L. Meier.
There are no alternative forms of this collection.
“Super-planner” Richard Louis Meier was an early advocate of sustainability in planning and recognized internationally for
anticipating large-scale social problems and envisioning and devising practical solutions to them.
Meier was born into a poor family in Indiana in 1920. The oldest of five children, he helped run the household when his mother
became ill after the birth of his youngest sibling. Meier received his B.S. from the University of Illinois in 1940, and his
Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1944. He married social worker Gitta Unger that
same year. The couple had three children: Alan, Andrea, and Karen. Gitta Unger died in 1982. Meier remarried in 1992 and frequently
collaborated on research projects with his second wife, Robin Standish.
While working at Standard Oil in Richmond as a research chemist during World War II, Meier talked with University of California,
Berkeley scientists about the post-war implications of atomic energy and weapons. Consequently, he became a member of the
Federation of Atomic Scientists in 1945 and served as executive secretary from 1947-1949. While on a Fulbright Fellowship
in Manchester, England from 1949-1950, Meier focused on finding technological solutions to the problems of the world’s largest
and poorest cities.
Meier taught in the University of Chicago’s Program on Research and Planning from 1950 to 1956. He was a research social scientist
in the Mental Health Research Institute and professor in the School of Conservation’s Department of Natural Resources at the
University of Michigan from 1957 to 1967. From 1957 to 1961, he served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Society for General Systems
Research, which promoted interdisciplinary and international co-operation in the field of systems theory and systems science.
Meier joined the University of California, Berkeley faculty in 1967 and helped establish a new doctoral program in the Department
of City and Regional Planning. He taught for over 35 years in the departments of architecture, landscape architecture, and
urban and regional planning in the College of Environmental Design. Throughout his career, Meier maintained an optimism about
the future and believed that good planning and social justice were inseparable.
Meier died of pneumonia and congestive heart failure in Berkeley in 2007. For more details about his life and work, see his
daughter Karen Meier Reeds' obituary, https://sites.google.com/site/andreatestname/obituary%3Arichardl.meier%2C%22super-planner%2C%22
[Identification of item], Richard L. Meier papers, BANC MSS 2008/105c,The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Arranged to the folder level.
Processed by Marjorie Bryer in 2018.
El Barrio [game] / Richard L. Meier and Kevin Langdon (BANC PIC 2008:037:1--OBJ)
Pacific Express [game] / Richard Meier and Karen Reeds (BANC PIC 2008:037:2--OBJ)
Wildlife [game] / Richard L. Meier and Jane Doyle (BANC PIC 2008:037:3--OBJ)
The Calvin Lab : oral history transcript : bio-organic chemistry group at the University of California, Berkeley, 1945-1963
(BANC MSS 2002/47c)
Unger Family Collection (Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, AR 25254 / MF 747)
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection documents the personal and professional life of pioneering regional planner, systems theorist, scientist,
futurist, and University of California, Berkeley professor, Richard Louis Meier. Meier’s papers document his advocacy of sustainability
in planning, his efforts to improve the lives of poor people in developing countries, his concerns about atomic power, his
commitment to social justice, and his engaged family life. The collection is divided into eight series: Correspondence; Family
Correspondence and Personalia, which includes materials related to his wife, Gitta Unger; Writings and Research; Notebooks;
Federation of Atomic Scientists; Professional Activities and Administrative Materials; International Project Files; and Course
Materials.
Digital materials transferred to the Digital Collections Unit of The Bancroft Library
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Meier, Richard L. -- Archives.
University of California, Berkeley. -- College of Environmental Design -- Faculty.
University of California Berkeley. -- Department of Architecture
University of California, Berkeley. -- Department of City and Regional Planning.
University of California, Berkeley. -- Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning.
Nuclear nonproliferation
Federation of American Scientists
City planning -- Environmental aspects.
Regional planning.
Urbanization -- Developing countries.
Urban ecology (Sociology)
Community development.
Futurologists.
Futurism (Architecture)
Family planning
Technology.
Communications.
Meier, Gitta Unger