Papers of Victor Wouk (1919-2005). Electrical engineer. After graduating from Caltech (PhD 1942), Wouk devoted himself largely to the development of hybrid and electric motor vehicles. The range of his activities is wide, and he has consulted for several institutions and the government on a variety of issues. His papers consist of 70 boxes and include correspondence, publications (print and manuscript versions), lectures and seminars, and expert witness testimonies.

Victor Wouk was born in the South Bronx, in New York City, in 1919. After completing elementary school, he entered Townsend Harris High School—described by Wouk as "unequivocally elitist"—from which he gained a strong interest in science and mathematics. This interest continued upon entering Columbia University in 1935, though in his junior year, after becoming fascinated by the new medium of television, he decided to specialize in electrical engineering. Receiving his bachelor's degree from Columbia (1939), Wouk then traveled to the West Coast, and specifically the California Institute of Technology for his master's (1940) and doctoral degrees (1942). There, with its new state-of-the-art high voltage laboratory, Wouk's interest in and skill at electrical engineering blossomed.

35 linear ft.

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