The collection consists of general office files from the School of Engineering Dean's Office. The bulk of the papers cover the years 1925-1955. Included are subject files regarding school and departmental affairs as well as interests of the individual deans; files regarding teaching appointments of non-tenured assistants, lecturers, instructors, assistant professors and visiting faculty; annual budget files (1925-1960) and annual reports to the President (1945-1964) regarding school and departmental activites, goals, faculty achievement and funding. The collection also includes some photographs and blueprints.

Civil and mechanical engineering courses were among the first taught at Stanford University, with courses in electrical and mining engineering added in 1893. In 1925, the formerly independent engineering departments were organized into the School of Engineering with Theodore Jesse Hoover as Dean. Hoover was succeeded in 1936 by Samuel B. Morris, former director of the Pasadena municipal water system and a respected civil engineer. The School experienced its greatest development during the deanship of Frederick E. Terman, 1945-1960, formerly the executive head of the Electrical Engineering Department. Important connections were made between the school and local industry, and the School began to draw significant government contracts and grants to support graduate and faculty research. Although Terman was appointed University Provost in 1955, he remained dean until Joseph M. Pettit, Professor of Electrical Engineering, succeeded him. Pettit resigned in 1971 to become president of Georgia Institute of Technology and was succeeded by William Kays, chairman of the Mechanical Engineering department. The School now includes nine departments, with numerous laboratories and research centers.

23 Linear Feet (25 boxes)

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.

Accession ARCH-2018-070 Box 1 (Civil Engineering) and Box 2 (Chemical Engineering) are restricted for 75 years from date of creation. The materials in this collection are otherwise open for research use; materials must be requested at least 48 hours in advance of intended use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.