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Penner (S. S.) Papers
MSS 0457  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Scope and Contents of Collection
  • Biography
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • OFF-SITE STORAGE

  • Descriptive Summary

    Languages: English
    Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
    9500 Gilman Drive
    La Jolla 92093-0175
    Title: S. S. Penner Papers
    Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0457
    Physical Description: 3.1 Linear feet (7 archives boxes and 3 oversize folders)
    Date (inclusive): 1938-2000
    Abstract: Papers of Stanford Solomon Penner, professor of engineering physics and director of the Center for Energy and Combustion Research at the University of California, San Diego.

    Scope and Contents of Collection

    Papers of Stanford Solomon Penner, professor of engineering physics and director of the Center for Energy and Combustion Research at the University of California, San Diego. Penner is known for his research in combustion and energy, applied spectroscopy, and thermophysics. The papers document Penner's research and many awards and honors, and include manuscripts, correspondence, published works, photographs, certificates, realia, clippings, and ephemera. Arranged in three series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 2) WRITINGS, and 3) CORRESPONDENCE. The papers document Penner's research and many awards and honors; they include little correspondence and few early drafts of his writings.
    SERIES 1: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
    The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series is arranged in four subseries: A) Biographical Materials, B) Awards, C) Memorabilia, and D) Miscellaneous.
    A) This subseries, arranged in alphabetical order, contains a chronology of Penner's life, clippings and press releases related to his activities and materials relating to his education. It also contains one folder of photographs and one folder of photocopies of photographs. Most of the photos are of Penner with his colleagues.
    B) The materials in this subseries, which is arranged chronologically, contains certificates and plaques, as well as correspondence and clippings related to Penner's awards and honors. Also included are materials related to the creation of a UCSD lecture series, named in honor of Penner.
    C) The Memorabilia subseries, which is also arranged chronologically, contains presentation copies of books, a scrapbook containing dozens of letters and photographs presented to Penner on his 65th birthday, and other memorabilia.
    D) Four folders, arranged alphabetically, make up the Miscellaneous subseries: Conferences and Meeting Materials; Ogden Corporation, on whose Board of Directors Penner served from 1985 to 1998; the Report of the Energy Center Review Committee for 1985; and a folder dedicated to materials on Theodore Von Karman, the noted scientist with whom Penner worked in the 1950s and 1960s (see Series 1 for photographs of Penner with Von Karman).
    SERIES 2: WRITINGS
    The WRITINGS of S.S. Penner are arranged in alphabetical order. A set of four bound volumes, presented "To Sol Penner from his colleagues in appreciation," contains Penner's collected publications from 1946 to 1968. Also present are two versions of Penner's Ph.D. thesis, one containing the text of his confidential National Defense Research Council project, and one with that section omitted. Penner sometimes stapled correspondence and other materials to his copies of his articles; where this is the case, the other materials have been kept with the writings. SERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE
    The CORRESPONDENCE series has been arranged in chronological order. Penner sometimes stapled together letters from different correspondents on the same subject; the date on the earliest dated letter among each stapled group of letters is used for purposes of arrangement. Often included with the letters are clippings, copies of articles by authors other than Penner, and other enclosures.

    Biography

    Born in Unna, Germany, on July 5, 1921, Stanford Solomon Penner (often known as "Sol") came to the United States in 1936, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943. He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he earned a B.S. in chemistry (1942), and the University of Wisconsin, where he earned an M.S. (1943) and a Ph.D. (1946) in physical chemistry. Penner's graduate work was interrupted for a time in 1944-45 when he went to work full time in rocket research at Allegany Ballistics Laboratory as part of the war effort.
    From 1947 to 1964, S. S. Penner worked at the California Institute of Technology, first as a senior research assistant in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, then as a professor of jet propulsion. During a leave of absence from 1962 to 1964, Penner served as the director of the Research and Engineering Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, D.C. In 1964 Penner began his association with the University of California, San Diego, where he was founding chair of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES). At UCSD, Penner was a professor of engineering physics until his retirement in 1991, as well as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (1968-69), director of the Institute for Pure and Applied Physical Sciences (1968-71) and director of the Center for Energy and Combustion Research (1974-90). His major areas of research were combustion and energy, applied spectroscopy, and thermophysics.
    Over the course of his career, S. S. Penner collaborated with such scientists as Farrington Daniels and Theodore Von Karman, received numerous awards and honors, founded and edited such journals as The Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer and Energy - The International Journal, and wrote or edited hundreds of articles and more than twenty books.

    Publication Rights

    Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.

    Preferred Citation

    Stanford S. Penner Papers, MSS 457. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired 1998.

    OFF-SITE STORAGE

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Chemical engineering -- United States -- History -- 20th century
    Technology -- United States -- History -- 20th century
    Engineers -- Biography
    Aerospace engineering -- United States
    Power resources
    University of California, San Diego. Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences
    University of California, San Diego -- Faculty
    Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963