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Terman (Frederick Emmons) Papers
SC0160
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Frederick Emmons Terman papers
Identifier/Call Number: SC0160
Physical Description:
148 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1920-1978
Copyright has been transferred to Stanford University for unpublished materials authored or
otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection. Copyright status for other
collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S.
Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) 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 owners. Responsibility for any use rests
exclusively with the user.
[Identification of item], Frederick Emmons Terman Papers (SC0160). Department of Special
Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
| 1900 | Born in English, Indiana on June 7, son of Lewis Madison and Anna Belle Minton Terman. |
| 1905 | Moves with family from Indiana to California. |
| 1910 | Settles permanently at Stanford when Lewis Terman joins Stanford Education Department faculty. |
| 1914 | Begins experimenting with radio as a "ham" operator. |
| 1920 | A.B. in Chemistry from Stanford University. |
| 1922 | Engineer's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. |
| 1924 | Sc.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from M.I.T. Offered teaching position at M.I.T., but because of first onset of tuberculosis, declines appointment. |
| 1925 | Begins half-time teaching in Stanford E. E. Department. |
| 1926 | Begins full-time teaching at Stanford. |
| 1927 | Appointed Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. Co-authors Transmission Line Theory with W. S. Franklin. |
| 1928 | Marries Sibyl Walcutt, graduate student in psychology, on March 22. |
| 1929 | Birth of Frederick Walcutt Terman, March 10. |
| 1930 | Appointed Associate Progessor of Electrical Engineering. |
| 1931 | Birth of Terrence Christopher Terman, September 3. |
| 1932 | Publishes book, Radio Engineering. |
| 1935 | Publishes Measurement in Radio Engineering. |
| 1935 | Birth of Lewis Madison Terman, August 26. |
| 1937 | Becomes full professor and Executive Head of Electrical Engineering Department. |
| 1938 | Publishes-Fundamentals of Radio. |
| 1940 | Publishes Radio and Vacuum Tube Theory. |
| 1941 | Elected President of the Institute of Radio Engineers. |
| 1942 -45 | Director of the Harvard Radio Research Laboratory, engaged in military research on radar countermeasures. |
| 1943 | Publishes Radio Engineers's Handbook. |
| 1944 | Appointed Dean of Stanford's School of Engineering, succeeding Samuel B. Morris. |
| 1945 | Awarded honorary Sc-D. from Harvard University. |
| 1946 | Decorated by the British government for wartime research. Elected to the National Academy of Sciences. |
| 1948 | Receives Presidential Medal of Merit. |
| 1950 | Awarded Medal of Honor by the Institute of Radio Engineers. |
| 1952 | Co-authors Electronic Measurements with Joseph M. Pettit. |
| 1953 | Elected chairman of the Engineering Section of the National Academy of Sciences. |
| 1955-65 | Provost of Stanford University. |
| 1959-65 | Vice-President of Stanford. |
| 1964 | Acting President of Stanford University, February to August. |
| 1965 | Becomes Emeritus, August 31. |
| 1965 | Engineering Building 500 named the Frederick Emmons Terman Laboratory. |
| 1965 | Receives "Distinguished Citizen's Award" from the city of Palo Alto. |
| 1965 | Tours U.S.S.R. as a member of three-man delegation sponsored by U.S. Office of Education to study scientific and engineering education in Russia. |
| 1970 | Receives Stanford Alumni Association's Herbert Hoover Medal for Distinguished Service. |
| 1973 | Elected President of the Society of the Sigma Xi. |
| 1975 | Death of Sibyl Terman on July 23. 1975 Awarded Korea's Order of Civil Merit Medal by President Chung-hee Park. |
| 1976 | Receives National Medal of Science from President Gerald Ford. |
| 1977 | Donates his campus home to the University to establish educational research fund in honor of his late wife, Sibyl Walcutt Terman. |
| 1977 | Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Center dedicated October 6. |
| 1978 | Receives Stanford Associates Uncommon Man Award. |
| 1982 | Died at his home on the Stanford Campus, December 19, 1982. |
Professional and Fraternal Affiliations
FREDERICK E. TERMAN PROFESSIONAL AND FRATERNAL AFFILIATIONS
- American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- American Institute of Electrical Engineering (now IEEE). Fellow.
- American Philosophical Society.
- American Society for Engineering Education.
- Vice-President and Chairman of Administrative Council, 1949-51.
- Lamme Medal, 1964.
- Honorary Member, 1966.
- "Hall of Fame," 1968.
- Ampex Corporation. Board of Directors, 1953-64.
- Army Advisory Committee on Contractual and Administrative Procedures for Research and Development, 1948.
- Army Electronics Proving Ground. Advisory Council, 1954-57.
- Audio Engineering Society. Honorary member, 1955.
- California Academy of Sciences. Fellow.
- California Co-ordinating Council for Higher Education. Consultant, 1967-68.
- Colorado Commission on Higher Education. Consultant, 1966-67; 1970.
- Committee on Higher Education in the State of New York. Consultant, 1960.
- Defense Science Board, 1957-58.
- Department of Commerce
- Industrial Research and Development Division. Consultant, 1946-47.
- Patent Panel, 1963.
- Department of Defense.
- Special Technical Advisory Group, 1950-53.
- T.A.P.E.C. Committee, 1953-56.
- Dreyfus Foundation. Chairman, Special Advisory Committee to Trustees, 1969-
- Eta Kappa Nu.
- Granger Associates. Board of Directors, 1963-
- Harvard University. Visiting Committee, 1970-
- Harvard Radio Research Laboratory. Director, 1942-45.
- Hewlett-Packard Company.
- Board of Directors, 1957-73.
- Director Emeritus, 1973-
- Industry Committee for a Graduate Center for Science and Technology in New Jersey. Consultant, 1955-66
- Institute for Defense Analysis. Trustee, 1965-73.
- Institute for Science and Technology (New Jersey). Executive Committee, 1966-68.
- Institute of Radio Engineers (now IEEE)
- Director, 1940-43.
- Vice-President, 1940.
- President, 1941.
- Medal of Honor, 1950.
- Founder's Award, 1962.
- Korean Institute for Advanced Science. Trustee, 1973.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Visiting Committee, 1970-
- National Academy of Engineering. Founding member.
- National Academy of Sciences.
- Ad Hoc Committee on Tests of Battery Additives, 1953-54.
- Chairman, Engineering Section, 1953-56.
- Council, 1956-59.
- National Bureau of Standards. Visiting Committee, 1970-
- National Defense Research Committee
- Divisions 14 and 15, member, 1942-45.
- Vacuum Tube Development Committee, 1943-45.
- National Research Council. Engineering Division, 1943-46.
- National Science Foundation. Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
- Member, 1955-59.
- Chairman, 1958-59.
- Naval Research Advisory Committee.
- Member, 1956-64.
- Chairman, 1957-58
- New York State Education Department. Consultant, 1968-69.
- Phi Beta Kappa.
- Phi Lambda Upsilon.
- President's Science Advisory Committee. Consultant, 1959-63; 1970-73.
- RCA Fellowship Board. Chairman, 1947-50.
- Sigma Tau.
- Sigma Xi
- Education Board, 1956-58; 1967-70.
- President, 1975.
- Signal Corps Research and Development Advisory Committee, 1954-62.
- Sloan Foundation Science Book Program.
- Southern Methodist University Foundation for Science and Engineering.
- President and Trustee, 1965-74.
- Trutsee, 1974-
- Stanford Bank. Board of Directors, 1964-71.
- Stanford Research Institute. Board of Directors, 1955-65.
- State Department. Board of Foreign Scholarships, 1960-65.
- State University of Florida. Consultant, 1970-71.
- Tau Beta Pi.
- Texas Christian University Research Foundation. Advisory Committee, 1972-
- Theta Xi.
- US/AID Team to Korea. Party Leader, 1970.
- U.S. Office of Education. Mission to U.S.S.R., 1965.
- Utah System of Higher Education. Consultant, 1972-73.
- Varian Associates. Board of Directors, 1948-53.
- Watkins-Johnson Company. Board of Directors, 1957-
Frederick Emmons Terman, the first child of Lewis Madison and Anna Terman, was born in
English, Indiana on June 7, 1900. Due to Lewis Terman's chronic tuberculosis, the family
sought a more salubrious climate, moving to the Los Angeles area in 1905. With the elder
Terman's appointment to the Stanford University Education Department in 1910, the family
settled permanently in the Stanford area.
Lewis Terman, an eminent psychologist and educator, is perhaps best known for his
development of the Stanford-Binet intelligence tests. His work on IQ testing was however,
only one aspect of a life-long professional interest in individual giftedness and
leadership. Frederick was undoubtedly influenced by some of his father's concepts, and later
integrated them into his own system of identifying faculty and students of unusual promise,
and encouraging the fullest realization of their potentials. Growing up in an academic
environment also instilled an early and thorough understanding of university operation,
later to serve well in Dr. Terman's administrative career.
Childhood at Stanford University had its less serious aspects as well. Dr. Terman recalls
hiking in the Stanford foothills, fishing in Felt Lake, and swimming in Lake Lagunita. At
the age of fourteen, Frederick and his neighbor, Herbert Hoover, Jr., began experimenting
with "ham" radio, resulting in Dr. Terman's life-long involvement with radio.
Nine years old before he began primary school, Dr. Terman progressed rapidly and graduated
from Stanford University in 1920 with a degree in Chemistry. After obtaining an additional
degree in Electrical Engineering at Stanford under Professor Harris J. Ryan, Terman went to
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for graduate study under Professor Vannevar Bush.
Bush emphasized the practical, industrial applications of engineering in addition to
theoretical research.
Upon the completion of his doctorate in electrical engineering in 1924, Dr. Terman accepted
a teaching appointment at M.I.T. Health was to play a decisive role in Frederick Terman's
career as it had for his father. While visiting his family at Stanford in the summer of
1924, he had a serious attack of tuberculosis, keeping him bed-ridden for a year.
For his recovery, the California climate was preferable to Massachusetts, and the following
year Dr. Terman accepted a part-time instructorship in electrical engineering at Stanford
University. He continued his convalescence throughout the academic year of 1925-26, getting
up only a few hours each day to teach. Despite serious illness, these years were very
productive. With the intense concentration characterizing all his endeavors, Terman used the
time to read extensively the existing radio engineering literature and to begin drafting his
own first book.
In the academic year 1926-27, Terman began full-time teaching at Stanford, specializing in
electronics. Although the electronics laboratory suffered from a severe shortage of funds,
in the years between 1926 and 1941, Dr. Terman was able to build up a program distinctive in
its output of ideas, people and publications.
Meanwhile, Dr. Terman's own career was flourishing. In 1937, he became a full professor and
executive head of the Department of Electrical Engineering. Five of his seven books were
published and were well received. More than 600,000 copies would be published in nine
languages. According to Dr. Terman, his books "reflect his interest in the systematic
organization of knowledge, and his desire to find simple quantitative ways to treat each
topic."
He was also active in numerous professional societies, particularly the Institute of Radio
Engineers. In 1941 he was elected President of the I.R.E., a notable honor signifying the
growing national visibility of Dr. Terman and the Stanford electronics program.
Pre-WW II years were significant in his personal life as well. In 1928, he married Sibyl
Walcutt, a graduate student in psychology. Their three sons, Frederick, Terrence and Lewis,
were born between 1929 and 1935.
The outbreak of World War II was a turning point for Dr. Terman. He was appointed to
organize and direct the Harvard Radio Research Laboratory, which was responsible for
developing countermeasures against enemy radar. This research project eventually had more
than 850 employees. It devised electronic radar jammers; designed tunable receivers for
locating and analyzing radar signals; and manufactured billions of aluminum strips (called
"chaff") which confused enemy radar reception when dropped from airplanes. The Radio
Research Laboratory (operating over Europe) was credited with saving many of the allied
bombers, and Dr. Terman was decorated by both the American and British governments for his
wartime efforts.
At the same time that he was directing the Harvard Laboratory, Dr. Terman was educating
himself in the strategies of successful university administration. He benefited by living
near the treasurer of Harvard University, from whom he learned how Harvard's administrative
structure and policies contributed to its pre-eminence among universities. Other issues
discussed were the future of government support for university research after the war, and
how such funding could best be utilized. Terman felt World War II had clearly demonstrated
the importance of technological superiority in military success, and as a result, the
federal government would place a new priority upon sponsoring advanced engineering
research.
Terman returned to Stanford in 1946 as Dean of Engineering. In his new position of
responsibility, he was able to carry out the concepts he had developed for strengthening the
engineering program at Stanford. There were three basic components in his plan: the use of
government research contracts; enhancement of the symbiotic relationship between local
industry and the university; and distribution of funds for maximum academic benefit.
The contacts Dr. Terman had made as director of the Harvard Radio Research Laboratory were
useful in obtaining the federal government contracts for Stanford. The newly established
Office of Naval Research sought Dr. Terman's assistance, and with the approval of Stanford
president, Donald B. Tresidder, research projects were initiated in chemistry, physics, and
electronics in 1945 and 1947. Terman developed administrative guidelines to assure that
sponsored research would benefit, rather than compete with, the educational mission of the
University. Among the important aspects of these guidelines were that all research projects
should be built around the specific interests of individual faculty members, rather than
being obtained by administrators and assigned to the faculty, and that research should
actually be carried out by students and faculty as an integral part of their academic
programs rather than being undertaken by professional research staff as an adjunct to
educational goals. The conditions established with these original sponsored projects have
continued as the basis for the successful applied research programs at Stanford.
Dr. Terman had long been opposed to the "ivory tower" image of universities. He recognized
the practical and mutual benefits that could accrue from interaction between industry and
academia, and encouraged a closer relationship between them.
Palo Alto is often called the "birthplace of electronics" in honor of Lee DeForest's
pioneering research with the audion tube in 1912, but when Dr. Terman began his teaching
career in the 1920's, there were very few innovative engineering companies in the Bay Area.
Terman was disturbed to find most of his best students moving to the east coast to find
jobs. In the 1930's Professor Terman attempted to ameliorate the situation by helping
talented students establish their own small companies. His greatest success was the
Hewlett-Packard company; Terman arranged for a 8500 research assistantship to bring his
former student, David Packard, back from a job at General Electric in New York to
collaborate with William Hewlett, another of his inventive students. Terman was the
"godfather" of this and several other student-initiated ventures that formed the nucleus of
the San Francisco Bay Area's industrial development, today's "Silicon Valley."
As Dean of Engineering, Dr. Terman could effectively foster cooperation between Stanford's
engineering program and local research-oriented companies. He encouraged faculty consulting,
developed industrial affiliates programs through which companies could keep informed of the
latest scientific developments in their fields, and initiated the Honors Cooperative
Program, allowing employees of local firms to study part-time toward advanced degrees at
Stanford. These arrangements proved to be mutually beneficial. Innovative industries
benefited from the intellectual stimulus of a strong university, whose graduates also
provided an exceptionally qualified work force. Programs like the Honors Cooperative became
added recruitment incentives. In return, the Stanford Engineering School received financial
support through the affiliates and cooperative programs. Potential students were attracted
by the favorable employment environment as well as academic excellence. The opening of the
Stanford Industrial Park in the 1950's strengthened the university-industry liaison, and the
Stanford pattern has since been emulated throughout the United States.
More important to the Engineering School's development than sponsored research or
industrial cooperation was Dr. Terman's program for obtaining maximum benefit from available
resources. As Dean, Terman directed the fiscal policies of the School. He was firmly
committed to the concept of investing in faculty, not in buildings. As an expression of
this, he felt money should be directed towards hiring the finest research-oriented engineers
possible. He considered it wasteful to construct new buildings, filled with expensive
equipment, without top-quality scientists to use them. He also felt it was better economy to
pay the high salaries necessary to attract a few leading engineers, than to use the same
amount of money to hire a greater number of mediocre professors at lower salaries. He has
compared his strategy to a track team, saying, "It's better to have one seven-foot jumper on
your team than any number of six-foot jumpers.
He called this principle the "steeples of excellence." These steeples consist of very small
groups of experts in significant fields, who by leadership in their professions, can attract
grant money, as well as the finest students and junior faculty members. Terman's formula for
the judicious combining of federal money with industrial support propelled the Stanford
Engineering School from a merely regional institution into national prominence.
With his appointment as Provost of Stanford University in 1955, Dr. Terman assumed broader
administrative responsibilities. Although President J. E. Wallace Sterling, historian, and
Frederick Terman, engineer, had different academic backgrounds, they shared similar
administrative and educational philosophies. Like Terman, Sterling believed institutional
superiority was based upon the outstanding achievement of individual faculty members.
Highest priority was placed upon hiring and retaining the finest scholar-teachers, and
faculty search, selection, and tenure polices were made more rigorous and competitive at all
levels. As can be seen in Series III of this collection, Dr. Terman and his Provost's Office
staff kept meticulously detailed data on the operations of every department throughout the
University, including average class sizes, number of student contacts for each faculty
member, Ph.D. output per professor, faculty salaries and anticipated retirement dates. Dr.
Terman often had a fuller knowledge of the workings of a department than did its chairman.
These statistics were invaluable for strengthening and streamlining the academic programs in
all areas of Stanford. During the Sterling-Terman administration, the University experienced
unprecedented growth in national academic prominence and prestige.
Although Dr. Terman retired as Provost in 1965, he has continued to serve as a part-time
consultant to the President, and has designed and carried out several studies on school and
department budgets, faculty planning, benefits and retirement. Dr. Terman has continued to
be active in many professional societies, holding elective offices or committee appointments
in the Institute of Radio Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the National Academy of
Engineering, and Sigma Xi.
In keeping with his belief that the United States must maintain technological superiority
in a highly competitive world, he has served as a consultant or advisor for the Institute of
Defense Analysis, the Defense Science Board, the President's Scientific Advisory Committee,
and the Navy, Air Force, and Signal Corps.
Since his retirement in 1965, he has devoted particular attention to the development of
higher education in science and engineering, both in the United States and abroad. Among
these project have been the Southern Methodist Foundation for Science and Engineering, the
Korean Institute for Advanced Science, and a U.S. Office of Education mission to the
U.S.S.R.
Dr. Terman once said, "I most enjoy helping to build something up, taking an unformulated
enterprise and making it into what it could become." Today Stanford University, and the
surrounding communities of technical scholars, bear witness to the continuing influence of
that idea.
- The following list includes only major correspondents in the Terman collection. For a complete index to the Terman collection of personal and corporate names, see the card index of the Terman collection in the Stanford University Archives.
- Abramowitz, Moses
- Abramson, Norman
- Adams, Dwight B
- Albert, Arthur L
- Alford, Andres
- Alger, Philip
- Allen, Peter C
- Allyn, Nathaniel C
- Almond, Gabriel
- Alway, Robert H
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- American Council on Education
- American Institute of Electrical
- Engineers
- American Telephone and Telegraph
- Angell, James B
- Anliker, Max
- Arbuckel, Ernest C
- Arizona, University of
- Armstrong, Edwin H
- Arrow, Kenneth
- Ayer, William E
- Axt, Richard
- Bacchetti, Raymond C
- Bacon, David C
- Bailey, George
- Bailey, Stuart L
- Bailey, Thomas A
- Baker, W R G
- Barus, David N
- Beadle, George
- Bechtel, Stephen D
- Bell Telephone Laboratories
- Benjamin, Curtis G
- Bennett, Merrill K
- Bennett, Rawson
- Berkner, Lloyd
- Beverage, H H
- Black, John D
- Black, Leonard J
- Bloch, Felix
- Boelter, L M K
- Boring, M M
- Bowker, Albert H
- Bowles, Edward
- Bown, Ralph
- Brandin, Alf E
- Brandt, Karl
- Brittain, James E
- Bronk, Detlev
- Bronwell, Arthur B
- Brooks, E. Howard
- Burden, William A
- Bush, Robert N
- Bush, Royal Robert
- Bush, Vannevar
- Buttner, Harold H
- Byrne, John F
- California Institute of Technology
- California, University of (all campuses)
- Campbell, W Glenn
- Carlson, Donald T
- Carnegie Corporation of New York
- Carter, E Finley
- Cassidy, Harold G
- Celanese Corporation
- Chaffee, E L
- Chambers, Dudley
- Chernoff, Herman
- Chestnut, Harold
- Chicago, University of
- Chodorow, Marvin
- Christeller, Norman L
- Clayton, John M
- Clement, Lewis
- Coates, Leonidas D
- Coggeshall, I S
- Columbia Broadcasting System
- Columbia University
- Compton, Karl T
- Conant, James B
- Cook, Lyle E
- Copp, William C
- Cornell University
- Cowlich, W B
- Crawford, Frederick
- Crawford, John D
- Creighton, Kenneth
- Crone, W Reed
- Cross, James E
- Croxton, Frank C
- Cullum, A Earl
- Cuthbertson, Kenneth
- Daniell, C M
- Davis, Joseph S
- Davis, Paul H
- Davis, William 0
- Dawson, Francis M
- Dazey, Kendal I
- Dees, Bowen C
- de Forest, Lee
- Dellinger, H
- Djerassi, Carl
- Dodds, John W
- Donner, Stanley T
- Dornbusch, Sanford M
- Dow, William G
- Doyle, Morris
- Dubridge, Lee A
- Dunn, Donald A
- Durand, William F
- Eastham, Melville
- Eastman, Austin V
- Ekstrand, Philip
- Eldred, W Noel
- Eliassen, Rolf
- Elliot, Harold
- Elwell, Cyril F
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Engstrom, E W
- Erwin, E S
- Eurich, Alvin C
- Everest, F Alton
- Everitt, William L
- Farnsworth, Paul
- Farnsworth, Philip
- Farnsworth Television and Radio Company
- Faulkner, Ray
- Faville, David E
- Federal Telegraph Company
- Field, Lester M
- Fink, Donald G
- Flax, Alexander H
- Florida, University of
- Flory, Paul
- Flynn, James
- Folkers, Karl
- Ford, Thomas W
- Ford Foundation
- Ford Motor Company
- Forslund, Dolores
- Forsythe, George
- Foster, John S, Jr.
- Franklin, Gene
- Franklin, Ruth
- Freund, C J
- Fubini, Eugene
- Fuller, Leonard F
- Gannett, E K
- General Electric Company
- General Radio Company
- Gentry, Kenneth M
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Gere, James M
- Gibbons, James F
- Gibson, Weldon B
- Gilfillan Brothers
- Ginzton, Edward
- Glover, Frederic 0
- Goheen, John D
- Golmark, Peter
- Goldsmith, Alfred N
- Goldstein, Avram
- Gould, D H
- Grad, Arthur
- Graham, Virgil M
- Granger, John V N
- Gregory, George T
- Greulich, William
- Grieder, Elmer
- Grinter, Linton E
- Grobstein, Clifford
- Guy, Raymond F
- Haley, Bernard
- Hall, Harvey
- Haller, George L
- Hann, Paul
- Hansen, William Webster
- Harman, Willis
- Harris, Donald B
- Hartig, Henry E
- Harvard University
- Haskins, Carly P
- Hastorf, Albert
- Hawkinson, John
- Hazeltine, Alan
- Hazeltine Service Corporation
- Heebink, David
- Heffner, Hubert
- Heintz and Kaufman
- Heising, Raymond A
- Helliwell, Robert A
- Helm, 0 W
- Henline, H H
- Hewlett, William R
- Hewlett-Packard Company
- Hildebrand, Roger
- Hilgard, Ernest R
- Hilton, Ronald
- Hoff, Nicholas
- Hofstadter, Robert
- Holloman, J Herbert
- Holme, Thomas T
- Hooper, WilliamL
- Hoover, Herbert
- Hoover, Herbert Jr.
- Horle, Lawrence F F
- Huggins, Robert
- Hughes Aircraft Co.
- Hulstede, G E
- Hunter, Could H
- Hurd, Paul
- Hutchinson, Eric
- Hygrade Sylvania Co.
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- Illinois, University of
- Institute for Defense Analysis
- Institute of Electrical and
- Electronics Engineers
- Institute of Radio Engineers
- International Business Machines
- International Standard Electrical
- International Telephone and Telegraph
- Ireson, W Grant
- Israel, Dorman D
- Jackson, J Hugh
- Jaconbson, David
- Jensen, Peter L
- Johns Hopkins University
- Johnson, William S
- Jones, Thomas
- Jones, William
- Kaar, I J
- Kaisel, Stanley F
- Kaplan, Henry
- Kays, William
- Kelly, Mervin J
- Kemnitzer, William
- Kennedy, Donald
- Kenworthy, Dudley
- Kern County Land Company
- Kerr, Clark
- Killian, James R
- Killian, Thomas J, Jr.
- Kindy, Ward B
- King, James R
- Kixmiller, Richard W
- Klipsch, Paul
- Knowles, Hugh S
- Kornberg, Arthur
- Kranzberg, Melvin
- Krauskopf, Konrad
- Kushner, LawrenceM
- Lampe, J H
- Langle, Robert
- Lapp, John
- Larson, Robert W
- Laun, Harold
- Lebacqz, Jean
- Lederberg, Joshua
- Lieberman, Gerald
- Lippincott, Donald K
- Linsley, Ray K
- Linvill, John G
- Linvill, William
- Llewellyn, Fred B
- Lockheed Aircraft
- Long, Moses C
- Loughren, Arthur V
- Lyman, Richard
- Lynd, John
- Lyon, Richard F
- McCord, William
- McCormack, James, Jr.
- McDaniel, Joseph
- McDonough, John
- McFadden, Duncan I
- McGhie, L Farrell
- McGraw-Hill Book Company
- Mackay Radio and Telegraph
- McKenzie, Lawson M
- MacKeown, Samuel S
- Manning, Bayless
- Mason, David
- Massachusetts Institute for Technology
- Menneken, Carl E
- Meyer, Myrl
- Meyrhof, Walter E
- Michigan, University of
- Miller, William
- Millman, Sidney
- Minnesota, University of
- Mohr, Lawrence
- Morris, Albert J
- Morris, Samuel B
- Moses, Lincoln
- Mothershead, John
- Motorola Incorporated
- Moulton, Robert
- National Academy of Science
- National Broadcasting Company
- National Science Foundation
- Nelson, Lyle
- Neville, Harvey A
- New York University
- Noller, Carl
- Norberg, Arthur
- Northrop Aircraft
- Northwestern University
- Norton, Garrison
- Oakford, Robert
- O'Brien, Richard
- Oglesby, Clarkson
- Ohio State University
- Oliphant, Charles
- Olson, Jane V
- O'Neil, Marshall
- Oregon State College
- Otis, Brooks
- Owen, Lillian C
- Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
- Packard, David
- Page, Benjamin
- Pake, George
- Panofsky, Wolfgang K H
- Park, Charles
- Parks, George
- Pearson, Daryl
- Pearson, Gerald
- Pederson, Carlton
- Pennsylvania State College
- Pennsylvania, University of
- Perkins, David
- Peterson, Allen
- Pettit, Joseph M
- Phinney, Edward D
- Pike, Thomas
- Pindar, Frederick V L
- Pior, Emmanuel
- Pitzer, Kenneth
- Polkinghorn, Frank A
- Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
- Pond, Samuel
- Poniatoff, Alexander M
- Post, Serafim Fred
- Pratt, Haraden
- Princeton University
- Quillen, I J
- Radio Corporation of America
- Raffel, Sidney
- Rambo, William R
- RAND Corporation
- Ray, Dixy Lee
- Raytheon Company
- Rees, Mina D
- Reich, Herbert J
- Rhinelander, Philip
- Rich, Charles S
- Ritchie, Jesse M
- Rochester University
- Rockefeller Foundation
- Rogers, Rutherford
- Rosenzwieg, Robert
- Rothwell, C Easton
- Royden, Halsey
- Ryan, Harris J
- Ryan, Lawrence V
- Ryder, John D
- Saville, Thorndike
- Schiff, Leonard
- Schoenfeld, Earl
- Schramm, Wilbur
- Scientific Research Society of America
- Scoles, Edward A
- Scroggs, Joseph C
- Seaborg, Glenn
- Sears, Robert
- Seeger, Raymond J
- Seitz, Frederick
- Sensabaugh, George
- Shackelford, Benjamin E
- Shepard, Jack
- Shockley, William
- Shute, Ellison
- Siegman, Anthony E
- Sigma Xi Society
- Sinclair, Donald B
- Skilling, Hugh H
- Smith, Ralph
- Snyder, Rixford
- Solomon, Herbert
- Sommers, Armiger H
- Southern California, University of
- Southern Methodist University
- Southern Pacific Railroad
- Spaeth, Carl
- Spaght, Monroe
- Spangenberg, Karl
- Spencer, Eldridge T
- SDerry Gyroscope Company
- Stanford Research Institute
- Stauffer, John
- Stearns, H Myrl
- Steel, Geoffrey
- Steere, William
- Steiner, Kurt
- Sterling, J E Wallace
- Stewart, Arthur
- Stewart, Irvin
- Stow, Lyman
- Stratton, Julius A
- Strothman, F W
- Sturrock, Peter
- Susskind, Charles
- Suits, C Guy
- Supervised Investors Services
- Suppes, Patrick
- Swain, Robert E
- Swank, Raynard C
- Sylvania Electric Products
- Sylvester, Peter
- Syntex S. A.
- Tarr, Curtis
- Tarshis, Lorie
- Taylor, Maxwell D
- Television Shares Management Company
- Texas, University of
- Thompson, B J
- Thompson, James S
- Thurber, James
- Tresidder, Donald B
- Tucker, E A
- Turner, H M
- Twitty, Victor C
- U. S. Air Force U. S. Army
- U. S. Atomic Energy Commission
- U. S. Commerce, Department of
- U. S. Defense, Department of
- U. S .Health, Education and Welfare, Department of
- U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- U. S. Navy
- Van Dyke, Arthur
- Van Valkenberg, M E
- Varian Associates
- Vennard, John
- Villard, Oswald G, Jr.
- Vogel, Ralph H
- Wagener, Winfield G
- Wagner, Harvey
- Walker, Eric A
- Walker, Frank Fish
- Walker, Robert
- Washington University (St. Louis)
- Washington, University of
- Waterman, Alan
- Watkins, Dean A
- Watkins, James T, IV
- Webster, David Locke
- Weigle, Clifford
- Weiner, Norbert
- Weisner, Jerome B
- Wert, Robert
- Westinghouse Electrical Company
- Westman, Harold P
- Weyl, F Joachim
- Wheeler, Harold P
- Whitaker, Douglas
- Whitaker, Virgil
- White, William C
- Wiggins, Ira
- Wilbur, Ray Lyman
- Winbigler, H Donald
- Winters, Arthur Yvor
- Wired Radio Incorporated
- Wisconsin, University of
- Wise, Lauress
- Woodyard, John
- Wright, Gordon
- Yale University
- Young, Richard G
- Zahl, Harold A
- Zworykin, Vladimir K
The papers of Frederick Emmons Terman, dating from 1920 to 1978, document all phases of his
long and influential career as an educator, electronics engineer, administrator, and author.
The collection consists of nearly 200 boxes of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports,
speeches and miscellaneous materials accumulated by Dr. Terman and his staff throughout his
professional life. Because of Dr. Terman's varied career, and the corresponding breadth of
this collection, these papers will be a valuable resource for researchers in many
disciplines, including the history of science, military history, educational administration
and even urban development.
The bulk of this collection was donated by Dr. Terman in April, 1977. Since that time, he
has continued to send smaller groups of materials as he no longer needed them. The actual
processing of the collection began in December, 1977, and was completed in the summer of
1980. The project costs were generously underwritten by a grant from Dr. Terman.
The files had been divided between his campus office and his home study. When the papers
arrived, they had, for the most part, already been segregated into discrete groups such as
"Provost's Personal Files," and "Institute of Radio Engineer's Records." In arranging these
papers, I have respected Dr. Terman's own organizational scheme as much as possible.
Because the collection is so large and varied, a series structure was devised to provide
more convenient access for researchers. In some cases, such as the "Harvard Radio Research
Laboratory Records," the current series is equivalent to Dr. Terman's own compilation of
records on that subject. But in some other cases, such as the "Professional Organizations
Series," several smaller groups of papers were brought together topically as subdivisions of
a larger series. Thus, a researcher with a particular interest in the history of engineering
societies, for example, needs only to consult Series IV of the collection.
Within each series, I have arranged the papers according to their original organization
when possible. In some series, this work was limited to merely rearranging a few misfiled
papers. In other groups , the plan of organization was not apparent, so the folders have
been ordered in a manner consistent with the overall structure of the collection.
There are two modes of access to this collection: through the subject-oriented box and
folder register; and through the index of correspondents, both of which are divided by
series. The researcher is advised to consult the series descriptions to determine which are
most relevant, and then check through the inventory and index of the appropriate series.
This procedure will insure maximum coverage and accessibility of the collection. The index
is available for use in the Stanford University Archives.
Frederick Terman ranks as one of the most successful of American administrators of science,
engineering, and higher education in this century, a reputation that has eclipsed his
deserved stature as a leading researcher and teacher in the field of radio engineering.
Terman figured prominently in the development of electrical engineering as an academic
discipline, the mobilization of American science and engineering in support of the war
effort between 1942 and 1945, and the rapid growth after the war of an international center
of industry based on advances in science and technology which we know today as the "Silicon
Valley." It is fitting that the preservation of Terman's personal, scientific, and
administrative papers should match his other accomplishments as a unique and virtually
inexhaustible legacy, this time to historians.
The Terman papers will be approached from a variety of angles, a fact recognized and
encouraged by the organization of this guide. Historians interested in the institutional
basis of science and technology in wartime will be drawn to virtually complete
records--including scarce or unpublished administrative histories and technical
reports--stemming from Terman's role as director of the Harvard Radio Research Laboratory.
Utilizing documents generated or collected by Terman during his tenure in a succession of
offices at Stanford and within the national engineering community, the historian can trace
the development of numerous organizations in science and engineering, including the
Institute of Radio Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, the
President's Scientific Advisory Committee, the Institute for Defense Analysis, the Stanford
Electronics and Microwave Laboratories, and the School of Engineering at Stanford
University. As a Stanford University administrator, most notably as Provost of the
University from 1955 until 1965 and consultant to the President of the University until
1975, Terman formulated a philosophy of faculty selection and research funding based on the
notion of "steeples of excellence." Example's of Terman's application of this philosophy
abound in his administrative files, preserved in this collection, so that the historian will
find here a laboratory in which to examine in unusual detail and intimacy how a broad range
of academic disciplines were supported in a particular institutional setting.
Terman's papers are a rich resource regarding the ideas and instruments of science and
engineering. His own research, inventions, teaching, and consulting activities are well
documented. Yet, Terman's contemporaries and proteges best remember him as the man with his
finger in every pie and on every pulse; attention to detail, his astonishing memory, and
ready access to voluminous and well-managed files struck most Terman watchers as the
keystones of his success as a judge of talent and recruiter. Terman's carefully organized
observations and reports on the careers and work of others amount to a running reportage on
the progress of research at Stanford and numerous other universities and industrial labs;
the reports he prepared as scientific advisor to the Television Shares Management Company
between 1948 and 1978 provide a particularly noteworthy example of Terman in his role as
commentator on the technical achievements of his day.
As voluminous and complete as the Terman papers may be, additional sources are available to
Terman biographers and historians wishing to investigate his life and times. Foremost among
these is a series of interviews with Terman conducted by Arthur L. Norberg, Charles
Susskind, and Roger Hahn, transcripts of which are housed at the Stanford University
Archives and The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Collections of
the personal, scientific, and administrative papers of scientists and engineers associated
with Terman and with Stanford University, such as those of Felix Bloch, William W. Hansen,
David Locke Webster, and Leonard Schiff further illuminate many of the events and projects
with which Terman was involved and are housed in the Stanford University Archives, while the
papers of Cyril F. Elwell, housed in the Department of Special Collections of the Stanford
University Libraries, provide additional background material concerning the early
development of the electronics industry in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Henry Lowood
Bibliographer for History of Science and Technology Collections, Stanford University
Libraries
Sincere thanks are due to all whose efforts contributed to this project, especially to Dr.
Frederick E. Terman, who made the generous gift of this collection, and financial support
for its processing. In addition, this project would not have been possible without the work
of former University Archivist Ralph Hansen, and the current Archivist Roxanne-Louise Nilan,
who were responsible for arranging the transfer of these papers, and overseeing the
complicated logistics accompanying a collection of this size.
Box 17: Chaff and rope samples. Examples of the various forms of aluminum "chaff" and
"rope" developed at R.R.L. to confuse radar reception.This material has been deaccessioned.
(August 2023). Related materials available in the Records of the Radio Research Laboratory
at Harvard University [UAV 728].
Alumni Almanac (Stanford), May 1970.
"Herbert Hoover medal to Frederick Terman." American Men and Women of Science. 14th
edition. New York : R. R. Bowker, 1980.
Blakeslee, Sandra. "Stanford to honor Fred Terman at Engineering Center October 6,"
Campus Report (Stanford), 5 October 1977.
Blum, Walter, "The Grand Vizier of the age of electronics: Terman of Stanford," San
Francisco Examiner, 24 March 1963.
Buzan, John, "Terman to retire from his position as V.P. and Provost," Stanford Daily,
25 May 1965.
Bylinsky, Gene. "California's great breeding ground for industry," Fortune, June
1974.
Bylinsky, Gene. The Innovation Millionaires: how they succeed. New York : Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1976.
"Hewletts, Packards main donors to Terman Engineering Center." Campus Report
(Stanford), 18 April 1973.
Elder, Rob. "The man who discovered electronic gold at Stanford," San Jose
Mercury-News, 2 October 1977.
Glover, Frederic O. "Dr. Terman's paper trail," Sandstone and Tile, Winter,
1979.
The International Who's Who. 43rd edition. London : Europa Publications,
1980.
Medeiros, Frank A. "The Sterling years at Stanford: a study in the dynamics of
institutional change," Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1979.
Moffat, Samuel. "Bridge to the future," The Stanford Magazine, Fall/Winter
1976.
Paine, Adelaide. "Dr. Frederick Emmons Terman: Vice President, Provost, Stanford
University," The Microwave Journal, March 1961.
Rivers, William L. "Terman of Stanford," Stanford Today, Autumn 1965.
Rummell, Frances V.and Paine, Adelaide."He searches for 'steeples of talent," Reader's
Digest, December 1962.
"Stanford Engineering School helps draw industry to the area." Palo Alto Times. 29
February 1956.
Rummell, Frances V.and Paine, Adelaide."Stanford's talent scout
extraordinary."
Salzman, Ed. "One man sparks Peninsula electronics boom," Oakland Tribune, May
1961.
Seagoe, May V. Terman and the gifted. Los Altos, Calif. : William Kaufmann,
1975.
"Frederick Emmons Terman." Stanford Engineering News, July 1965.
Terman, Sibyl W. "Personality of the month: F. E. Terman," The Link (Stanford
Electronics Laboratories), December 1955.
Wascher, Jim. "New engineering center planned," Stanford Daily, 18 April
1973.
Who's Who in America. 41st edition. Chicago : Marquis Publishers, 1980.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Microelectronics industry -- History. -- United States
Minutes.
Microelectronics industry -- California -- Santa Clara
County.
Engineering -- Societies, etc.
clippings
(information artifacts)
Reports.
Engineering -- Study and teaching.
patents
Speeches.
Engineering -- History. -- United States
Electronics
Science -- History.
Stanford University. Office of the Provost
California Institute of Technology.
Stanford University -- General
subdivision--Administration.;
Stanford University. School of Engineering
Radio Research Laboratory (U.S.)
Hoover, Herbert
Terman, Frederick Emmons, 1900-1982
Wilbur, Ray L. (Ray Lyman)
Stanford University. Department of Electrical Engineering
-- General subdivision--Faculty.;
Sterling, J. E. Wallace (John Ewart Wallace)