S. S. Penner Papers, 1938-2000 (MSS 457)

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

Extent: 3.1 Linear feet (7 archives boxes and 3 oversize folders)

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.

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.

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.The papers document Penner's research and many awards and honors; they include little correspondence and few early drafts of his writings.

Arranged in three series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 2) WRITINGS, and 3) CORRESPONDENCE.

Container List

MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS

Scope and Content of Series

Series 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS: 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).

Biographical Materials

Box 1 Folder 1
Clippings and press releases, 1979 - 1998
Box 1 Folder 2
Marcos, Ferdinand and Imelda - Photograph, invitations, etc., 1976
Box 1 Folder 3
Office of Scientific Research and Development - Certificates, undated
Box 1 Folder 4
Photocopies of photographs of Penner and others, 1956 - 1963
Box 1 Folder 5
Photographs - Includes photos of Penner, Penner with others, and photos taken during Penner's 1976 visit to China, 1960 - 1982
Box 1 Folder 6
S. S. Penner Biographical Data - Typescript & list of publications, 1998
Box 1 Folder 7
Saratoga Springs High School - Diploma, certificates, 1938
Box 1 Folder 8
State of California. State Board of Registration for Civil and Professional Engineers certificate, 1948
Box 1 Folder 9
Tribute to S. S. Penner - Bound scrapbook containing letters, photographs, etc., 1986
Box 1 Folder 10
Union College - Diploma, transcript, etc. , 1938 - 1942
Box 1 Folder 11
University of Wisconsin - Diplomas, transcript, certificates, 1942 - 1946
Box 1 Folder 12
War Manpower Commission. Committee on Scientific Research Personnel - Letters, diplomas, 1944
Box 1 Folder 13
Who's Who - Two proof sheets and one tear sheet from Who's Who biographies of Penner, 1998 & undated

Awards and Honors

Box 1 Folder 14 Oversize FB-317-06
General awards and honors - Includes correspondence, 1942 - 1998 & undated
Box 2 Folder 1
Plaques and medals, 1955 - 1977
Oversize AB-12-D01
Gulf General Atomic Company - Nuclear Power Utilities HTGR Advanced Technology Training Program certificate, 1973 October 31
Box 2 Folder 2
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) - Board of Directors, 1964 - 1966
Box 2 Folder 3 Oversize FB-317-07
AIAA - G. Edward Pendray Award. Includes correspondence, clippings, photograph, etc., 1976
Box 2 Folder 4 Oversize FB-317-07
National Academy of Engineering, 1977
Box 2 Folder 5 Oversize FB-317-07
Numa Manson Medal - Includes correspondence, photos, 1979
Box 2 Folder 6 Oversize FB-317-07
Instituto Internazionale delle Comunicazioni - International Columbus Prize. Includes acceptance remarks, correspondence, clippings, 1981
Box 2 Folder 7
International Energy Agency - National Advisory Board. Correspondence, clippings, 1981
Box 2 Folder 8
Rheinisch-Westfalischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen - Honorary doctorate. Includes correspondence, clippings, etc., 1981
Oversize AB-12-D04
Rheinisch-Westfalischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen - Honorary doctorate, 1981
Box 2 Folder 9 Oversize FB-317-07
AIAA - Energy Systems Award. Includes correspondence, clippings, 1983
Box 3 Folder 1
AIAA San Diego Section - Outstanding Contribution to the AIAA at the National Level. Includes correspondence, program, 1983
Box 3 Folder 2 Oversize FB-317-07
AIAA - Thermophysics Award. Includes press release, clippings, etc., 1983
Oversize AB-12-D02
AIAA - Emblem, Space Shuttle Challenger, Mission 41-B, 1984 February 3
Oversize AB-12-D03
United States Department of Energy - Distinguished Associate Award, 1990 January
Box 3 Folder 3
Doctors for Disaster Preparedness - Edward Teller Award for the Defense of Freedom. Includes correspondence, 1997
Box 3 Folder 4
S.S. Penner Distinguished Lectures in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Sciences, 1999 - 2000

Memorabilia

Box 3 Folder 5 Oversize FB-317-08
California Institute of Technology album, 1956 - 1957
Box 3 Folder 6
Institute for Defense Analyses, Research and Engineering Support Division, 1964
Oversize FB-317 Folder 08
Institute for Defense Analyses, Research and Engineering Support Division - "Best Wishes" card with 74 signatures, 1964
Oversize MC-041-11
Institute for Defense Analyses, Research and Engineering Support Division - Cartoons, 1964
Box 3 Folder 7
Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer - Presentation copy of first issue, published in 1961, with six pages of signatures, 1986
Box 3 Folder 8
Modern Developments in Energy, Combustion and Spectroscopy, in Honor of S. S. Penner - Presentation copy. Includes biography and list of publications by Penner, 1993

Miscellaneous

Box 4 Folder 1
Conference and meeting materials - Includes correspondence, photographs, etc., 1960 - 2000
Box 4 Folder 2
Ogden Corporation - Annual report, correspondence, photographs, etc., 1985 - 1998
Box 4 Folder 3
Report of the Energy Center Review Committee - Photocopy of typescript, 1985
Box 4 Folder 4
Von Karman, Theodore - Printed materials, clippings, etc., 1956 - 1994

WRITINGS

Scope and Content of Series

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.

Box 4 Folder 5
AGARD Propulsion and Energetics Panel: 1952-1977, 1978
Box 4 Folder 6
Are We About to Run Out of Usable, Low-Cost Energy Supplies? - Includes correspondence and sample issue of Prime Time Newsletter. , 1998

Collected Papers of S. S. Penner [Bound volumes]

Box 4 Folder 7
1946 - 1954
Box 5 Folder 1-2
1955 - 1963
Box 6 Folder 1
1964 - 1968
Box 6 Folder 2
Combustion and Propulsion Research - In Chemical and Engineering News , January 14, 1963
Box 6 Folder 3
Comment on "Temperature Measurement and Relaxation Processes in Shock Tubes" by A.G. Gaydon, 1966
Box 6 Folder 4
Comment on "Testimony on the California Nuclear Initiative by Harold C. Urey and Hannes Alfven" - Typescript, 1998
Box 6 Folder 5
Comments on "Research Support for the Power Industry" by M. Granger Morgan and Susan F. Tierney - Includes typescript, correspondence, and copy of Morgan and Tierney's article, 1998
Box 6 Folder 6
Effect of Silica Gel Upon the Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide - Bound carbon copy typescript of master's thesis, 1943
Box 6 Folder 7
Equilibrium Radiation Properties of Gases - Published in the Handbook of Heat Transfer , 1973
Box 6 Folder 8
First Decade (1964-74) of the AMES Department at UCSD - Typescript, 1995
Box 6 Folder 9
Kinetics of Gelation; Resistance of Zirconia Gels During Setting - Includes handwritten notes and graphs, 1942
Box 6 Folder 10
Long-Term Energy Supplies for the World. Typescript, ca. 1998
Box 6 Folder 11
National Defense Research Council Project (Confidential); Calculations on the Formation and Decomposition..., 1946

See: box 7, folder 6 for a copy including the confidential first section.

Box 6 Folder 12
Partial Solutions to Problems in THERMODYNAMICS by S. S. Penner, with S. S. McElmury - Includes photostat, handwritten notes, etc. , ca. 1968
Box 7 Folder 1
Radiation Phenomena in Rockets - Photostat negative of declassified document, ca. 1940s
Box 7 Folder 2
Relationship Between Energy Conservation, GNP and Energy Consumption, with J. M. Bernard - Published in the 119th Anniversary Number of The Indian and Eastern Engineer , 1977
Box 7 Folder 3-4
Report of the DOE Advanced Fuel-Cell Commercialization Working Group - Bound typescripts with corrections, 1994
Box 7 Folder 5
Review of Conservative Environmentalism - Reassessing the Means, Redefining the Ends, by Dunn and Kinney - Photocopy from Energy, vol. 22, no. 6. , 1997
Box 7 Folder 6
Studies on the Burning of Double Base Powders; Calculations on the Formation and Decomposition of Nitric... - Typescript of Ph.D. thesis, including the confidential first section , 1946

See also: box 6, folder 11

Box 7 Folder 7
Theoretical Aspects of Nitrogen Fixation by the Wisconsin Process - Typescript carbon copy with blueprint graphs , undated
Box 7 Folder 8
United States Energy Supplies for the 21st Century - Offprint from Energy vol. 23, no. 2. Includes correspondence, 1998

CORRESPONDENCE

Scope and Content of Series

Series 3) CORRESPONDENCE: This 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.

Box 7 Folder 9
1962 - 1979 & undated

Includes photographs, clippings, etc. Notable correspondents include the American Physical Society, Evelle J. Younger, Senator Henry M. Jackson, Senator S.I. Hayakawa, the National Academy of Sciences, and Roger Hedgecock.

Box 7 Folder 10
1980 - 1998

Includes copies of articles by authors other than Penner, and other enclosures. Notable correspondents include the National Research Council, Robert Maxwell, the American Chemical Society, and William H. Avery.

Box 7 Folder 11
1999 - 2000