The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Office of the Director manages all aspects of the Institution, including education, research, and collaboration with state, federal, international, and private organizations. The Director is assisted in these capacities by several Deputy, Associate, and Assistant Directors, each with specific administrative, research, or technical oversight. The Deputy, Associate, and Assistant Directors records document the history of this level of the administration of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Office of the Associate Directors Records, 1916-2007 (SAC 2)
Extent: 21 Linear feet (21 records cartons, 2 map case folders, 2 oversize folders), + 0.01 GB approx. of digital files
Digital Content
The collection contains digital files described in the container list.
In 1903, UC Berkeley biologist William E. Ritter and San Diego physician Fred Baker, with the financial support of philanthropists E. W. Scripps and Ellen Browning Scripps, founded the Marine Biological Association of San Diego. The purpose of the Association was to advance the study of marine sciences. Ritter was appointed as its first Director and supervised the activities of temporary research stations in San Diego Bay. In 1905, the Association leased property above La Jolla Cove and established a marine laboratory. Ms. Scripps added a codicil to her will in 1909 bequeathing a gift to the Regents of the University of California for a permanent marine biological station, and construction of the first building on the current campus, the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory, was completed in 1910. In July of 1912, the Association deeded its property to the Regents and became the Scripps Institution for Biological Research, formally becoming part of the UC System. In 1925, it was renamed the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO).
The dawn of World War II led to a tremendous expansion in oceanographic research, an expansion in which SIO played a significant role. SIO contributed to wartime research in the areas of oceanic conditions (including temperature, salinity, and currents), radiation, sonar, and submarine detection instruments. The National Defense Research Council established the University of California Division of War Research (UCDWR), which relied heavily on SIO's resources and researchers. The resulting techniques and equipment were then given to the United States Navy for practical application in the oceanic battlefront.
SIO helped prove the value of oceanographic research during the war, and the federal government continued to collaborate with the Institution in successive years. Several SIO scientists were involved in atom bomb testing, underwater physics and acoustics experiments, and thermodynamics studies, to name a few areas of continued research. At a time when many industries were scaling back activity and waiting for pre-war activities to resume, SIO was expanding. Largely due to the efforts of Roger Revelle, then of the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Institution entered into an agreement with the ONR that stated federal funds would be granted in support of SIO's oceanographic research and training of military personnel.
This expansion was also reflected in SIO's courses and facilities. Harald Sverdrup anticipated the post-war demand for trained oceanographers, and he secured state funding to expand SIO's real estate, infrastructure, personnel, and educational curriculum. SIO was thriving, and in the late 1950s its prominence would become a significant factor in the case for establishing the newest University of California campus in La Jolla.
UC San Diego was officially established on November 18, 1960, and SIO became a department of the university. Over the next several years, finalization of land acquisition and the building of a general campus proceeded in earnest. Newly appointed faculty waited out the construction, working temporarily from laboratories and offices around SIO's campus. As UC San Diego's college system has grown over the years, so too has SIO. Originally focused on graduate instruction and organized into two teaching departments (Oceanography, and Marine Biology), SIO now offers undergraduate and graduate instruction in three academic research sections (Biology, Earth Science, and Oceans and Atmosphere) and eight major research divisions.
The Director of SIO is the Institution's chief administrative officer. The Director also serves as the UC San Diego Vice Chancellor of Marine Sciences, and the UC San Diego Dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences. The Director is assisted in these capacities by several Deputy, Associate, and Assistant Directors, each with specific administrative, research, or technical oversight. The Director's office manages all aspects of SIO's administration, including education, facilities, finances, and research.
Deputy Directors have included: Charles Merdinger (1974-1979), Jeffery Frautschy (1980-1982), Justin E. Langille III (1982-1987), Marvin Moss (1987-1992), Tom Collins (1992-unknown), Mike Mullin (1992-1996), Mary Altalo (1992-1998), William Hodgkiss (1998-2002), John Orcutt (1993-unknown), Guy Masters (2016-present), and Catherine Constable (2009-present).
Associate Directors have included: Roger Revelle (1948-1950), Fred Spiess (1965-1980), Andrew Benson (1966-1970), George Shor (1968-1991), Warren Levin (1973-unknown), Robert Fisher (1973-1980), Michael Mullin (1980-unknown), Tom Collins (1987-1992), Ken Melville (unknown-2008), Dan Rudnick (unknown-2008), Myrl Hendershott (unknown-2008), Robert Knox (circa 2000-2008), Doug Bartlett (2008-unknown), and Bruce Applegate (circa 2010-present).
Assistant Directors have included: Jeffery Frautschy (1958-1980), George Matson (1975-1983), Tom Collins (1983-1987), Douglas Bennett (2006-2015), Stephen Bennett (2008-2014), Steve Gallagher (2016-2018), and Kathleen Ritzman (2006-present).
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Office of the Director manages all aspects of the Institution, including education, research, and collaboration with state, federal, international, and private organizations. The Director is assisted in these capacities by several Deputy, Associate, and Assistant Directors, each with specific administrative, research, or technical oversight. The Deputy, Associate, and Assistant Directors records document the history of this level of the administration of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Arranged in sixteen series: 1) ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING, 4) CALIFORNIA STATE AGENCIES, 5) COMMITTEES, 6) CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, 7) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, 8) GROWTH AND ACADEMIC PLANS, 9) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS, 10) PERSONNEL, 11) PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS, 12) REAL ESTATE, 13) RESEARCH AND WRITINGS, 14) SAN DIEGO REGIONAL AGENCIES, 15) SUBJECT FILES, and 16) UC SYSTEMWIDE.