Papers of William Nierenberg, documenting the full spectrum of his long career as a professor, academic administrator, and advisor to major science-oriented government committees. The collection is focused on his years as director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO).
William Nierenberg Papers, 1932-2000 (bulk 1965-1986) (SMC 13)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Restrictions: Original media recording formats are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available
for researchers.
Extent: 76 Linear feet (187 archives boxes, 1 record carton, 1 shoebox, and 1 oversize folder)
William Aaron Nierenberg (1919-2000) was born in New York City on February 3, 1919. He attended Townsend Harris High School and graduated Summa Cum Laude from City College New York in 1939 with a B.S. in Math and Physics.
He began graduate work in physics at Columbia in 1939. When the United States joined World War II, he was recruited to the Manhattan Project by Enrico Fermi and John R. Dunning, where he worked as a section leader from 1942-1945. Following the war, Nierenberg returned to Columbia and received his PhD in Physics in 1947. His advisor was I. I. Rabi.
After two years on the faculty of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Nierenberg became a professor of Physics at University of California, Berkeley in 1950, where he established the Atomic Beam Laboratory. In 1965 Nierenberg accepted an offer to become the director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a position he held until he stepped down in 1986.
Nierenberg held many high level international scientific and diplomatic positions and titles throughout his long career, including: NATO Science Advisor, member of JASON, and chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmospheric Records (NACOA).
He was a member of: the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, the American Philosophical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Engineering, as well as dozens of professional societies and committees, and had a long history of serving as a consultant within academia and both the government and private sectors.
William Nierenberg died of cancer on September 11, 2000.
Papers of William Nierenberg, documenting the full spectrum of his long career as a professor, academic administrator, and advisor to major science-oriented government committees. The collection is focused on his years as director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO).
The Nierenberg Papers include voluminous correspondence, manuscripts, office files, documentation of service and participation in organizations and committees, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and other files collected by William Nierenberg. There is very little personal material in the collection, though the detail provided by the record of his time as director of SIO is extensive, including daily office correspondence and telephone messages. A small amount of material dated 1939-1965 documents Nierenberg's graduate research and lecture materials from the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley. Of particular note is documentation of Nierenberg's role as a science advisor to the government and major boards and organizations, including: NATO/UNESCO, the National Research Council's Climate Research Board, the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere (NACOA), the NASA Advisory Council, the National Science Board's Committee on International Science, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, JASON Defense Science Advisory Group, and the Defense Science Board. Nierenberg actively consulted on the subjects of strategic defense, ocean policy, global climate change and its effects, and more during the pivital decades of the second half of the twentieth century, and his papers include correspondence and meeting minutes revealing thought processes and decisions in these areas.
Arranged in nine series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) ORGANIZATIONS, 4) NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE, 5) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 6) WRITINGS AND TALKS, 7) STUDY AND TEACHING, 8) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 9) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS.