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Collection Number: 40069

Collection Title: Materials Research Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1961-1979

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1900 items)
Abstract Although the Materials Research Center was formally established in 1965, its program began in 1961 with a grant to the University of North Carolina from the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) for basic research in the materials sciences. From 1961 to 1965, the program was administered jointly by the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry. In 1965, it was placed under the administrative supervision of the Vice Chancellor for Advanced Studies and Research; when that office was dismantled in 1967, the Materials Research Center was placed under the Provost, where it remained until its cessation in 1979. Records include correspondence and other files relating to the administration of and programs conducted by the Materials Research Center, including annual reports, executive committee minutes, grant applications, and correspondence with funding agencies.
Creator University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Materials Research Center.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Materials Research Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40069, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Periodic transfer from the offices that create these records.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: University Archives Staff

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, February 2021

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Historical Information

While the Materials Research Center was not formally established until 1965, its program originated in an October 1961 grant from the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The grant was made under the ARPA program for Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Basic Research in Materials Sciences; this funding lasted until 30 June 1971. Beginning in fiscal year 1971-1972, the center received annual grants from the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research and from the Army Research Office's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

During its first four years (1961-1965), the program was jointly administered by the chairmen of the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics. In December 1965, Dr. Everett D. Palmatier, newly appointed Vice Chancellor for Advanced Studies and Research, created the Materials Research Center to administer the program. The center was headed by a director, who was assisted by an executive committee. The latter was composed of the chairmen of the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics, an additional appointee from the two departments, and a fifth member from the biomedical area. In September 1967, the Division of Advanced Studies and Research was dismantled, and the Materials Research Center was placed in the Division of Academic Affairs.

During its thirteen-and-one-half-year existence, the Materials Research Center sought to expand opportunities for basic research and training in the materials sciences by supplying funding to researchers in solid state physics (for example, defect studies, Fermi surfaces in metals, radiation damage, thin films, super-conductivity), in certain areas of chemistry (for example, electrochemistry, trace analysis, transition metal compounds, organic semiconductors), and in certain fields of biomedicine (for example, effects of body fluids on prosthetic materials, dental material problems). On 30 June 1979, with the termination of National Science Foundation funding, the Materials Research Center ceased to function as an administrative unit of the Universityof North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The records, 1961-1979, of the Materials Research Center include administrative correspondence, Executive Committee minutes, grant applications and correspondence with funding agencies, and annual reports.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Materials Research Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1961-1979.

Box 1

Administrative Correspondence and Memoranda, 1961-1979

(mainly with the Provost)

Annual Reports: Administrative Reports, 1962; 1965-1979

(narrative reports of the Center's activities; submitted to the granting agencies as well as the campus administration)

Annual Reports: Technical Reports, 1963-1979

(summaries of individual research project accomplishments; submitted to the granting agencies as well as the campus administration)

Army Research Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Grant Proposals, 1965-1974

Executive Committee Minutes and Correspondence, 1966-1978

Box 2

National Science Foundation, Division of Materials Research: Correspondence, 1970-1979

(includes grant award letters, evaluations by the National Science Foundation National Science Board, site visits, and general grant-related correspondence)

Grant Proposals, 1971-1977

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