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Rice University Provost's Office Records: Provost Frank E. Vandiver Acting Provost Joseph Cooper

 Collection
Identifier: UA 090
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

These records reflect the daily business of the Provost's office under historian Frank E. Vandiver’s (1970-80) and political scientist Joseph Cooper's (1973-74) leadership. They reveal the daily business of the Provost's Office, which has the overall responsibility for the institution's educational and research programs. They are arranged into three series: On Campus - General, On-Campus - Academic, and Off-Campus. The materials include correspondence, memos, notes, reports, and more, reflecting the relationships among these Rice and Rice-related groups, such as Honor Council, Jefferson Davis Association, and Rice University Studies.

Dates

  • 1970 - 1980

Access Restrictions

Permission to use these records must be obtained from the Provost’s Office. Contact the Woodson Research Center for instructions.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish these records must be obtained from the Provost’s Office. Contact the Woodson Research Center for instructions.

Biographical Note

Dr. Frank E. Vandiver, Harris Masterson, Jr., Professor of History, was appointed Rice University Provost in 1970. He served until 1980. The vice-presidential title was added in 1975.

Dr. Vandiver, one of the nation’s foremost military historians, received a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Texas in 1949, and his Ph.D. from Tulane University in 1951. He was awarded a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Oxford in 1963.

Dr. Vandiver came to Rice University in 1955. He served as Rice University’s acting president between 1969 and 1970, the year he was appointed Provost. He also served as Chairman of the History Department. In 1972 he started a six-year term on the National Council on the Humanities, the policy-making arm of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In January 1973, the Secretary of the Army appointed Dr. Vandiver to a five-year term as chairman of the United States Army Military History Research Collection Advisory Committee, which oversees one of the nation’s most important military history collection efforts. In 1969 Dr. Vandiver also served on the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee and in 1971, he was named to the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He taught Civil War History for two years at Oxford in England. He also served as Visiting Professor of Military History at the United States Military Academy at West Point, 1973-1974.

While Dr. Vandiver was at West Point (1973-74), Dr. Joseph Cooper, Professor of Political Science, was appointed acting provost by President Hackerman. He became a member of the Rice faculty in 1967. He was a graduate of Harvard where he received his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees. He served as chairman of the Department of Political Science from 1967 to 1972 and was the founding dean of the School of Social Sciences from 1979-88. He is a specialist on the U. S. Congress and has appeared as a witness before Congressional committees on several occasions. In 1976 Dr. Cooper served as staff director of the U. S. House Commission on Administrative Review in Washington, D.C.

Extent

8 Linear Feet ( 17 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

These records reflect the daily business of the Provost's office under historian Frank E. Vandiver’s (1970-80) and political scientist Joseph Cooper's (1973-74) leadership. They reveal the daily business of the Provost's Office, which has the overall responsibility for the institution's educational and research programs.

Arrangement

The provost records for Vandiver/Cooper (1970-80) are divided into three series, each of which is arranged alphbetically by file name and then chronologically:

Missing Title

  1. Series I: On Campus - General (Boxes 1-13)
  2. Series II: On Campus - Academic Departments (Boxes 14-15)
  3. Series III: Off Campus - General (Boxes 16-17)

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the Provost's Office 1974, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, and 1989.

Subjects

Record Groups

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Rice University Provost's Office Records: Provost Frank E. Vandiver and Acting Provost Joseph Cooper 1970-1980
Status
Completed
Date
2004
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

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Harmful Content Statement
© 2023 Woodson Research Center
Fondren Library, Rice University
Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892