Skip to main content

Rice University President's Office Records : William Vermillion Houston

 Collection
Identifier: UA 085
Finding aid note: Stored onsite at Woodson Research Center.

Scope and Contents

These records reflect the daily business of the Rice University President's Office, during the tenure of Rice's second president, physicist William Vermillion Houston, and date from 1946-1960. Formats include correspondence, reports, memos, notes, newsclippings, and speeches.

Dates

  • 1946 - 1960

Creator

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored onsite at Woodson Research Center.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Houston records must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Biographical Note

William Vermillion Houston was born in Mount Giliad, Ohio, on January 19, 1900. He received B.A. and B.S. degrees from Ohio State University in 1920. In 1922, he received an M.S. degree from the University of Chicago, and in 1925, his Ph.D. from Ohio State University.

Houston was a National Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology, and taught there until he became president of what was then Rice Institute, later Rice University, in 1946. Houston studied in Germany on a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1927, assisting Warner Heisenberg and others in the development of quantum theory.

The U.S. Navy awarded Houston its Medal of Merit for directing development of the first homing torpedo and for supervising scientific studies which helped improve U.S. weapon effectiveness in the area of undersea warfare. Because of his genuine modesty, Houston never wore his Medal of Merit ribbon.

Houston made pioneering efforts in the fields of atomic spectroscopy and soild state theory. He was the author of two books: Principles of Mathematical Physics (1934) and Principles of Quantum Mechanics (1951), as well as of numerous scientific articles. After having been a fellow of the American Physical Society for many years, he was elected its president in 1962. He also served on the Society council.

Houston was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, serving on its council and on several important committees. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society and several other scientific and educational associations. He served on the National Science Board and as a trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

When Houston arrived at Rice in 1946, he greatly expanded graduate study and research. He also initiated a five-year engineering program with greater emphasis on the humanities than had previously existed, and implemented the planned residential college system.

Houston died after a brief illness, in Edinburgh, Scotland on August 22, 1968, while attending the 111th International Conference on Low-tempurature Physics at St. Andrew's University.

Extent

12 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract:

These records reflect the daily business of the Rice University President's Office, during the tenure of Rice's second president, physicist William Vermillion Houston, and date from 1946-1960. Formats include correspondence, reports, memos, notes, newsclippings, and speeches.

Arrangement

These papers follow the typical order of Rice University President's Office Records:

Missing Title

  1. Series I: On Campus (with Subseries: General; Departments; Scholarships, Fellowships, Prizes, Awards; Speeches)
  2. Series II: Off Campus

Acquisition Information

Transfered from the President's Office.

Related Material

See also William V. Houston personal papers, at WRC.
Title
Guide to the Rice University President's Office Records: William Vermillion Houston, 1946-1960
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

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

Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA