Skip to main content

Rice University President's Office Records, Norman Hackerman

 Collection
Identifier: UA 0067
Finding aid note: Stored on-site at the Woodson Research Center.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, reports, notes, drafts, memos, etc. created and collected by the Rice University President's Office, (Norman Hackerman, President). These materials reflect the daily business of the President's Office during the years 1969-1985, concerning academics, fundraising, atheltics, administration, research, student life, and planning for Rice's future.

Dates

  • 1969 - 1985

Conditions Governing Access

Stored on-site at the Woodson Research Center.

Restrictions on Access

Permission to use papers must be obtained from the President's Office. Contact Woodson Research Center Staff, 713-348-2586.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish from the Rice University President's Office Records, Norman Hackerman, must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Biographical Sketch

Norman Hackerman served as Rice Univerity's fourth Presdient from 1970 - 1985, after serving 25 years at the University of Texas. Immediately preceeding Hackerman was Acting President Frank Vandiver (1969-1970), who succeeded Kenneth Sanborn Pitzer.

During his tenure at Rice, the university launched the Jeese H. Jones Graduate School of Administration, and the Shepherd School of Music, as well as establishing separate engineering and social sciences schools, and new biochemistry, linguistics, and computer science departments. The endowment was significantly increased by his fundraising efforts, and the residential college system went co-ed under his approval.

Controversy touched his presidency in the early 1980s, when Rice hired Watson Brown as head football coach at a high salary, bringing many complaints from academic-oriented students and faculty. Hackerman reportedly considered the criticism a "commentary on society, not on [himself]".

Hackerman, a chemist, was born in Baltimore, MD in 1912, and graduated with bachelor's (1932) and doctoral (1935) degrees from Johns Hopkins University. He joined the University of Texas faculty as an assistant professor in 1945, and worked his way up through the academic ladder to become President in 1967.

Extent

64 Linear Feet (109 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Overview

Correspondence, reports, notes, drafts, memos, etc. created and collected by the Rice University President's Office, (Norman Hackerman, President). These materials reflect the daily business of the President's Office during the years 1969-1985, concerning academics, fundraising, atheltics, administration, research, student life, and planning for Rice's future.

Acquisition Information

This material was transfered to the Woodson Research Center from the Office of the President.

Related Materials

See also Norman Hackerman Information File, and the papers of other Rice University Presidents, housed at the Woodson Research Center.

Processing Information

The box and folder listing of this material was updated in April, 2004.
Title
Guide to the Rice University President's Office Records, Norman Hackerman, 1969-1985
Status
Completed
Date
2000
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