Conditions Governing Reproductions and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives ( specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Records of the Office of the Vice-President, Louis A. Pardue, RG 3/3, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Records of the Office of the Vice-President, Louis A. Pardue were transferred to Special Collections and University Archives in 1973 and 1978.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the Records of the Office of the Vice-President, Louis A. Pardue commenced in September 2000 and was completed in May 2005.

Biographical Note

Dr. Louis A. Pardue (1900-1963), a native of Scottsville, Kentucky, received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Kentucky and a Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University. He also taught physics at Yale University, Lehigh University, and Lincoln Memorial University. During World War II, he served both at Chicago, Illinois, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the "Manhattan Project," which developed the atomic bomb, and along with 17 other scientists in the "Manhattan Project," signed a petition to the President of United States urging limited and responsible use of atomic weapons.

Pardue came to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1950 from the University of Kentucky, where he was Dean of the Graduate School. While at VPI, he held the offices of Vice-President and Director of Graduate Studies for roughly 13 years and is credited with playing a major role in the development of instructional and research programs at VPI.

Scope and Content

This collection consists primarily of correspondence relating to Dr. Louis A. Pardue's duties both as Vice-President and Director of Graduate Studies. There are extensive correspondence and other material of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Science (ORINS), of which VPI was a member and Pardue served on the Council and Board of Directors.

The collection comprises Education Policy and Program Committee minutes (1950-1951); correspondence with the General Education Board and the State Board of Education; correspondence, proposals, and committee minutes concerning establishment of joint Home Economics program for VPI and Radford; annual reports (1949-1951); Southern Association of Colleges and Universities material; minutes and other items from the Board of Control for Southern Regional Education; correspondence from the Department of Health Education and Welfare; correspondence with President Newman and President Hahn; reports from the Engineering Faculty concerning military situation at VPI; notices, memoranda, and reports from the Federal Communications Commission Joint Committee on Educational Television; Graduate Committee minutes (1949-1955); a list of advanced degrees given from 1889-1950; memoranda, general rules, articles and other items dealing with the Corps of Cadets and ROTC; correspondence, minutes, and other items concerning the National Collegiate Athletic Association; news releases; speech material; questionnaires on various subjects; State Board of Education material; Student Activities Committee material including charters and other items of various student organizations; correspondence and reports dealing with the VPI Educational Foundation; minutes and other material from conferences of Deans of Graduate Schools (1948-1954); Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools Committee material; Centennial Committee material; scattered Academic Council minutes and course proposals; Association of Land-Grant Colleges information; material concerning faculty listings, salaries, appointments, resignations, leaves of absence, and adjustments (1951-1962); correspondence with the agriculture, applied mechanics, applied science and business administration, architecture, biology, chemistry, engineering, English and foreign language, geology, mathematics, physics, physical education, philosophy and religion, vocational education, and veterinary medicine departments at VPI; letters to the United States Congress; information from the Atomic Energy Commission; material relating to the Fulbright program; correspondence from students and their families; correspondence to administrative departments and faculty; National Defense Education Act (NDEA) reports; scholarship, graduate assistantship, and doctoral fellowship information; correspondence from the Danville branch of VPI; National Science Foundation materials; nuclear energy information; Ford Foundation material; reports from the Association of University Professors; material used in summer programs at VPI for high school teachers; student information concerning commencement, foreign students, letters of recommendation, international exchange programs, and student censure; and Science Advisory Committee reports and correspondence.

The ORINS material includes correspondence, annual reports, Board of Directors minutes, budget reports, project reports and proposals, organizational charts, news releases, and Glenwood School drawings (architectural layouts for proposed addition to ORINS).

Arrangement

The collection is primarily arranged into series chronologically then subdivided alphabetically by folder title. For each series, there may be some material dated prior to that particular year. The final two series are organized by subject and subdivided alphabetically then chronologically.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center at the University of Kentuky Libraries holds the Louis Pardue Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies (ORINS) papers, 0000UA155.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Pardue, Louis Arthur, 1900-1963
• Record Group 3
• Science and Technology
• University Archives
• University History
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Records of the Office of the Vice-President, Louis A. Pardue by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/ ).