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Herbert Morawetz Collection

Call Number

RG.037

Date

1943-2017, inclusive

Creator

Extent

4.5 Linear Feet in 2 manuscript boxes, 2 thin manuscript boxes, 2 cartons, and 1 oversized box.
23.1 Megabytes in 3 Google Drive folders.

Language of Materials

Predominently in English, certain documents in Czech along with publications in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, German, and Polish.

Abstract

The Herbert Morawetz collection contains published and unpublished materials related to the career and scholarship of 20th century polymer chemist Herbert Morawetz including correspondence, awards and honors, copies of books and articles, and personal, autobiographical writing.

Biographical / Historical

Herbert Morawetz (b.1915-d.2017) was a Brooklyn-based polymer chemist and professor specializing in the use of fluorescence spectroscopy to study local conformational transitions and polymer compatibility. After fleeing his home country of Czechoslovakia with his family following German occupation in 1939, Morawetz settled in Canada, earning Bachelor's (1943) and Master's (1945) degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a PhD (1950) in Chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (later becoming the Tandon School of Engineering at NYU in 2014). In 1951, he joined the faculty at Poly where he would spend the duration of his career, becoming the director of the Polymer Research Institute in 1971.

He published two major books: "Macromolecules in Solution," in 1965 and "Polymers: The Origins and Growth of a Science" in 1985. In 1986, Morawetz received the American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry and following his retirement from teaching, spent fifteen years as the editor of the scholarly journal "Macromolecules". He was the husband of prominent mathematician Cathleen Synge Morawetz. Herbert Morawetz passed away in November 2017, a few weeks after his 102nd birthday.

Arrangement

Materials were organized by form and content type into seven series: Biographical, Correspondence, Writings, Photographs, Awards and Honors, Publications, and Digitized Items. Some materials are arranged chronologically at the item level.

Scope and Contents

The Herbert Morawetz collection contains published and unpublished materials related to the career and scholarship of 20th century polymer chemist Herbert Morawetz. Contents include: correspondence with other professionals and colleagues; photographs of Morawetz and colleagues; invitations and documentation of events and awards ceremonies attended by or honoring Morawetz; Morawetz's personal writing including an unpublished autobiography and a travel diary detailing a visit to Prague in 1979; personal correspondence, media coverage and public facing material related to the 1978 boycott of the International Symposium on Macromolecular Chemistry in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (then USSR); administrative documents regarding Morawetz's employment at the Polymer Research Institute; and copies of published articles and books by Morawetz or owned by him, in English and multiple foreign languages.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Chemical Heritage Foundation were transferred to New York University in 2016 by Chemical Heritage Foundation. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Poly Archives. Please contact the Poly Archives, polyarchives@nyu.edu, 646-997-3530. Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by John Morawetz were transferred to New York University in 2018 by John Morawetz. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Poly Archives. Please contact the Poly Archives, polyarchives@nyu.edu, 646-997-3530.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Herbert Morawetz Collection; RG 037; box number; folder number or item identifier; Poly Archives at Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology, New York University.

Location of Materials

Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology 5 MetroTech Center Brooklyn, New York, 11201 (646) 997-3943 polyarchives@nyu.edu

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Bulk of materials donated by John Morawetz, son of Herbert Morawetz in 2018. Items collected from Herbert Morawetz's former home, 246 West 12th St., New York, NY. Digital copies of items transferred via email by John. Previous accession was donated by Chemical Heritage Foundation in 2016. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 18.001 and 16.006.

Alternate Form Available

Some materials from the Biographical and Photographs series were digitized by John Morawetz, son of Herbert Morawetz, and are available in the Digitized Items series.

Collection processed by

Emma Sarconi & Zoe Blecher-Cohen

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-22 10:07:35 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Revisions to this Guide

November 2021: Finding aid revised and edited by Zoe Blecher-Cohen, Mandy Abokhair, and Aileen Thong in 2021 to update the institutional change from NYU-Poly to NYU and for compliance with DACS Required Elements for Archival Description.

Repository

Poly Archives at the Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology, NYU Libraries
Poly Archives at Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology
Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology
5 MetroTech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201