A Guide to the William Marvin Whyburn Papers, 1920-1977


Descriptive Summary
	Creator:	Whyburn, William M. (William Marvin), 1901-
	Title:	William Marvin Whyburn Papers,
	Dates:	1920-1977
	Abstract:	Papers document the career of William Marvin Whyburn (1901-1972), a student of Hyman Joseph Ettlinger. Included are correspondence, teaching notes, notes for speeches, research notes, drafts of publications, reports, clippings, photographs, and reprints.
	Accession No.:	86-35; 2002-051; 2003-178
	Extent:	10 ft., 11 in.; manuscript, typescript, printed, photographic.
	Language:	Material is written in English.

Biographical Note

William Marvin Whyburn (1901-1972) was born in Denton County, Texas, on November 12, 1901. He received his undergraduate education at North Texas State College and the University of Texas at Austin. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin under the direction of Hyman Joseph Ettlinger, largely while teaching at Texas Technological College. Whyburn was a National Research Fellow at Harvard University (1927-1928), before joining the faculty of the University of California-Los Angeles, where he became Mathematics Department chairman (1937-1944). In 1944 Whyburn returned to Texas Technological College as President, a position which he retained until 1948 and his appointment as Kenan Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Department chairman at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Whyburn also served as Acting Provost (1956-1957) and Vice President for Research (1957-1960). After his retirement from the University of North Carolina in 1967, Whyburn was Frensley Professor of Mathematics at Southern Methodist University until 1970, when he returned to Chapel Hill and part-time teaching at Eastern Carolina University. He died in 1972. Whyburn was a Council member (1940-1942), Associate Secretary (1950-1953), and served on numerous committees of the American Mathematical Society. He was first Vice-President of the Mathematical Association of America for 1943-1945. Whyburn's research dealt mainly with the theory of ordinary differential equations, particularly second order differential systems. He did extensive consulting work for the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Whyburn wrote several college textbooks with P. H. Daus.

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Scope and Contents

Whyburn's administrative work at the University of North Carolina (1948-1967) is the most strongly represented aspect of his career. The General Correspondence (15 in.) bulks with letters from this period, although letters from several academic years are missing. The Faculty and Administrative Activities series (1928-1972; 22 in.) is also dominated by Whyburn's University of North Carolina records (15 in.), but also includes material, largely correspondence, bearing on his Texas Technological College Presidency (1944-1948; 4 in.). Documentation prior to 1944 is fragmentary. There is a series of his lectures and speeches (1928-1971; 6 in.). Coverage of Whyburn's American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Association of America work (1939-1962; 2 in.) is sparse. The bulk of material related to Whyburn's research and publications (1928-1972; 8 in.) concerns his paper, "Systems of Differential Equations" (1972), written with Richard K. Williams, his textbooks, written with P. H. Daus (1947-1960), and his research grants (1953-1971; 3 in.). His government consulting work is well represented (1944-1971; 6 in.).

Whyburn kept some family and other personal letters (1958-1960; 2 in.) in a separate file, which is entered under Personalia.

Forms part of the Archives of American Mathematics.

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Organization:
	Organized into twelve series:

		General Correspondence
		Publications
		Grants
		Research Notes
		Lectures and Speeches
		Government Consulting Work
		Organizations
		Faculty and Administrative Activities
		Teaching
		Mathematicians - Biographical and Memorial Items
		Professional Activities
		Personal

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Restrictions

Use Restrictions

The majority of these papers are stored remotely. Contact reference staff for retrieval from offsite storage.

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Index Terms

	Persons:
		Ayres, William Leake
		Ettlinger, Hyman Joseph
		Hedrick, E.R.
		Whyburn, Gordon Thomas
		Whyburn, William M. (William Marvin), 1901-
	Organizations:
		North Carolina, University of
		Oak Ridge National Laboratory
		Southern Methodist University
		Texas Technological University
	Subjects:
		American Mathematical Society
		Mathematical Association of America
		Ordinary differential equations
		U. S. Air Force
		U. S. Army; U. S. Navy

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	Reid, W. T., "William M. Whyburn, 1901-1972," Bulletin of the Mathematical Society of America, 79 (November, 1973):1175-1183.

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Detailed description of the papers

General correspondence:

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3.9/86-35/1

A - B

C - D

E - G

H - I

Box

3.9/86-35/2

J - K

L - M

N - Ri

Ro - Ru

Box

3.9/86-35/3

S - T

U - We

Wh - Y, and unidentified

Whyburn family

Correspondence of E.A. Cameron, A. Henderson, J.W. Lasley, Jr., E.L. Mackie

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2003-178

M. Dutta and general printed material, January 18, 1971 and undated

Box

3.9/2002-051/1

General correspondence, ca. 1922-1927, 1939-1946, 1964-1977

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Publications:

Box

2003-178

Publication list, 1970

Box

3.9/86-35/3

Publication lists

Articles

Correspondence and drafts, 1928-1972

"Complexes of Differential Systems," 1972

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2002-051/1

Reprints, 1924-1958, 1972

Box

2003-178

Reprints by W. M. Whyburn, 1924-1972

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3.9/86-35/4

Books

"Analytic Geometry" (unpublished), correspondence, 1947-1952

Algebra for College Students (with P.H. Daus), correspondence and outlines, 1947-1952

First Year College Mathematics with Applications (with P.H. Daus), correspondence, 1948-1950

Algebra with Applications to Business and Economics (with P.H. Daus), correspondence, proofs, 1958-1960

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2002-051/1

Bibliographies, 1924-1958

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Grants:

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3.9/86-35/4

Air Force

Air Research and Development Command, 1953-1955

European trip, 1955; Contract material, 1958

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Non-Linear Differential Critical Point Theory, 1969-1971

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Research notes:

Box

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Undated

Binomial series, fractional derivation: notes, correspondence, 1935-1936

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Lectures and speeches:

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3.9/86-35/5

Undated talks: background clippings and quotations

Notes and correspondence, 1928, 1940-1949

Notes and correspondence, 1950-1959

Notes and correspondence, 1960-1971

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Mathematical Association of America Visiting Lecturer, 1972

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2002-051/1

Phi Beta Kappa address, Univ. of North Carolina, 1961

Inaugural address, President, Texas Technological College, 1944

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Government consulting work:

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3.9/86-35/6

Air Force, 1944, 1951

Army, 1952-1971

Redstone Arsenal, 1952-1955

Navy: Mine Defence Laboratory and Ordnance Test Service, 1951-1960

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3.9/86-35/7

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

1949-1952

1953-1960

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Organizations:

Box

3.9/86-35/7

American Mathematical Society

General records, including 1944 Los Angeles meeting, 1939-1962

Associate Secretaryship and Oak Ridge meeting, 1949-1950

Mathematical Association of America, 1939-1954

National Research Council, 1952-1953, 1972

National Science Foundation, 1952-1954

Phi Beta Kappa, 1944-1971

Philosophical Society of Texas, 1948-1971

Pi Mu Epsilon, 1928-1952

Sigma Xi, 1948-1953

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Miscellaneous organizations, 1939-1971

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Faculty and administrative activities:

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3.9/86-35/8

University of California-Los Angeles:

Correspondence, 1928-1941

Printed matter, 1921-1943

Texas Technological College

Memos, reports, clippings, printed matter, 1944-1949

Correspondence, 1944-1947

Correspondence, 1948-1949

Correspondence, clippings, printed matter, 1950-1972

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Proceedings of Inaugeration as President, 1944

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University of North Carolina

General records, 1949-1963

Printed matter, 1957

Committee on University Government, 1949-1950

Computation Center, 1957-1960

Library, 1950-1953

Mathematics Department

General records

1948-June, 1953

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1953-1954

1954-1955

1958-1971

Committee on Graduate Programs, Committee on Undergraduate Programs, 1965

Department members, 1949-1950

Full-time staff, 1952-1955

Graduate students and teaching assistants, 1949-1954

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Part-time staff, 1952-1955

Positions available, 1949-1959

Schedule material, Forms and directives, 1952-1954

Staff prospects, 1947-1955

Summer session, 1953

Second University Conference, 1953-1954

Vice-President for Research, 1958-1960

Personnel regulations, 1958-1960

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Southern Methodist University, 1967-1970

Eastern Carolina University, 1969-1972

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Teaching:

Box

3.9/86-35/12

University of North Carolina, tests and examinations, 1949-1954, 1961-1966

Eastern Carolina University, Lie theory notes

Box

2002-051/1

University of California - Los Angeles, 1935-1939

University of North Carolina, ca. 1949-1966

Box

4RM1

Restricted:

University of North Carolina class record (grades), 1965-1968

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Mathematicians - Biographical and memorial items:

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3.9/86-35/12

Clippings, printed matter, 1926-1972

Hedrick, E.R., 1923-1943

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Professional activities:

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3.9/86-35/13

Books and periodicals: purchases, inquiries, acknowledgements of sample copies, 1947-1970

Reprints of publications by others, 1945-1965

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Reprints of publications by others:

Albert-Cozens, 1925-1971

Dodd-Ganguly, 1930-1970 and undated

Garcia, 1943-1947 and undated

Garner-Haines, 1925-1949

Hamilton-Herrick, 1936-1960

Hestenes-Horadam, 1931-1963 and undated

Jaffin-Opatowski, 1924-1969

Panunzio-Seeger, 1927-1964

Toneilli-Zarankiewicz, 1923-1951 and undated

Manuscripts of papers by others, some with annotations, undated

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Consulting: manuscript reviews, 1951, 1953

Utz: A Short Course in Differential Equations, 1966

Refereeing, 1928-1938

Summer Institutes, 1950-1969

Durham, North Carolina, Summer Institute, 1970

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Personal:

Box

3.9/86-35/13

Ancestry, Biography of E.H. Rowell

Box

3.9/86-35/14

Biographical material: directory entries, clippings, 1945-1965

Photographs

Personal correspondence

A - M, 1958-1960

N - Z, 1958-1960

Family business, 1941-1947, 1958-1960

Honors, Awards, 1944, 1954

Humor

Non-professional organizations, interests, and activities, 1935-1972

Travel, 1945-1972

Insurance, 1945-1954

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Non-mathematical reprints, 1932-1957

Biographical material, 1961

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2002-051/1

Biographical material, 1944, 1959, 1968, 1972-1973, and undated

University of Texas coursework, 1920-1923

Box

4RM11

Photographs:

Undated

Family photographs, including photos of William and Gordon Whyburn, undated

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