Oral History

Oral History interviews with SLAC staff and users have been conducted at SLAC and at other institutions by SLAC Archives and History Office staff and by others interested in the history of physics and computing. Information collected in these interviews supplements original correspondence and other primary source materials collected by the Archives and History Office.

SLAC Interviews

Interviews have been conducted by SLAC staff on an irregular basis, as resources have permitted. The Archives and History Office staff are currently working on a project to identify all past interview subjects, locate interview tapes and permission forms, and create interview transcripts. Our holdings contain tapes or transcripts of interviews with the following staff members and users:

Note: Some links on this page open pdf files, which require the free Acrobat Reader.

• Ballam, Joseph. Interviewed by Bill Kirk and Natalie Roe. SLAC. November 5 and November 13, 1987.
• Boeheim, Charles. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. September 24, 2008.
• Brown, Karl. Interviewed by Roxanne Nilan and William Kirk. SLAC. February 1, 1990.
• Caryotakis, George. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. August 31, 2006.
• Collett, Gerard J. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. November 6, 2006.
• Cottrell, Roger L. Interviewed by Jean Deken and Randy Melen. SLAC. March 25, 2011.
• Feldman, Gary. Interviewed by Roxanne Nilan and William Kirk. SLAC. August 10, 1990.
• Fischer, Gerhard E. Interviewed by Roxanne Nilan and William Kirk. SLAC. March 1 and March 9, 1990.
• Garwin, Ed. Interviewed by Roxanne Nilan. SLAC. November 20, 1989. Subject: E-122, Parity Violation Experiment.
• Gould, Bob. Interviewed by William Kirk. SLAC. May 17, 1988.
• Gowans, Mil (VanDyke). Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. July 29, 2010.
• Jarvis, Helen. Interviewed by Robin Chandler. SLAC. August 6, 1992.
• Jensen, Sharon. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. June 28, 2006.
• Jobe, Jerry. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. February 28, 2007.
• Kinst, William. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. June 17 and 24, 2010.
• LeCount, Arla. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. May 30, 2008.
• Logg, Connie. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. December 8, 2006.
• Nygren, David. Interviewed by Robin Chandler. LBNL. December 3, 1990.
• Panofsky, Wolfgang Kurt Hermann (Pief). Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris and Jean Deken. SLAC. 2004. Transcript submitted to AIP.
• Perl, Martin. Interviewed by Bill Kirk and Natalie Roe. SLAC. February 2 and June 9, 1988.
• Richter, Burton. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC September 6, 2006.
• Ross, Marc. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. September 6, 2006.
• Sinclair, Charles. Interviewed by Bill Kirk and Natalie Roe. SLAC. September 15, 1987.
• Troxel, Teresa. Interviewed by Jean Deken. SLAC. February 8, 2007.
• Zdarko, Richard. Interviewed by Robin Chandler. SLAC. June 11, 1991.

AIP Interviews

Interviews taped with the following individuals and groups have been deposited with the American Institute of Physics Center for the History of Physics. Transcripts may be obtained from the AIP, subject to restrictions imposed by the AIP, the interviewer or the subject. Typical AIP restrictions include allowing reading of interview transcripts by any researcher with an approved access application on file, but copies (usually of excerpts only) and quotes may not be made without permission from the individual who was interviewed. Use the Center's International Catalog of Sources to locate more information about these oral histories. This list is by no means comprehensive.

• Abbadessa, John. Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. August 23, 1996.
• Blankenbecler, Richard. Interviewed by Finn Aaserud. May 5, 1987.
• Drell, Sidney D. Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. August 1, 1996.
• Drell, Sidney D. Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. August 1, 1996.
• Drell, Sidney D. Interviewed by Finn Aaserud. July 1, 1986.
• Flatté, Stanley Martin. Interviewed by Finn Aaserud. July 21, 1986.
• Gittelman, Bernard. Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. August 21, 1996.
• Kendall, Henry Way. Interviewed by Finn Aaserud. November 25 and 26, 1986.
• Kistiakowsky, Vera. Interviewed by Shirlee Sherkow. April 27 to September 1, 1976.
• Panofsky, Wolfgang Kurt Hermann. Interviewed by Charles Weiner. May 15, 1973 to June 3, 1974.
• Panofsky, Wolfgang Kurt Hermann. Interviewed by Harvey Lynch. April 11 and May 2, 1997.
• Paterson, James Ewan. Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. July 17, 1996.
• Piore, Emanuel Ruben. Interviewed by Bruce R. Wheaton. March 7, 1977.
• Psi Discovery - SLAC-SP-017: An Experimental Survey of Positron-Electron Annihilation into Multi-Particle Final States in the S Range 27-74 GeV-Squared, 1991.
• Sadrozinski, Hartmut. Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. July 10, 1996.
• Sands, Matthew L. Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. July 7, 1996.
• Sands, Matthew L. Interviewed by Finn Aaserud. May 4 and 5, 1987.
• SLAC-E-103: Search for Exotic Mesons Using the SLAC Two Meter Streamer Chamber. 1989
• SLAC-E-122. 1989.
• SLAC-E-132: A Study of K-P Interactions Using LASS. 1990-1991.
• SLAC-E-137: Search for Low Mass, Metastable Neutral Particles at SLAC. 1990-1991.
• SLAC-PEP-004-009: The Time Projection Chamber and 2-Gamma Detector at PEP. 1990-1991.
• SLAC-PEP-006: The MAC Detector at PEP. 1990-1991.
• SLAC-SP-007B: Search for Asymmetry in E+ E- - MU+ MU- due to a Weak Neutral Current... 1990-1991.
• SLAC-SP-024: A Proposal for a Large Solid Angle Neutral Detector for SPEAR 2 (The Crystal Ball). 1990-1991.
• SLAC-SP-032: MARK-III at SPEAR. 1990-1991.
• Wallenmeyer, William., Interviewed by Elizabeth Paris. August 22, 1996.
• Women in High-Energy Physics. Interviewees include Pat Burchat and Vera Luth. 1991.

Other Interviews

• Arthur Bienenstock.   Interviewed by Allison Tracy, Stanford Historical Society, February 19, 2041-March 25, 2014.
• Edward L. Ginzton.  Interviewed by A. Michal McMahon. November 26, 1984. IEEE History Center, Frederick E. Terman Associates Collection.
• Edward L. Ginzton.   Interviewed by Joel Shirkin, Henry Lowood and Bruce Hevly. August 1987 to March 1988. Audio file and transcript available from Stanford University Special Collections (email: speccollref@stanford.edu)
• Roger Kornberg. Nobel Organization video interview
• Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka. Nobel Organization video interview
• Martin Perl. Nobel Organization video interview
• Burton Richter. Nobel Organization video interview    Stanford Historical Society 2014  audio interview
• Stanford Video. History of SPIRES 1970-1990. SPIRES: Retrospectives by the Original Developers. Interview subjects include: Louise Addis, Hank Epstein, Dick Guertin, Bill Kiefer, Tom Martin, Ed Parker, John Schroeder, Lennie Stovel, Allen Veaner. Produced and Directed by Bo Parker and Harley Goes. [1990?] Stanford Historical Society Oral History Project.
• Richard E. Taylor. Nobel Organization video interview

Oral History Resources

• Stanford University Oral History Programs
• Guidance for interview preparation
  • AIP Center for History of Physics Remarks on Oral History Interviewing
• Sample Questions for physicists, engineers, computer scientists
  • AIP Center for History of Physics Skeleton Question List
• SLAC Oral History Permission Form (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

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