Vernon J. Ehlers Collection, 1955-2010 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

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Collection Overview

Title: Vernon J. Ehlers Collection, 1955-2010

ID: COLL/525

Primary Creator: Vernon James Ehlers (1934-2017)

Extent: 93.0 Boxes

Arrangement: Folder level description

Abstract

Professor of physics at Calvin College; and a politician (Kent County Board Commissioner, State Representative, State Senator, and Federal Congressman). The collection details Ehlers’ political career including committee service and bills sponsored/co-sponsored, plus his earlier academic career. The collection includes biographical data, resolutions, reports, news releases, memorandums, correspondence, notes, speeches, bills, proclamations, acts, concept papers, house statements, articles, remarks, political campaign material, testimonies, debates, awards, papers, interviews, handouts, studies, appointment books/cards/lists/schedules/sheets, news clippings, videos, cassettes, DVDs, posters, photographs, and artifacts.

Biographical Note

Vernon James Ehlers is the youngest of the four children of Rev. John William Christian and Alice Cornelia (née Doorn) Ehlers, born on 6 Feb 1934 in Pipestone, MN. He suffered from severe asthma as a child and as a consequence was unable to attend school. He was home- and self-schooled and received a diploma from Edgerton (MN) Christian School and did his high school work via correspondence. He attended Calvin College, 1952-1955; and the University of California, Berkeley, from which he received an AB in 1956 and a PhD in 1960; his doctoral dissertation was “The Nuclear Spins and Moments of Several Radioactive Gallium Isotopes.”

He taught and conducted scientific research at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, 1956-1966, and joined the Physics Department of Calvin College in 1966, ultimately serving as department chair. He was a member of the Faculty Organization Study Committee (FOSCO), 1968-1977, that developed a new faculty governance system for the college, whose enrollment had grown from 500 in 1945 to 3,200 when Ehlers joined the faculty. He left the college faculty in 1983 to serve in the Michigan Legislature.

Ehlers was elected to the Kent County Board of Commissioners, 1975-1983; the Michigan House of Representatives, 1983-1985; and the Michigan Senate, 1985-1993. In 1993 he won a special election in Michigan’s 5^th District (later 3^rd), after the death of former fellow faculty member Congress Member Paul B. Henry (Coll. 357) and won a full term in 1994, and subsequent elections, serving until 2011.

Ehlers married Johanna Meulink on 14 Jun 1958; they have four children: Heidi, Brian, Marla, and Todd. The Ehlers were founding members of Faith Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, Walnut Creek, CA, in 1961.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Personal, 1955-2010],
[Series 2: Student Years, 1955-1960],
[Series 3: Post Graduate Correspondence, 1960-1967],
[Series 4: Research, 1962-1968],
[Series 5: Class Lectures, 1967-1979],
[Series 6: Student Evaluations, 1979-1982, n.d.],
[Series 7: Calvin College Faculty, 1963-1983],
[Series 8: Kent County Board of Commissioners, 1878-1982],
[Series 9: Michigan House of Representatives and Senate, 1982-1993],
[Series 10: United States Congress, 1993-2012],
[Series 11: United States Congress, 1993-2012],
[Series 12: Election campaigns],
[Series 13: Legislation],
[Series 14: Reference material],
[Series 15: Invitations],
[Series 16: Awards and Honors],
[Series 17: Subject files],
[Series 18: Photographs],
[Series 19: Media Relations],
[Series 20: Ehlers' Campaigns],
[Series 21: Constituent Gifts],
[Series 22: Aeronautics and Aerospace],
[Series 23: Plaques and Awards],
[Series 24: Certificates],
[Series 25: Photographs],
[Series 26: Republican Party],
[Series 27: Buttons, Decals, Patches, Memorabilia],
[Series 28: Legislation],
[Series 29: Miscellaneous],
[All]

Series 4: Research --- 1962-1968

Box 4

Folder 32: "Hyperfine Structure Separations and Nuclear Moments of Callium-68" --- 1962
Folder 33: "Nuclear Spin and Magnetic Dipole Moment of 39-Min Gold-190" UC Berkeley --- 1965
Folder 34: "Nuclear Magnetic Moment, Hyperfine Structure and Hyperfine Anomaly of AG 110" UC Berkeley --- 1966
Folder 35: "Precision Measurement of Electronic G. Factors of Alkali Metals" UC Berkeley --- 1967
Folder 36: "Nuclear Spin, Hyperfine-Structure Separation" UC Berkeley --- 1967
Folder 37: "Hyperfine-Structure Measurements on DY 161 and DY 163 UC Berkeley" --- 1967
Folder 38: "Hyperfine Structure of 67GA and 72GA" UC Berkeley --- 1968

Box 5

Folder 1: UC Berkeley, Atomic Beam Group Seminar --- 1960-1962
Folder 2: Lecture notes for Physics 121 UC Berkeley --- 1961
Folder 3: Notes on lectures -Nuclear Structures and Decay in Heidelberg, Germany --- 1961
Folder 4: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 132 Course UC Berkeley --- 1962
Folder 5: Notes on Nuclear Models -UC Berkeley --- 1962
Folder 6: VJE courses taken at UC Berkeley -Atomic Beam Seminar --- 1963-1964
Folder 7: Lecture Notes for Physics 10 Course -UC Berkeley --- 1963

Box 6

Folder 1: Material for Physics 10 Course -UC Berkeley --- 1964
Folder 2: "Hyperfine -Structure Separation, Nuclear Magnetic Moment, and Structure Anomaly of Cesium-131" UC Berkeley --- 1965
Folder 3: Material for Math 223A course, UC Berkeley --- 1965
Folder 4: Lecture notes for Physics 105 course, UC Berkeley --- 1965
Folder 5: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 105B course, UC Berkeley --- 1965
Folder 6: Abstracts presented to Conference on Physics of Free Atoms, UC Berkeley --- 1966
Folder 7: "Hyperfine Structure Measurements on DY161 and DY163" --- 1966
Folder 8: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 112 course, UC Berkeley --- 1966

Box 7

Folder 1: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 10 course --- 1966
Folder 2: Lab experiment for Physical Science course 110 --- 1966
Folder 3: Problems and Tests for Physical Science 110 course --- 1966
Folder 4: Lecture notes for Physics 110 and 110L at Calvin College --- 1966
Folder 5: Notes on Math-Physics Seminar on Group Theory --- 1967
Folder 6: Final exam for Physical Science course --- 1967
Folder 7: Problems and tests for Physical Science course --- 1967
Folder 8: Problems and tests for Physical 112 course --- 1967
Folder 9: "Nuclear Magnetic Moment of 85RB: Resolving a Discrepancy" Calvin College --- 1967
Folder 10: "Hyperfine Structure Separations, Nuclear Magnetic Moments . . . of Gold-198 and Gold-199" --- 1967