Lynn Weaver to Provide Materials to Florida Tech Archive
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Lynn Weaver, an electrical engineer by training who guided Florida Institute of Technology for 15 years as its third president until retiring in 2002, has agreed to deposit his papers and related materials in the Harry P. Weber University Archives at Evans Library.
Weaver is president emeritus of Florida Tech.
The materials he is providing reflect both of Weaver’s passions: his leadership of Florida Tech, which saw a strengthening of its academic status, physical plant, budget, endowment and research programs during his tenure; and his standing as an international authority on energy issues and nuclear engineering.
“I’m very pleased that Florida Tech now has the university archives,” Weaver said. “It’s vital to preserve the record of our institutional history, and I’m confident the materials will be extremely well cared for.”
Sohair Wastawy, dean of libraries, added, “As the first set of presidential records, Dr. Weaver’s papers will form the nucleus of the Harry P. Weber University Archives.”
The materials include records from Weaver’s time at Florida Tech, including documentation of the early stages of the F. W. Olin grants and buildings from 1995 to 2002. He was instrumental in securing for the school $64 million in grants from the F. W. Olin Foundation, which was used to erect new buildings for engineering and life sciences and physical sciences, and to establish a number of endowed scholarships.
Other materials include photographs, articles, editorials, written and recorded speeches, and a wide array of correspondence, all documenting Weaver’s contributions to both his field and the nation’s understanding of nuclear energy at crucial points in American history.
Among the correspondence is a letter from 1964 from the former governor of Arizona, Paul Fannin, to Weaver thanking him for his service on the state’s Atomic Energy Committee, which guided the creation of the Arizona Atomic Energy Commission. There is also a letter from U.S. Sen. J. Bennett Johnson to Weaver in October 1981 discussing Weaver’s input on national nuclear waste policy, as well as copies of his testimony before congressional committees as the chairman of the Coordinating Committee on Energy of the American Association of Engineering Societies.
In addition to illustrating Weaver’s remarkable tenure as a leader, educator and expert, the collection also touches on his involvement and interaction with governmental agencies, international and national organizations, and key individuals.
University Archivist Erin Mahaney said Weaver’s collection will provide a rich trove of potential research material.
“The acquisition of this collection would have been groundbreaking for the university archives at any point, but I’m delighted that Dr. Weaver felt that this was the right time to place his materials with us,” she said. “Dr. Weaver’s papers have fascinating research value not only for institutional history, but for a number of other topics, making this collection appealing to researchers on several levels.”
The recent establishment of a formal archive collection at Florida Tech encouraged Weaver to deposit his papers with the university.
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