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Margy and Martin Meyerson Collection
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Archives at the Library of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies [Contact Us]420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3703
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Archives at the Library of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Martin Meyerson was the fifth president of the University of Pennsylvania, from 1970-1981, and was associated with Penn for over fifty years. With his background in city planning, he brought a unique perspective to the university, focusing on producing cutting-edge research to benefit society.
He began his academic career in 1948 at the University of Chicago before coming to Penn in 1952 as an associate professor of city and regional planning. In 1957, he left for Harvard University and later served as dean of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he served as acting chancellor during the student unrest of the Free Speech movement. He then served as president of the State University of New York at Buffalo before returning to Penn as president in 1970. During his tenure, which lasted until 1981, he oversaw the consolidation of several colleges and programs into the School of Arts and Sciences.
After leaving the presidency, Meyerson remained active at Penn as University Professor of Public Policy Analysis and City and Regional Planning and as chair of the University of Pennsylvania Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania Press, the Institute for Research on Higher Education, and the Monell Chemical Senses Center. He was also co-chair of Penn's 250th anniversary celebration. Meyerson also served on the boards of the Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences, the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, and the Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response. He also chaired the University's Fels Center of Government program until February 1996. With his wife, Margy, he was co-president of the Friends of the Library, in which capacity they served on the Library's Board of Overseers.
As an expert on national, regional, urban, and industrial development, Meyerson was a United Nations advisor and delegate, as well as a consultant to several West African nations and to the Governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. He founded London's Centre for Environmental Studies and Japan's International Centre for the Study of East Asian Development and was an advisor to France's Institut National de la Communication Audiovisuelle. He served as Chair of the International Institute for Education and President of the International Association of Universities and held leadership positions with dozens of American organizations dedicated to urban affairs, education, science, foreign policy, conservation, and the arts. He served on several White House task forces and on the councils of a number of government agencies.
His books included Politics, Planning, and the Public Interest, Housing, People, and Cities, The Conscience of the City, and Boston: The Job Ahead. With Dr. Dilys Winegrad, director and curator of the Arthur Ross Gallery, he wrote Gladly Learn and Gladly Teach, a history of Penn. He also co-authored Face of the Metropolis.
(Excerpts from University of Pennsylvania News, "Death of President Emeritus Martin Meyerson" June 6, 2007).
The Margy and Martin Meyerson collection has been arranged into eighteen subjects by topic:
1) Building Israel: Land, Planning, etc. 2) Building Israel: Politics 3) Investment in Israel 4) Jewish Community 5) Education 6) Art and Fashion 7) Social Studies 8) Tour Itinerary (n.d.) 9) Tourist Information: Maps, Pamphlets, etc. 10) World Jewish Congress 11) Holocaust 12) Israeli/Cairo 13) Israel/ Diaspora 14) Papers & Memorabilia 15) Pamphlets & Articles 16) Oriental Amulets 17) Boston Globe Magazine: Gaza: 18) Israel Pocket Library Books
The Oriental Amulets (4 items) have been shelved separately.
People
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Archives at the Library of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Finding Aid Author
- Michelle Chesner
- Finding Aid Date
- 9/4/09
- Access Restrictions
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No restrictions