Finding Aid to the Papers of Hein Hvatum
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| See also the Papers of Woodruff T. Sullivan III, which include a 47 minute oral interview with Hvatum conducted in 1985. |
Contents:
Location of collection: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Archives, 520 Edgemont Rd., Charlottesville, VA. Phone: 1-434-296-0203, email: archivist at nrao.edu Title and dates of the collection: Papers of Hein Hvatum, currently being processed, 1959-1983 Size of the collection: 6 linear feet. Papers/Records created by: Hein Hvatum (1923-2008) Short description of collection: The collection includes material related to Hvatum's work as NRAO and US representative to various spectrum management and radio frequency allocation committees and organization, as well as general correspondence.
Biography: Hein Hvatum was born on 17 April 1923 in Tonsberg, Norway. He received his M. Sc. in Electronics Engineering in 1954 and his Ph. D. in Electronics in 1958, both from Chalmers Institute of Technology. He was Associate Professor in Electronics at Chalmers from 1954-1958, Research Associate at National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 1958-1960, and then Associate Professor at Chalmers, 1960-1961. In 1961 Hvatum returned to NRAO, where he spent the rest of his career. He was Head, Electronics Division, 1961-1965; Assistant Director, 1965-1972; Associate Director, 1972-1986; and Acting Director, October-December 1984. He served as VLBA Project Manager, 1985-1986, and VLBA Deputy Project manager 1986-July 1987, and retired at the end of 1987. Hvatum guided many of the technical activities at NRAO, including telescope design and maintenance, electronics, and computing, and he was active in both national and international programs for the protection of radio frequencies for radio astronomy. His life-long interest in trains prompted NRAO staff to name the first VLA antenna transporter "Hein's Trein." He was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Radio Science Union (URSI), the American Astronomical Society (AAS), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Throughout his life, Hvatum was an ardent bicyclist, and regularly led after-work rides as well as longer rides like the annual weekend ride from Charlottesville, Virginia to Green Bank, West Virginia (and back) to attend the NRAO Green Bank Summer Picnic. He was the founder of what became the "Hein Hvatum Memorial VLA Bicycle Challenge," a bicycle ride from Socorro, New Mexico to the VLA site and back (with several options for shorter rides). He was an active Extra-class amateur radio operator with call sign N4FWA, regularly organized community emergency preparedness drills, and served for many years as American Radio Relay League Emergency Coordinator for Albemarle County, Virginia. Hvatum died on 22 May 2008. [Biographical note written by Ellen N. Bouton.] Accession history: Materials originally transferred to Archives from storage in Green Bank warehouse. Access to collection: No restrictions. The Archives are open part-time; contact the Archivist for appointment. Restrictions on use of collection: None. Publication rights: Copyright has been assigned to the NRAO/AUI Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Preferred citation: National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Associated Universities, Inc. Archives, Papers of Hein Hvatum, <series/unit/subunit/box #>. After the initial citation, abbreviations may be used: NRAO/AUI Archives, Hvatum Papers, <series/unit/subunit/box #>. Processing notes: Initial inventory of this collection was done in 2024 by Ellen N. Bouton. Final arrangement, description, indexing, foldering and boxing of this material was done in 2026. During the processing, photocopies were made to replace thermofax sheets and newspaper clippings, fasteners were removed, and materials were removed from binders of various types. Duplicates were discarded. Spectrum Management Series: This series contains notes, papers, correspondence, and committee documents gathered by Hvatum during his service on the U.S. Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF), the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC), the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR), and the IAU-URSI-COSPAR Inter-Union Committee on the Allocation of Frequencies (IUCAF). For additional materials on spectrum management, see the Records of NRAO, the Papers of John W. Findlay, the Papers of A. Richard Thompson, and the CORF Subunit in the Papers of Kenneth I. Kellermann as well as unprocessed materials from Christopher Reynolds and Stefan Wasik.
Correspondence Series: General and topical correspondence, 1959-1982. Size: 0.5 linear feet. Click here for a folder listing. Lab Notebooks Series: Three lab notebooks on various topics, 1962-1969. Size: 0.25 linear feet. Click here for a folder listing. |