Most of the records generated during the administration of William A. Nierenberg (1965-1986), a considerable number are from the administration of Roger Randell Dougan Revelle (1951-1964) and Fred Noel Spiess (1964-1965), Acting Director (1961-1963). A few records date back to 1904, but these are generally copies of original documents housed in SIO archives and are kept in the Director's office files for reference. These records consist primarily of the SIO Director's office central files generated by William A. Nierenberg, Asst. Directors George L. Matson and Jeffery D. Frautschy and other staff members. They include correspondence, memoranda, reports, proposals, minutes and other documents relating to daily administration of SIO and its interactions with other institutions and agencies. The collection includes material on all Scripps administrative units, including extensive files on the Deep Sea Drilling Project. The collection includes files on conferences and symposia held at Scripps, files on distinguished visitors, and files documenting the development of the Scripps campus. There is also material on gifs and endowments, international cooperation, personel issues, institution financial affairs and relationship with the State of California. Committee files include material documenting internal Scripps committees. Large groups of records document the relations between Scripps and federal and international agencies, as well as cooperation with other University of California institutions.