Sutherland, Gordon Brims Black McIvor, Sir, 1907-1980
Sir Gordon McIvor Sutherland papers and correspondence, 1921-1982.
The papers provide some documentation for most aspects of Sutherland's career, apart from the two periods at Michigan for which there is virtually nothing. For the 1930s there is extensive correspondence but no laboratory records; there is a full sequence of letters exchanged with H. W. Thompson, 1937-1947. There are memoranda and correspondence relating to the internal administration and policy of the National Physical Laboratory, also to the formation of the International Organisation for Pure and Applied Biophysics in which Sutherland played a leading part. Correspondence and drafts on science policy, the 'brain drain,' university expansion, and education are also included.
M.A. in mathematics and B.Sc. in Physics (1929) from St. Andrews University, Scotland. He then spent 2 years in Cambridge where he decided to abandon theoretical physics in favor of experimental work on infrared spectra, an interest which continued throughout his career. The award of a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship enabled Sutherland to spend two years at the University of Michigan studying infrared spectroscopy under D.M. Dennison. He returned to Cambridge in 1933, obtained his Ph.D the next year and continued his research in Cambridge until 1949. During the Second World War he developed the use of infrared techniques in the analysis of 'enemy' fuels which his team undertook in collaboration with H.W. Thompson (q.v.) in Oxford. In 1949 he returned to Michigan as Professor of Physics where he built up a successful infrared research group with a strong emphasis on biophysical studies. In 1956 he was appointed as Director of the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington in succession to E.C. Bullard (q.v.), where he remained until 1964 when he became Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He was elected FRS in 1949.
Thompson, Harold Warris, 1908-1983.
National Physical Laboratory (Great Britain) -- Administration.
Brain drain.
Science and state.
Universities and colleges.
Memorandums. ftamc aat
International Organisation for Pure and Applied Biophysics.
AIP-ICOS
Cambridge University. Library. Department of Manuscripts and University Archives. West Road, Cambridge, CH3 9DR