University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Materials Research Center

Although the Materials Research Center was formally established in 1965, its program began in 1961 with a grant to the university from the U.S. Dept. of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) for basic research in the materials sciences. From 1961 to 1965 the program was administered jointly by the Departments of Physics and Chemistry. In 1965 it was placed under the administrative supervision of the Vice Chancellor for Advanced Studies and Research; when that office was dismantled in 1967, the Materials Research Center was placed under the Provost, where it remained until its cessation in 1979.

While the Materials Research Center was established in 1965, its program began in 1961 with a grant to the University from the U.S. Dept. of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) for basic research in the materials sciences. From 1961 to 1965 the progam was administered jointly by the Departments of Physics and Chemistry. In 1965 it was placed under the administrative supervision of the Vice Chancellor for Advanced Studies and Research; when that office was dismantled in 1967, the materials Research Center was placed under the Provost, where it remained until its cessation in 1979.

While the Materials Research Center was not formally established until 1965, its program originated in an October 1961 grant from the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The grant was made under the ARPA program for Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Basic Research in Materials Sciences; this funding lasted until 30 June 1971. Beginning in fiscal year 1971-1972, the center received annual grants from the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research and from the Army Research Office's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

During its first four years (1961-1965), the program was jointly administered by the chairmen of the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics. In December 1965, Dr. Everett D. Palmatier, newly appointed Vice Chancellor for Advanced Studies and Research, created the Materials Research Center to administer the program. The center was headed by a director, who was assisted by an executive committee. The latter was composed of the chairmen of the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics, an additional appointee from the two departments, and a fifth member from the biomedical area. In September 1967, the Division of Advanced Studies and Research was dismantled, and the Materials Research Center was placed in the Division of Academic Affairs.

During its thirteen-and-one-half-year existence, the Materials Research Center sought to expand opportunities for basic research and training in the materials sciences by supplying funding to researchers in solid state physics (for example, defect studies, Fermi surfaces in metals, radiation damage, thin films, super-conductivity), in certain areas of chemistry (for example, electrochemistry, trace analysis, transition metal compounds, organic semiconductors), and in certain fields of biomedicine (for example, effects of body fluids on prosthetic materials, dental material problems). On 30 June 1979, with the termination of National Science Foundation funding, the Materials Research Center ceased to function as an administrative unit of the Universityof North Carolina at Chapel Hill.