Energy Research Institute records

Record Group

Identifier: RG-08-100

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The records of the Energy Research Institute (ERI) range in date from 1979 to 1985. Most of the records are the product of Administrative Assistant Mary Susan Prescott, who served under the three directors of the Institute: Dr. Owen Phillips, Professor and Chairman of Earth and Planetary Sciences (1980-1981), Dr. Joseph L. Katz, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering (1981-1983), and Dr. Wilfrid Kohl, Research Professor of International Relations at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Director of the International Energy Program for the Johns Hopkins Policy Institute (1983-1985). The record group is divided into four series: (1) Administrative Records, 1979-1985; (2) Development, 1981-1984; (3) Publications and Symposia, 1981-1985; and (4) Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), 1979- 1982. The records include a wide range of materials, such as Council minutes, proposals for Energy Studies curricula, grant proposals, symposia transcripts and the publications of OTEC. Of particular interest are those records which reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the Institute.

Dates

Creation: 1979-1985

Creator

Energy Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins University (Organization)

Use Restrictions

Administrative records in series 1 and 2 are restricted for twenty-five years from their date of creation.

History

The Energy Research Institute was established in 1980 under the direction of Dr. Owen Phillips. An interdisciplinary group, faculty members from the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Hygiene, the Applied Physics Lab, and the School of Advanced International Studies participated in an effort to "encourage research and educational programs in the broad spectrum of energy- related fields at Johns Hopkins" (Dr. Owen Phillips, 10/1/80). The ERI hosted a number of in-house seminars and a two-day symposium "Energy: Challenges and Opportunities for the Middle Atlantic" (Jan. 10-11, 1983), publishing a two volume work under the same title. A newsletter circulated three to four times per year starting in 1981. In the years 1980-1982, ERI also became involved in the funding of an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion publication, "OTEC Construction in Maryland," and ERI director Owen Phillips served on the OTEC committee. "A Directory of Energy Related Research at JHU" was printed in 1982 and again in 1984. Plans for an undergraduate concentration and a graduate degree in Energy Studies never reached fruition as the University terminated the Institute's funding in 1985.