1962-1994
Manuscript Collection 22
(7 linear feet)
Processed by
Stuart Culy
Processing of this collection was partly supported by a grant
from
the Friends of the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of
Physics.
Access: Unrestricted.
Copyright:
Permission to publish material from the collection
must be authorized by the Institution Archivist.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Data Library and Archives
MS 8, Woods Hole, MA 02543
April 2001
Return to Archives page
Table of Contents
John M. Hunt was born in Cleveland, OH, in 1918 and received his B.A. in chemistry from Western Reserve University in 1941 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in organic chemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1943 and 1946, respectively. In 1947 he joined Standard Oil of New Jersey’s Exploration Research Laboratory in Tulsa, OK. Dr. Hunt joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry in 1964, serving in this capacity until 1974. Serving as Chief Scientist, Hunt led expeditions to the Red Sea in 1966 and the Black Sea in 1969. Dr. Hunt chose to step down as Chairman in 1974 in order to devote more time to his research as a Senior Scientist for WHOI. He was the first American to receive the Treibs Award, the highest international honor in organic geochemistry, in 1982. In 1984 he was named Scientist Emeritus at the Institution.
In 1964 Hunt became a Distinguished Lecturer of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). He worked as an Associate Editor of the Bulletin of the AAPG from 1966 until 1984. Dr. Hunt has been a member of the U.S. National Committee for Geochemistry sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES) Advisory Panel on Organic Chemistry and Passive Ocean Margins, the American Chemical Society, the AAPG, the Geochemistry Society, and the International Association of Geochemists and Cosmochemists. He has authored more than 100 publications on petroleum geochemistry, and a reference textbook entitled “Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology.” Dr. Hunt has testified before both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on oil pollution.
Dr. John M. Hunt donated his papers to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Data Library and Archives in 1999.
The Papers of John M. Hunt consist of 16 boxes of documents from 1962-1994 (7 linear feet). The files contain memorandum, letters, notes, reviews, proposals, charts, graphs, newspaper and magazine clippings, reports, maps, data, speeches, and translations. The bulk of the Papers reflect Dr. Hunt’s role as Head of the Chemistry Department and as a Senior Scientist of the Institution, 1964-1994. One series in the collection, INTEVEP, pertains to Dr. Hunt’s role as a paid consultant for INTEVEP, an affiliate of Petróleos de Venezuela (see series description, below). Other languages in the collection include Russian and Spanish.
Outgoing memorandum and letters with some incoming correspondence attached. Types of information include administrative correspondence, recruitment letters, scientific correspondence, formal and informal reviews, project and paper proposals, and recommendations. Gaps in dates correspond roughly with Dr. Hunt’s time at sea. Two (2) folders contain incoming correspondence of a similar nature, with some outgoing correspondence attached. Researchers should also see the “Correspondence” and “Subjects” series.
This series contains the same type of material as the “Chronological File”, but is arranged by subject. Some of this material is duplicative of the “Chronological File”. Researchers should also see the “Chronological File” and “Subjects” series.
Arranged alphabetically by subject, thereafter chronologically. Includes letters, memorandum, charts, maps, graphs, handwritten notes, reviews, clippings, reports, data, project proposals, proposal evaluations, and speeches. Researchers should also see the “Chronological File” and “Correspondence” series.
Correspondence related to Dr. Hunt’s paid consulting for INTEVEP, an energy corporation affiliated with Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Created in 1976, PDVSA is the parent company of the corporation, which is owned by the Republic of Venezuela, and charged with the development of the petroleum, petrochemical, and coal industry of that country.
English language translations from Russian of three (3) chapters of Chemical Composition of Crude Oils and Natural Gas in Relation to their Origin by V.A. Sokolov and M.A. Bestougeff, et al. English language translation from Russian of one (1) chapter of Petroleum Hydrocarbons by M.A. Bestougeff.
The papers were put into acid-free folders and boxes and labeled. Acidic and fragile papers were photocopied. Metal clips and staples were removed. Oversized items and photographs were segregated from the collection. With the exception of the “Subjects” series, the original order was maintained. The folders in the “Subjects” series were received in neither chronological nor alphabetical order, and were subsequently arranged in alphabetical order by subject. Original folder titles were kept when known.
Processing of this collection was partly supported by a grant from the Friends of the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics.
Additional materials relating to John M. Hunt include his oral history interview, and ship’s data from when Dr. Hunt served as Chief Scientist: Atlantis II, cruise 49-4 and Chain, cruise 61-6 and cruise 61-8.