creator:

Ruth  Bowman Swenson

title:

Papers

dates:

1924-2005

extent:

6.79 linear feet (11 document boxes, 7 half-document boxes)

collection number:

RS 13/1/51

repository:

University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

access:

Open for research

publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

preferred citation:

Ruth W. Swenson Papers, RS 13/1/51, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Biographical note

Ruth Carolyn Bowman was born on July 16. 1924, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the only child of Charles and Dorothy Bowman.  She grew up in a Pennsylvania mining community and spent all of her summers at Fairfield Beach, Connecticut with her family.  After graduating at the top of her class at West Pittston High School, Bowman entered Mount Holyoke College in 1942.  Four years later, she graduated Magnum Cum Laude and emerged with an A.B. in chemistry.  In 1947, she married William Cooper Wildman, a fellow graduate in chemistry at the University of Illinois, where it took just one year for Wildman to earn a Masters of Science degree.  After working for three years, she paused for the next fifteen years in order to raise a family.  While teaching at Princeton, her husband earned the Guggenheim Fellowship, which took the family to Switzerland in 1960.  She trekked to Scandinavia, Brazil, and Japan, among other places during those years.  The moved to Ames, Iowa in 1962 when her husband was offered a faculty position in the Chemistry Department at Iowa State University.  With two sons in high school she decided it was time to obtain a Ph.D., this time in cell biology, from Iowa State University.  After successfully meeting the doctoral requirements in 1969, she immediately became Assistant Professor of Botany, a position she held until 1975.

Just as she made a mid-academic switch from chemistry to cell biology, Wildman made a career change from scientist to administrator.  In 1980, while serving as Assistant Dean for the College of Science and Humanities (precursor to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), She remarried long-time friend, Clayton Albert Swenson, a distinguished professor of physics.  She took a six-month faculty leave in 1984 at Los Alamos National Laboratory and interviewed research and development directors in biotechnology companies and national laboratories to determine what they were looking for in employee qualifications.  On returning to Ames, she was elected to the board of the Iowa Academy of Science and the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).  Since 1987, Swenson has been Professor Emerita of the Sciences.  Utilizing both fields has helped her to promote science careers for women.  In 1989, she was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame.  In retirement, she remains active with university related activities, civic participation, and travel.

Collection Description

This collection primarily documents Swenson’s career as an administrator at Iowa State University, however some of her scientific work is included.  In an administrative Swenson championed many causes, as evidenced by her membership in numerous organizations.  Perhaps most important is how she successfully advocated science as a career for women.  Swenson’s papers depict a career oriented, active, and involved woman.  For the most part, the collection deals with her public and professional life.

The Biographical and Personal Documents series contains various certificates and letters from important events in Swenson’s life, such as her birth, marriages, academic, and professional career.  This folder also contains some pictures not found in the Photographs series.  Given that Swenson is a meticulous person, she has provided an inventory of every item in this folder.  Particularly helpful is her curriculum vitae, located at the back of the folder.

Major components of the Correspondence series include professional, personal, and miscellaneous letters.  Although the bulk of the correspondence dates from 1977 to 1993, it shows the vast number of contacts and friends Swenson has made throughout her life.  Most of the correspondence contains congratulatory remarks regarding her initiation into the Iowa Women’s hall of fame.

The Scientist series contains three sub-series.  “Student” contains Swenson’s undergraduate thesis, “Distributed Quinolines,” and Ph.D. dissertation, “Studies on Nucleoplasm and the Photosynthetic Pigment System of Blue-green Algae” Her cell biology publications and in some cases the data and slides which accompany the articles are located in the “Professional Biological Research” sub-series, as is the textbook she co-authored.  Moreover, the Iowa Academy of Science” sub-series depicts the roles she played fir this organization as President.  Especially strong in this sub-series are the minutes from board meetings; however, records from the committees on which she served also appear.  The collection lacks teaching materials from her days as a Professor of Botany.

Within the Administrator series are with sub-series that highlight various aspects of Swenson’s life after she made a mid-career switch from science.  “ISU Quarter to Semester Transition,” consists of records that document the academic calendar transition and Swenson’s involvement in it as the Semester Transition Information Committee Chair.  In “Speeches/Talks,” there are materials, mainly in her own hand, pertinent to the speeches, seminars, and symposia that she gave from 1977 to 2000.  “National Academic Advising Association (NACADA),” holds the task reports she authored and co-authored.  Some of the nine task reports found in this sub-series have been recognized as ‘Best of the Year’ within the NACADA organization, which attempts to improve the quality of advising students with special needs (i.e. adults, minorities, et cetera) at the college level.  Swenson was granted a one-year leave period in 1984-1985 to conduct interviews at scientific sites across the country, which can be located in the “Faculty Improvement Interviews” sub-series.  “Grant Proposals” is comprised of four programs that Swenson lobbied for in the late 1980s.  In particular, box 8, folders 4-8, show a proposal made at the Iowa Scientific Foundation about promoting science for women.  This sub-series is significant because it shows Swenson’s tenacity—she has worked hard to get women involved in science throughout her life.  “Honors Seminar: ‘Biotechnology:  Hype of Hope?’” contains syllabus, assignments, and exams administered for this 1986 course.  Moreover, the course evaluations show Swenson to be an excellent professor.  “Trip to Peoples’ Republic of China,” contains itineraries, notes, and her remarks of the two-week excursion made in 1986 with thirteen other academic deans from across the country.  Finally, located within the “Program for Women in Science and Engineering sub-series are committee works and notes taken during her time in the organization.

"Grant proposals" is comprised of four programs that Swenson lobbied for in the late-1980s. In particular, Box 8, folders 4-8, show a proposal made to the Iowa Scientific Foundation about promoting science for women. This sub-series is significant because it shows Swenson's tenacity-- she has worked hard to get women involved in science throughout her life. "Honors seminar: 'Biotechnology: Hype or Hope?"' contains the syllabus, assignments, and exams she administered for this 1986 course. Moreover, the course evaluations show Swenson to be an excellent professor. "Trip to Peoples' Republic of China," contains itineraries, notes, and her remarks of the two-week excursion made in 1986 with thirteen other academic deans from across the country. Finally, located within the "Program for Women in Science and Engineering" sub-series are committee works and notes taken during her time in this organization.

The fifth series, Photographs, contains about sixty pictures of Swenson's parents, childhood friends, and favorite travel spots. Unlike the rest of the collection, all of the years of her life are represented within the Photographs series. The other four series lack a great deal between the years 1949-1967, the time she spent raising her family.

1

1

Biographical and Personal Documents

1924-2005

2

1

Correspondence, Personal, Congratulatory, Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame

1989

2

2

Correspondence, Personal, Congratulatory, Miscellaneous

1989

2

3

Correspondence, Personal, Contacts from China Trip

1987-1987

2

4

Correspondence, Professional, Mount Holyoke Alumni Quarterly

1985

2

5

Correspondence, Professional, Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame

1989

2

6

Correspondence, Professional, Iowa Academy of Science

1989

2

7

Correspondence, Miscellaneous

1977-1993

3

1

Undergraduate thesis

1946

3

2

Dissertation

1969

3

3

Dissertation: plate numbers and magnifications

1969

4

1

Science journal publications

1948-1988

4

2

Phycobilisomes -- data and slides

1974

4

3

Influence of Blue-green Algae on the pH and Buffer Capacity of Culture Media

1974

4

5

Phytoferrin Associated with Yellowing in Leaves

1976

4

6

Development and Germination of Akinetes of Aphanizomenen Flos-aqaue

1975

4

7

Improving water quality Completion report

1975

4

8

Improving water quality Completion report

1979

4

9

Selected paper in phycology collection

1981

4

10

Book: Becoming a Biologist

1974

5

3-12

Iowa Academy of Science Board Meetings

1986-1990

5

1

Iowa Academy of Science Symposium on coal

1977

5

2

Iowa Academy of Science Ad hoc publications committee

1986

5

13

Iowa Academy of Science Controversial issues committee

1986-1990

5

14

Iowa Academy of Science Election committee

1991-1992

6

9-11

Iowa Academy of Science Speech

1985-1989

6

1-2

ISU quarter to semester transition

1980-1981

6

23-24

Women in Science and Engineering summer interns Speech

1991-1992

6

3

Iowa Science, Engineering, and Humanities Symposium      

Speech

1978

6

4

Simpson College Speech

1984

6

5

Perspectives in Biology Seminar Speech

1985

6

6

University of Northern Iowa's Seminar on Biotechnology Speech

1986

6

7

Drake University Speech

1987

6

8

ISU Career Day Speech

1988

6

12

Elementary Teachers Institute Speech

1989

6

13

Iowa Women's Hall of Fame Speech

1989

6

14

Iowa State University’s Women in Science and Engineering Scholarship Awards dinner Speech

1989

6

15

Women in Agriculture, Sigma Alpha Delta Chapter Speech

1989

6

16

Martin Luther King Day award Speech

1990

6

17

Governor's Conference on Women and Minorities in Science and Mathematics Speech

1990

6

18

Alumni Hall plaque dedication Speech

1990

6

19

President's banquet, Drake University Speech

1990

6

20

Public symposium Speech

1990

6

21

Introduction to John Chrystal's speech to ISU retirees

1990

6

22

Presentation of Laura Vernon Awards Speech

1991

6

25

Introductory remarks for an ISU retiree Speech

1991

6

26

Liberal Arts and Sciences retirees to meet Dean Elizabeth

Hoffman Speech

1993

6

27

Over 60 Club Speech

1993

7

1-9

National Academic Advising Association Task Reports

1983-1987

7

10

Faculty improvement interviews, industry

1984-1985

7

11

Faculty improvement interviews, toxicology

1984-1985

7

12

Faculty improvement interviews, genetics

1984-1985

7

13

Faculty improvement interviews, experimental pathology

1984-1985

7

14

Faculty improvement interviews, environmental science

1984-1985

7

15

Faculty improvement interviews, outside life sciences

1984-1985

7

16

Faculty improvement interviews, summaries

1984-1985

7

17

Faculty improvement interviews, Los Alamos National Laboratory

1984

8

1-8

Grant Proposals

1985-1990

8

9

Honors seminar: Biotechnology: Hype or Hope?

1986

8

10

Trip to Peoples' Republic of China

1986

9

5-6

Photographs

1924-1991

9

1

National Science Foundation report: Project to Attract and Retain Women Science Majors

1977

9

2

Program for Women in Science and Engineering, Planning committee

1986-1993

9

3

Program for Women in Science and Engineering, Advisory Board

1988

9

4

Program for Women in Science and Engineering, Miscellaneous notes

1986

10

10-12

ISU Research brochures

1984-1986

10

1

Iowa Governor’s Priorities

1989

10

2

ISU Biotech administrators

1985

10

3

Masters (Biotech)

1985

10

4

Biotech/Working file

1986

10

5

Ag Bioethics Forum

1993

10

6

Ag Bioethics Forum

1989

10

7

Bioethics (empty)

n.d.

10

8

Sustainable Agriculture/Ground water Protection

1988-1990

10

9

ISU Biological Sciences

1990

10

13

Preps Office resources/paper

1985-1986

10

14

ISU Research brochures

1984-1987

10

15

ISU Research Centers

1986

10

16

Research Parks

1985-1990

11

1

Image Analysis Facility

1988

11

2

Iowa Biotechnology Consortium

1988

11

3

ISU Research brochures ISU Research brochures

1984

11

4

Biotechnology-Drake University

1987

11

5

ISU/Biotechnology liaison

1987

11

6