Sidney G. Hacker (1908-1984) was born in Denver, Colorado. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Colorado in 1929 and 1930 respectively. In 1931, Hacker married Evelyn White of Hollis, Oklahoma. He went on to become a Thaw Fellow at Princeton University, where he received his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 1934. He served as an Instructor of Mathematics at Indiana University, Bloomington, from 1934 to 1937, before joining Washington State College (today Washington State University) as a Professor of Mathematics. During his thirty-seven years at WSU (1937-1974), Dr. Hacker served in the Navy during WWII, holding a position until 1946 in the Research and Development Section on Rockets and Exterior Ballistics, and participated in the Armed Forces Special Weapons program with the Atomic Energy Commission in 1951. Between 1955 and 1966, he served as the Chair of the Department of Mathematics and helped create its Ph.D. program. Dr. Hacker is also credited with helping establish the Honors Program at WSU in 1960, served as first director for the James R. Jewett Observatory, designed the WSU Planetarium, and helped bring the first mainframe computer to WSU. In honor of his contributions to the university, the Department of Mathematics awards the Sidney G. and Evelyn Hacker Scholarship for Undergraduate Students.
This collection contains papers of Dr. Sidney Hacker, a Professor of Mathematics at Washington State University. The collection primarily consists of papers related to Dr. Hacker's time as a professor at WSU, including lecture notes, copies of publications, research notes, and book manuscript materials. The collection also includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, department and university proposals, and WSU event programs.
Preliminary Inventory:
MS.1984.09
Box 1: Papers related to Hacker's time as a professor at WSU, including lectures created by Hacker for numerous astronomy courses (circa 1960-1970).
Box 2: Papers related to Hacker's time as a professor at WSU, including copies of lectures by other math professors (1939-1942, 1962, and 1972), lectures created by Hacker for numerous math and astronomy courses (circa 1960s), and copies of a book manuscript on arithmetical view points (1948).
Box 3: Papers related to Hacker's work at WSU, between 1935 and 1970, including research notes, correspondence, programs for Honors College events, copies of Hacker's publications (including a copy of "Arithmetical View Points", 1948) and other publications on mathematics, a scrapbook related to "Arithmetical View Points", and lectures created by Hacker for numerous astronomy courses (circa 1960s).
Boxes 4-6: Papers related to work at WSU, between 1917 and 1980, including research notes, book manuscript materials, copies of publications, proposals for math and astronomy programs, copies of his book "Theoretical Astrophysics", as well as teaching materials such as lecture notes.
Box 8: Papers related to Hacker's time as a professor at WSU, including lectures created by Hacker for numerous math and astronomy courses (circa 1970s).
MS.1984.16
Box 1: Papers related to Hacker's time as a student and as a professor, including lecture notes on number theory from the University of Colorado in 1929, lectures created by Hacker for numerous WSU math courses in 1955, 1972, 1973, and 1974, as well as a manuscript on integral equations.
MS.2002.10
(Location note: filed with MS.1984.09)
Photographs, postcards, a newspaper clipping of Hacker's wedding announcement, and a Navy Reserves identification card.
This is an unprocessed collection. Arrangement reflects a pre-existing order from the records’ creators or previous custodians.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
Preliminary Guide to the Sidney G. Hacker Papers, circa 1910-1980 (MSSM.074)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Received by Washington State University Libraries from Evelyn Hacker in 1984 (MS.1984.09 and MS.1984.16) and from Robert Ferguson of WSU Libraries in 2002 (MS.2002.10).
A folder with materials pertaining to the construction of the Jewett Observatory was removed and transferred to the University Archives for separate processing.
A copy of the "First Decade of the University Honors Program (1960-1970)" was removed and transferred to the University Archives for separate processing.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.