Vernon J. Ehlers Collection, 1955-2010 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

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Collection Overview

Title: Vernon J. Ehlers Collection, 1955-2010

ID: COLL/525

Primary Creator: Vernon James Ehlers (1934-2017)

Extent: 93.0 Boxes

Arrangement: Folder level description

Abstract

Professor of physics at Calvin College; and a politician (Kent County Board Commissioner, State Representative, State Senator, and Federal Congressman). The collection details Ehlers’ political career including committee service and bills sponsored/co-sponsored, plus his earlier academic career. The collection includes biographical data, resolutions, reports, news releases, memorandums, correspondence, notes, speeches, bills, proclamations, acts, concept papers, house statements, articles, remarks, political campaign material, testimonies, debates, awards, papers, interviews, handouts, studies, appointment books/cards/lists/schedules/sheets, news clippings, videos, cassettes, DVDs, posters, photographs, and artifacts.

Biographical Note

Vernon James Ehlers is the youngest of the four children of Rev. John William Christian and Alice Cornelia (née Doorn) Ehlers, born on 6 Feb 1934 in Pipestone, MN. He suffered from severe asthma as a child and as a consequence was unable to attend school. He was home- and self-schooled and received a diploma from Edgerton (MN) Christian School and did his high school work via correspondence. He attended Calvin College, 1952-1955; and the University of California, Berkeley, from which he received an AB in 1956 and a PhD in 1960; his doctoral dissertation was “The Nuclear Spins and Moments of Several Radioactive Gallium Isotopes.”

He taught and conducted scientific research at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, 1956-1966, and joined the Physics Department of Calvin College in 1966, ultimately serving as department chair. He was a member of the Faculty Organization Study Committee (FOSCO), 1968-1977, that developed a new faculty governance system for the college, whose enrollment had grown from 500 in 1945 to 3,200 when Ehlers joined the faculty. He left the college faculty in 1983 to serve in the Michigan Legislature.

Ehlers was elected to the Kent County Board of Commissioners, 1975-1983; the Michigan House of Representatives, 1983-1985; and the Michigan Senate, 1985-1993. In 1993 he won a special election in Michigan’s 5^th District (later 3^rd), after the death of former fellow faculty member Congress Member Paul B. Henry (Coll. 357) and won a full term in 1994, and subsequent elections, serving until 2011.

Ehlers married Johanna Meulink on 14 Jun 1958; they have four children: Heidi, Brian, Marla, and Todd. The Ehlers were founding members of Faith Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, Walnut Creek, CA, in 1961.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Personal, 1955-2010],
[Series 2: Student Years, 1955-1960],
[Series 3: Post Graduate Correspondence, 1960-1967],
[Series 4: Research, 1962-1968],
[Series 5: Class Lectures, 1967-1979],
[Series 6: Student Evaluations, 1979-1982, n.d.],
[Series 7: Calvin College Faculty, 1963-1983],
[Series 8: Kent County Board of Commissioners, 1878-1982],
[Series 9: Michigan House of Representatives and Senate, 1982-1993],
[Series 10: United States Congress, 1993-2012],
[Series 11: United States Congress, 1993-2012],
[Series 12: Election campaigns],
[Series 13: Legislation],
[Series 14: Reference material],
[Series 15: Invitations],
[Series 16: Awards and Honors],
[Series 17: Subject files],
[Series 18: Photographs],
[Series 19: Media Relations],
[Series 20: Ehlers' Campaigns],
[Series 21: Constituent Gifts],
[Series 22: Aeronautics and Aerospace],
[Series 23: Plaques and Awards],
[Series 24: Certificates],
[Series 25: Photographs],
[Series 26: Republican Party],
[Series 27: Buttons, Decals, Patches, Memorabilia],
[Series 28: Legislation],
[Series 29: Miscellaneous],
[All]

Series 5: Class Lectures --- 1967-1979

Box 7

Folder 11: Notes for Physics 112 course at Calvin College --- 1967

Box 8

Folder 1: Notes for Physics 112 course at Calvin College --- 1967-1968
Folder 2: Material for Physics 110-110L courses at Calvin College --- 1967
Folder 3: Material for Physics 112 course at Calvin College --- 1968
Folder 4: Course material for CPOL 100 --- 1968
Folder 5: Correspondence and related material of Calvin Science Building dedication --- 1967-1968
Folder 6: Problems and tests for Physical Science 112 course --- 1968
Folder 7: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 375-376 courses --- 1968-1969
Folder 8: Galley proofs for Hyperfine Structure of 67GA and 72GA --- 1968

Box 9

Folder 1: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 110 course --- 1969
Folder 2: Course material for Physics 375 and 376 --- 1968, 1969
Folder 3: "Search for Electron Mass Shift in 133 CS in Intense Electromagnetic Field" Calvin College --- 1969
Folder 4: Problems and tests for Physical Science 110 course --- 1969
Folder 5: Problems, lab experiments, and tests for Physical Science 112 course --- 1970
Folder 6: Problems and experiments for Physical Science 110 course --- 1970
Folder 7: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 126 course --- 1971
Folder 8: Run 548 Experiment --- 1971
Folder 9: Material for Physics 112 course, Calvin College --- 1972

Box 10

Folder 1: Physics 112, test and evaluations --- 1972-1979
Folder 2: Material for Physics 126 course --- 1973
Folder 3: Copy for Scientific Inquiry and Science Teaching (pp 202-327) --- 1973
Folder 4: Physics 379, notes --- 1973-1975
Folder 5: Physics 126, test and evaluations --- 1973, 1975
Folder 6: Physics 345, tests and evaluations --- 1974
Folder 7: Physics 346 lecture notes, "E & M Optics" --- Fall 1974
Folder 8: Physical Science 110 lecture notes, summer --- 1974
Folder 9: Physics 382 and 390 --- 1974
Folder 10: Physics 346, test and evaluations --- 1974
Folder 11: Physics 110, notes and evaluations --- 1974

Box 11

Folder 1: Physics 345 "E & M" lecture notes --- Spring 1974
Folder 2: Material for new approach to teaching Physics 112 course --- undated
Folder 3: Book: Readings in Science Education --- 1974
Folder 4: Scientific Inquiry and Science Teaching (VJE) --- 1975
Folder 5: Lecture notes for interim photography courses, Calvin College --- 1973-1975
Folder 6: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 126 course --- 1975

Box 12

Folder 1: Interdisciplinary 108 Christian Perspectives on Contemporary Problems, notes and evaluations --- 1976
Folder 2: Physics 113, notes and evaluations --- 1976-1979
Folder 3: Lecture notes for Physics 222 course and related material --- 1977
Folder 4: Interim course IDIS 151, Contemporary Problems --- 1977
Folder 5: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 221-2 course --- 1976-1977
Folder 6: Interim course Your Use of God's World --- 1978
Folder 7: Physics Interim course IDIS 12, notes and evaluations --- 1978
Folder 8: Physics 113 course notes --- 1979
Folder 9: VJE Notes on "The Electron 9, Factor Anomaly" --- undated
Folder 10: Scientific Inquiry and Science Teaching, Physics 112 at Calvin College --- undated