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 6: Student Evaluations --- 1979-1982, n.d.

Box 13

Folder 1: Physics 112 course --- undated
Folder 2: Physics 112 course --- 1979, 1981, 1982
Folder 3: Physics 113 course --- 1979, 1981, 1982
Folder 4: Physics 126 course --- 1982
Folder 5: Lecture notes and related material for Physics 126 course --- 1982
Folder 6: Physics 112 course --- undated
Folder 7: Physics 113 course --- undated
Folder 8: Unidentified Evaluations --- undated

Box 14

Folder 1: Comments on Harold Camping's book, Adam When? --- 1966
Folder 2: Seminar talks --- 1964-1967
Folder 3: Proposal for Recognition of Outstanding Achievement --- 1967
Folder 4: Proposal to Establish a Mathematics-Science Teaching Center --- 1968
Folder 5: Paper, "Hyperfine Structure of 67GA and 72GA" --- Jan-68
Folder 6: Paper, "Search for an Electron Mass Shift in 133CS in an Intense Electromagnetic Field" --- 1969
Folder 7: "Christian and Science" Symposium at Calvin College --- 1969
Folder 8: Astronauts Alan Shepard and Charles Conrad, Jr., Lectures at Calvin College --- 1969
Folder 9: Christian Home and School Magazine Article: "What is Science?" --- 1969
Folder 10: Symposium The Christian in Science --- 1969
Folder 11: Citizens Active in Urban and Social Efforts (Cause) -Reports and Correspondence --- 1969-1970
Folder 12: N.S.F. Cooperative College -School Science Program -V.J.E. Director --- 1970
Folder 13: The College Friend --- August 28, 1970
Folder 14: Nuclear Magnetic Moment, Hyperfine Structure and Hyperfine Structure Anomaly of 196 Au --- 1970
Folder 15: Charter Revision Committee Material --- 1970-1971
Folder 16: "The Year 2000 -A Relevant Course" --- 1971
Folder 17: "The Year 2000" --- Sep-71
Folder 18: "Teaching Future Teachers" --- 1971
Folder 19: University of Colorado -"The Year 2000" --- September 28, 1971

Box 15

Folder 1: Electron on Excitation of Calcium 4227 -A Resonance Line --- 1972
Folder 2: Science Advisory Committee (for Gerald Ford) --- 1972-1974
Folder 3: Research Papers for Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics --- 1972
Folder 4: Copy for Book Scientific Inquiry and Science Teaching -Pages 1-201 --- 1973
Folder 5: A Reliable, Repetitively, Pulsed, High-Power Nitrogen Laser -Calvin College --- 1973
Folder 6: Report -Resource Recovery -The Way of the Future --- August 1975
Folder 7: Calvin Faculty Conference -Science at Calvin: Queer or Orphan? --- September 1975
Folder 8: "A Physicist in County Government" --- 1977
Folder 9: Lectures, Speeches --- 1977-1980
Folder 10: Paper Given at American Scientific Affiliation Meeting -Soft Energy and Hard Facts --- August 12, 1978
Folder 11: Chapel Talk -Holy Bottles --- Oct 19-20, 1978
Folder 12: Time, Space, and the Contemporary Mind --- Feb 1978
Folder 13: A Physicist in County Government
Folder 14: Soft Energy and Hard Facts --- Aug 1978
Folder 15: Draft of Our Energy Crisis -the Problem --- Nov-78
Folder 16: Three Papers on the Energy Crisis -The Problem, Stewardship, Analysis --- 1979
Folder 17: "The Energetic Christian" 4 --- Apr-79
Folder 18: Three Papers: The Energy Crisis -Stewardship, the Problem, and Analysis --- 1979
Folder 19: Lecture for Association of Reformed Colleges -Energy, Power, and Stewardship --- 1979-1980
Folder 20: Lecture for Association of Reformed Colleges -The Energetic Christian --- 1979-1980
Folder 21: Proposal for APS-POPA Study on Alternative Energy Approaches and Related Correspondence --- 1979-1980
Folder 22: Christian Stewardship of Energy Resources --- June 26, 1980
Folder 23: Proposal for a Supplementary Concentration in Environmental Studies --- October 1, 1980
Folder 24: Christian Stewardship of Energy Resources --- June 1, 1980
Folder 25: CCCG Hunger Dinner Book Introduction --- undated
Folder 26: Invitation for Dedication of Amway Grand Hotel --- September 15, 1981