UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #752
WEBB, MAURICE

WEBB, Maurice (1926- )
Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics
At UW: 1946-1956, 1961-

Interviewed: 2006	
Interviewer: Robert Lange
Length: 3 hours, 59 minutes

Family history; Childhood; High school education; Naval service; Undergraduate and graduate education at UW; GE Research Laboratory; Teaching at UW; Research; Physics department; Student unrest; Sterling Hall bombing; Department chairmanship; University Committee; Physical Sciences Division Committee; Athletic Board; Higher education.

First Interview Session (March 14, 2006): Tapes 1-3

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:20	Origins of his nickname, “Barney.”

00:01:05	MW was born in 1926 in Neenah, Wisconsin.  His father ran a family hardware store.

00:01:50	His mother grew up in Neenah and had attended Lawrence College.  She married his father just before the First World War.

00:02:21	His father grew up in Illinois and attended the University of Chicago.  After the war his father worked as an actuary before moving to Neenah.  The hardware store was a family business from MW’s mother’s side.

00:03:46	MW attended public school in Neenah.  He led a sheltered childhood because his older sister had been kidnapped.

00:05:18	He recalls some influential high school teachers.

00:06:09	He thought he might become a lawyer or a doctor and even changed his major in college several times.

00:07:30	MW graduated from high school in 1944 and then joined the US Navy in a program for electronic technicians.

00:11:08	After serving in the Navy he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in fall 1946.

00:12:08	He studied pre-med during his first semester.  He talks about courses he took.

00:15:08	He switched his major to chemistry before turning to physics in his sophomore year.  

00:17:00	Physics professors.

00:19:48	During summers he worked at the Institute for Paper Chemistry at Appleton.

00:21:05	MW graduated from UW in spring 1950.  In the fall he returned to UW for graduate study in physics.

00:22:20	He describes the physics department during his graduate career.  He accompanied other students and his major professor, Frank Rogers, on a research project.

00:25:56	He worked with Bill Beeman and completed his PhD in 1956.

00:27:08	Because the department was short on faculty, they asked MW to teach a course.

00:28:04	His wife received a PhD from the chemistry department.

00:28:41	He describes his research on small angle scattering.

00:31:08	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:31:20	Maurice Webb continues to discuss his graduate study in physics and his preliminary exams.

00:36:35	He was supported by several fellowships for his research.  

00:39:07	After receiving his PhD he worked in the GE Research Laboratory in Schenectady.  He describes his work there.

00:50:16	He and his wife wanted to return to Madison.

00:52:34	At the time the sciences were expanding and the physics department offered MW a job.  He returned to UW in fall 1961.

00:53:49	MW describes the courses he taught, including a graduate course on solid state physics.

01:01:22	End of side. End of tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

01:01:42	Maurice Webb continues to discuss his teaching in the UW physics department.

01:03:07	Supervision of graduate students.

01:03:30	Course for electrical engineers.

01:03:50	Other subjects taught.

01:08:27	MW describes his research.

01:19:24	Research of his graduate students.

01:20:52	Implications of his research on silicon for the computer industry.

01:23:50	MW discusses the different groups competing for resources within the physics department.

01:32:30	End of side.

Tape 2/Side 2

01:32:40	Maurice Webb continues to talk about tensions between groups in the physics department. He disliked the idea of “empire-building” within the department.

01:43:09	Observations about notable graduate students whom he supervised.

01:47:52	The physics department has become stronger over the course of his career, but it is also not as highly ranked as in the past.

01:58:19	Award from the American Physical Society.

01:59:19	Reflections on the period of student unrest.

02:03:46	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 3/Side 1

2:03:56	Maurice Webb continues to discuss the period of student unrest on the UW campus.  Research in the physics department was not controversial.

2:04:40	Sterling Hall bombing.

2:08:09	MW became chair of the physics department in the aftermath of the bombing.

2:09:50	Major issues he dealt with as chair included tenure decisions.

Second Interview Session (March 15, 2006): Tapes 3-5
Tape 3/Side 1, continued

00:00:15	MW discusses his chairmanship of the University Committee.  The committee addressed issues such as faculty collective bargaining, protection and rights of academic staff, and faculty appeals.

00:12:34	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 3/Side 2

00:12:44	Maurice Webb continues to discuss his service on the University Committee.  He talks generally about faculty governance.

00:19:38	Service on the Research Committee.

00:27:44	MW chaired the Physical Sciences Division Committee.

00:31:51	Search and screen committees.

00:35:30	He talks about Dean E. David Cronon.

00:39:58	He describes his dealings with Chancellor Donna Shalala.

00:44:03	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 4/Side 1

00:44:15	Maurice Webb continues to describe his work with Chancellor Donna Shalala.

00:45:43	Chancellor Irving Shain appointed MW to the Athletic Board.

00:47:02	Responsibilities as chair of the Athletic Board.

01:04:20	Departure of Elroy Hirsch.

01:15:21	End of side.

Tape 4/Side 2

01:15:52	Maurice Webb directed the search for a new athletic director after the retirement of Elroy Hirsch.  He discusses his relationship with A.D. Ade Sponberg and football coach Don Morton and the later hiring of Pat Richter.

01:35:35	Views on the current state of college athletics.

01:42:00 	MW lists some of his most dedicated colleagues in the athletic department.

01:43:00	Observations on the future of higher education and the quality of students.

01:46:52	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 5/Side 1

01:47:04	Maurice Webb continues to relate his views on the future of higher education.

01:48:36	End of side.  End of tape.  End of interview.

END