Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing administrative materials created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2000.0035: Dr. J. McKim Malville, 2000 October
[identification of item], J. McKim Malville Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0700, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 March; finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, Sam Devereaux, 2020 September
J. McKim Malville is a researcher who primarily focuses on solar astrophysics. He received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the California School of Technology in 1956. Shortly after graduating, Malville went to Ellsworth Station, Antarctica as an Auroral Specialist with Finn Ronne’s expedition as part of the preparation for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958. While he was there from 1956-1957, Malville used a spectrograph to measure radiation and its impact on the colors of the aurora. Malville also designed his own optical photometer to measure the radiation of sodium in the aurora and collected and counted micrometeorites. When Malville returned to the United States, he received his Doctor of Philosophy in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado in 1961. From 1963-1965, Malville was a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Michigan. In 1969, he began teaching at the University of Colorado. Malville became a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2002, and still holds that title as of 2020.
The J. McKim Malville Oral History, dated 2000, contains audio recordings, administrative information, and transcripts of the interview between Dr. Malville and Brian Shoemaker of the American Polar Society conducted on October 3, 2000. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by the American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include Malville's trip to Antarctica in 1956-1957 for scientific research as preparation for the International Geophysical Year, memories of the trip, and relations with the United States Navy members who also staffed the base. Scientific topics researched by Malville on the trip include the auroras, his primary research topic, atmospheric sodium, and meteorites and micrometeorites that landed in Antarctic ice; Malville was the first person to look for meteorites in Antarctica.
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