Interview with Robert L. Jaffe : The Movement Oral History Project

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Robert Jaffe (1972 PhD Physics) shares memories of his involvement in the founding of the Stanford Workshops on Political and Social Issues (SWOPSI); his attitudes about the Vietnam War, education, and social change; and his participation in a demonstration against the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and subsequent arrest. Jaffe begins the interview with a description of his East Coast upbringing and his early interest in science. Turning to his undergraduate years at Princeton, he recalls his participation in the Princeton University Scholars program, why he decided to pursue the study of physics, protests against the tradition of eating clubs and the bicker process, and his experience with the draft. He recalls moving to California in 1968 to pursue graduate work in physics and describes the faculty in Stanford’s Department of Physics, as well as at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He describes how classified research was viewed in the physics world and how the March 4th movement inspired SWOPSI. He also recounts his participation in a protest against SRI and his arrest after being identified in a photograph taken during the protest.

Type of resource	sound recording-nonmusical, text
Extent	1 audio file; 1 text file; 1 photograph
Place	Stanford (Calif.)
Publisher	Stanford Historical Society
Date created	July 8, 2019
Language	English
Digital origin	born digital

Interviewee	Jaffe, Robert L.
Creator	Jaffe, Robert L.
Interviewer	Ochavillo, Vanessa
Publisher	Stanford Historical Society

Subject	Jaffe, Robert L.
Subject	Stanford Workshops on Political and Social Issues
Subject	College Students > Political Activity > United States
Subject	Vietnam War, 1961-1975 > Protest Movements
Subject	Anti-war demonstrations
Genre	Interview

Biography	Robert L. Jaffe was born in Bath, Maine, in 1946. After attending public schools in Stamford, Connecticut, Jaffe received his AB, summa cum laude in Physics from Princeton, where he was Valedictorian of the Class of 1968. He received his MS (1971) and PhD (1972) degrees from Stanford University. At Stanford, in 1969 together with Joyce Kobayashi and Joel Primack, he founded the Stanford Workshops on Political and Social Issues. In 1972 Jaffe arrived at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral research associate in the Center for Theoretical Physics and joined the MIT faculty in 1974. He has served on and chaired numerous program advisory committees, scientific steering committees, and visiting committees at national labs and major universities. Since 2005, Jaffe has been collaborating on the development of a new private university of science and technology in Lahore, Pakistan, as a member and chair of its international advisory committee.
Transcript	Title Transcript
Finding Aid	Title The Movement Oral History Project (SC1432)
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/dw556xp2660
Location	SC1432
Repository	Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Use and reproduction: The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).

The Movement oral history project, 2018

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