Guide to the Beatrice Sweeney Papers
Laurie Hannah
Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration
University of California, Santa Barbara
Harder South 9615
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9615
Phone: (805) 893-2401
Fax: (805) 893-4222
Email: hannah@lifesci.ucsb.edu
URL: http://ccber.lifesci.ucsb.edu/library
© 2008
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Beatrice Sweeney Papers
Collection number: MS-12
Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
- Processed by:
- Laurie Hannah
- Date Completed:
- 2008
- Encoded by:
- Laurie Hannah
© 2008 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Beatrice Sweeney papers
Dates: 1971-1978
Collection number: MS-12
Creator:
Sweeney, Beatrice M.
Collection Size:
.5 linear foot
Repository:
Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (University of California, Santa Barbara). C. H. Muller Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9615
Abstract: Outgoing academic and professional correspondence, including reviews, of Beatrice Sweeney, Professor of Biology, written from
1971-1978.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, UC Santa Barbara. All requests
for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Cheadle Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
Beatrice Sweeney papers, MS-12, Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration. University of California, Santa
Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Materials transferred from Dept. of Biological Sciences.
Processing Information
Arrangement and description of this collection was funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Biography / Administrative History
Beatrice M. Sweeney was a plant physiologist by training who specialized in circadian rhythms, or biological clocks, in marine
organisms. She was a professor of biology at UCSB from 1969 until her death in 1989. Her area of expertise was unicellular
organisms and she spent a number of years trying to discover the mechanism that caused bioluminescence in the genus
Gonyaulax, a kind of plankton. She published a short book on the subject of rhythmicity called
Rhythmic Phenomena in Plants in 1969.
At UCSB she was also assistant provost of the College of Creative Studies and she taught several popular courses. Having
raised four children while conducting research and teaching, she appreciated opportunities she received for employment and
advancement but was also familiar with the struggles in the still male-dominated academic world of the 1970s. She was named
Chair of the UCSB Committee on the Status of Women which looked at policy issues on campus, such as the disparity in funding
men's and women's athletics. Sweeney passed away in unexpectedly 1989 at the age of 75 while still actively pursuing her research.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of one series of professional correspondence, written during the years 1971-1978 when Sweeney was
professor of biology at UCSB. The letters (copies of her outgoing correspondence) fall into about four categories: letters
of recommendation; responses to invitations to write reviews, attend conferences, and fulfill other academic requests; discussions
of current research with colleagues; and reviews of articles and NSF proposals. Many graduate students wrote to her about
coming to UCSB and working with her, attesting to her popularity as a graduate adviser. Several letters reflect her interest
and work in creating equal opportunities for women at University of California and at UCSB in particular.
Arrangement
This collection consists of one series: Correspondence. Arrangement is chronological.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Circadian rhythms
Marine biology
Marine plankton
University of California, Santa Barbara. Dept. of Biological Sciences
Sweeney, Beatrice M.
Correspondence
Related Material
See UCSB Davidson Library Special Collections (FACP 25). Collection includes biographical information, photographs, research
notebooks and files, speeches, and writings.
