Professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Michigan; specialist in the field of solid-state physics, notably the ruby maser and electron spin resonance; and advocate of nuclear power. Papers include biographical materials; correspondence; electron spin resonance and ruby maser research project files; physics and mathematics notebooks; course files; scientific papers, speeches, and testimonies; and visual materials, mainly intended to accompany lectures.
Kikuchi's Papers consist of 7 linear feet of material documenting Professor Kikuchi's research and academic career over a time span of forty years. The bulk of the collection consists of the lectures Kikuchi gave in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Michigan, 1959-1986. The material from 1956 to 1959 consists of research papers on the ruby maser developed at the Willow Run Laboratory, a facility of the University of Michigan. The papers generated in the 1970s and 1980s reflect mostly Kikuchi's academic and public involvement in pro-nuclear power advocacy.
The papers have been rearranged and organized in eight major series: Biographical (0.1 linear ft); Correspondence, consisting of personal letters from 1942, professional letters from 1949-1950, 1958-1964, and 1972-1988, (0.3 linear ft); Research Projects, arranged chronologically, (0.5 linear ft); Printed Technical Reports by the Department of Engineering, (0.5 linear ft); Notebooks (0.5 linear ft); Lectures for nuclear engineering courses and other topics (3.5 linear ft); Papers 1969-1988 (1 linear ft); and Visual Material (0.6 linear ft), consisting of 99 glass plates, 205 slides, 8 photoprints, and 2 cartoons, all of which relate to Kikuchi's academic activities.