Stephen S. Chang Papers

The Stephen S. Chang Papers consists of documents ranging in date from 1933 to 2001. The bulk of documents found in the collection were created from 1960 to 1988. The collection totals 13 cubic feet of records housed in 40 letter-sized manuscript boxes.

There is a broad representation of formats in the collection. The most frequently occurring formats are typed documents including correspondence, meeting minutes and agendas, reports, letters, patents and financial/budget plans. Handwritten notes are also found in the collection in addition to newspaper articles, photographs, negatives, programs and brochures. Acetate transparency slides used with overhead projectors were also found in the collection. Due to the unstable nature of acetate these slides have been photocopied onto acid free paper. Diagrams for laboratories and building layouts are included in the collection as well as machinery blue prints. The bulk of these materials are written in English. About 20% of the collection is written in Mandarin Chinese and a few documents are in German.

The strength of the Stephen S. Chang Papers lies in Series III: Research and Consulting which comprises twenty boxes of the collection. Dr. Chang's research and business dealings with the American Lecithin Company, Kabi Vitrum, Pharmacia and the Lever Brothers companies comprise a significant portion of the series. Many other companies are also documented but little in-depth information about these companies is included in the collection. In addition to research projects for the companies correspondence, reports and budget information are also represented. A significant amount of information relating to specific research is included in this series regarding phospholipids, antioxidants including rosemary, fat emulsion, lecithin and various oils including soybean. The majority of patent information found in the collection is also found in this series. Patent searches, dealings with patent attorneys and copies of Dr. Chang's patents are documented. Dr. Chang also kept copies of his patents with his personal documents and can be now found in Series I: Personal Papers.

The strengths of Series II: Professional Affiliations lie with information regarding the American Oil Chemists' Society, Institute of Food Technologists, and the Cathay Food Consulting Co. A large bulk of this series documents Dr. Chang's international food technology career. However most of this material is written in Mandarin Chinese such as materials regarding the Taiwan University Institute of Food Science & Technology, the Advisory Committee to the Taiwan Food Industry and the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. With the help of a student from the East Asian Library in Alexander Library at Rutgers University the characters Dr. Chang used to write folder labels are translated into English using Pin Yin translations thus creating a general summary of the folders' contents. Business trips the Changs took to Taiwan, Hawaii, Florida etc. are also documented in Series II while vacations are documented in Series I: Personal Papers.

Series IV: Rutgers University Administration documents policies and procedures in use during the time Dr. Chang was chair of the Food Science Department (1977-1986). The series is also strong in its coverage of Food Science department issues during this period. This area of the collection documents plans for the Center for Advanced Food Technology and work done with the New Jersey Agricultural Experimentation Station and Cook College.

Due to the nature of Dr. Chang's work and consulting with other companies, Dr. Chang or the company issuing the documents labeled several documents "confidential" or "top secret." These documents were removed with a note left to indicate their original location and placed in Separated Material: Removed Confidential Items.