Collection inventory

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Jozef J. Zwislocki Papers

An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives


Finding aid created by: Susan M. Hughes
Date: 2013

Biography

Dr. Jozef J. Zwislocki

Jozef J. Zwislocki served as a member of the neuroscience faculty at Syracuse University from 1957 to 1992. He was born in Lwow, Poland on March 22, 1922. His studies in electrical engineering and pioneering research in psychoacoustics culminated in a Sc.D. from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland in 1948. From 1945 to 1951, he headed the Electroacoustic Lab in the Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Zwislocki came to the U.S. in 1951 as a Research Fellow in the Psychoacoustic Laboratory at Harvard University. He joined the Syracuse University faculty in 1957 as Research Associate Professor of Audiology. In 1958 he established and was named director of the Bioacoustics Laboratory in the School of Education. Zwislocki was instrumental in the transfer of the laboratory to the College of Engineering in 1963, the establishment of the Department of Bioengineering and the creation of the doctoral program in neuroscience. The Bioacoustics Laboratory was later renamed the Institute for Sensory Research and Zwislocki served as director until 1984. Named Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience in 1988, he retired from teaching in 1992, but continues to perform research at Syracuse University.

In 1970, Zwislocki invented the Zwislocki Coupler, an artificial ear that determines the amount of current needed in an earphone to produce a particular sound intensity for the eardrum. The Zwislocki Coupler was accepted as the national standard for hearing-aid earphones (ANSI S3.25-2009). Zwislocki holds 12 patents, including several for ear protection against excessive noise.

Zwislocki has held membership in a number of professional organizations, including the Acoustical Society of America, the Association for Research in Otolaryngology and the Psychonomic Society. He had authored over 200 scientific publications and presented at conferences in Leningrad, Stockholm, Poland, Milan, Paris, Japan, London and numerous cities in the U.S and around the world. His 2002 publication Auditory Sound Transmission: An Autobiographical Perspective summarizes his life’s work.

Jozef Zwislocki received the Acoustical Society of America’s first Békésy Medal in 1985 for landmark contributions in auditory science, the Hugh Knowles Prize in 1992 for distinguished achievement in the diagnosis and prevention of hearing disorders and many other awards. In 1990, in recognition of his distinguished achievements in original research, he became the first faculty member from Syracuse University elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences. In 1991, he received a doctorate “honoris cause” from the Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan in his native Poland. Other honors and awards include the Medal of the Medical Academy in Poland, election as a Foreign Associate of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement at Syracuse University. In 2006, Zwislocki was honored as a Legend of Auditory Science by the American Academy of Audiology because of the landmark advances he has made in diagnostic methods in audiology.

Scope and Content Note

The Jozef J. Zwislocki Papers document his professional and administrative activities and span from 1945 to 2012. The papers include Course Files, Subject Files, Bioacoustic Laboratory Science/Research Files, Laboratory of Sensory Communication Science/Research Files, Institute for Sensory Research Science/Research Files and Patent Files pertaining to research, patent development and professional organizations. Zwislocki's participation in several professional organizations may also be seen in the general Science/Research Files. There are a large number of Publications and Writings by Zwislocki, both published and unpublished. Writings include numerous conference papers and other presentations.

Of particular note in the collection are the models and documentation of acoustic Instrumentation and Hearing Protectors, such as the Zwislocki Coupler. ANSI Certificates for many of the inventions are available as well as the Patent and Patent Development Files.

The development of the Institute for Sensory Research from the earliest years is documented in the Bioacoustic Laboratory, Laboratory for Sensory Communication and Institute for Sensory Research Administrative Files. A nearly-complete run of reports chronicling the research performed by ISR faculty is found in Bioacoustic Laboratory, Laboratory for Sensory Communication and Institute for Sensory Research Reports which were published 2-3 times per year. Special Reports ISR-S-19 and ISR-S-30 are missing from the collection. Researchers should also note that a research report completed for the Office of Naval Research, found in the Bioacoustics Laboratory Special Reports, refers to the Hearing Protectors located in Box 40.

Finally, Photographs, Publicity and Memorabilia and the Awards Correspondence serve to document the numerous professional awards bestowed on Zwislocki for his work. Certificates, plaques and medals are found in the boxes of Honors and Awards.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

Because of of their condition, Hearing Protectors may not be removed from plastic storage bags.

Please note that the Reading Room does not have the equipment to play the VHS tape. Advance notice is required to create listening copies.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The Archives has portrait and clipping files related to Jozef J. Zwislocki.

Zwislocki's Model of the Cochlea computer simulation program developed by E.J. Kletsky and D.J. Arpajian is available online. The back-up files for the program are available in the Archives.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Arpajian, D.J.
Kletsky, Earl J.
Moscicki, Ignacy, 1867-1946.
Zwislocki, Jozef J.
Acoustical Society of America.
Association for Research in Otolaryngology.
Bioacoustics Laboratory -- Syracuse University.
Institute for Sensory Research -- Syracuse University.
Laboratory of Sensory Communications -- Syracuse University.
Psychoacoustic Laboratory -- Harvard University.
Psychonomic Society.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.

Subjects

Auditory Pathways -- physiology.
College teachers.
Higher education.

Types of Material

Artifacts.
Models (representations)
Photographs.
Slides (photographs)
Technical reports.
VHS.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Jozef J. Zwislocki Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

The papers of Jozef J. Zwislocki were received by the Syracuse University Archives in 2011 and 2013 from Jozef J. Zwislocki. Additional materials from the Institute for Sensory Research were added in 2017.

Processing Information

The materials in the collection were placed in acid-free boxes. Many original folders were kept, except when not practical; then, materials were placed in acid-free folders. Original order was maintained. Artifacts such as Hearing Protectors were transferred to archival plastic bags and labeled.

Arrangement

Original order was maintained, with some modifications to aid researchers in navigating the collection.

Table of Contents

Bioacoustic Laboratory administrative files, correspondence

Laboratory of Sensory Communication administrative files, correspondence

Bioacoustic Laboratory Science research files, correspondence

Laboratory of Sensory Communication Science research files, correspondence

Institute for Sensory Science research files, correspondence

Course files

Bioacoustic Laboratory reports

Laboratory of Sensory Communication reports

Institute for Sensory Research reports

American National Standard Institute certificates

Awards correspondence

Publications

Publicity and memorabilia

Photographs

Science and research files

Honors and awards

Instrumentation

Hearing protectors

Patent files

Patent development files

Writings

Subject files

Institute for Sensory Research (ISR) administrative files

Inventory