The physicist, Emanuel Ruben Piore, emigrated from Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1917 at the age of 9. "Mannie," as he was known, became a naturalized citizen in 1924, and obtained both his BA and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin. After gaining nearly ten years experience as a research physicist, first at the Radio Corporation of American then CBS laboratories, he went to work for the Navy, eventually becoming the first civilian to head the Office of Naval Research and playing a major role in the transition of American science from war to peace. Throughout his career, Piore strove to promote research through a close relationship between government, industry, and universities. IBM realized the importance of developing a strong research department and Piore's key role in this endeavor and offered him the position as their first Director of Research. At IBM he continued to encourage research by establishing the IBM Fellow program rewarded to top researchers. Piore held increasingly responsible positions at IBM becoming a vice president, group executive and finally Chief Scientist. He served as a member of IBM's advisory board well after he retired. The Piore papers contain material relating to his latter years at IBM as Vice President and Chief Scientist, as well as some of his time spent on the Board of Directors. In addition, there are materials, though sparse, concerning his work with the Navy. An extensive series of speeches and lectures illustrates Piore's commitment to scientific research and national policy. In addition to his professional correspondence, the papers contain material pertaining to Piore's involvement in professional organizations such as the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Science, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research and the American Philosophical Society. A number of professional and personal photographs are also found within the papers.

A pioneer biochemist, Carl Neuberg (1877-1956) spent over thirty years of his productive career as a professor at the University of Berlin (1903-1937) and as Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes of Biochemistry and Experimental Therapy. His varied research interests resulted in important contributions to the understanding of fermentation processes, solubility and transport phenomena in cells, the chemistry of carbohydrates, sugars, enzymes, and amino acids, and photochemistry. Neuberg was forced out of his position after the Nazi rise to power, and taking refuge in the United States. For the last several years of his life, he worked at New York University. The Neuberg collection consists of correspondence, lab notebooks, documents, photographs, and reprints, nearly all dating from after Neuberg's departure from Germany in 1940. The correspondence documents Neuberg's late-career work and the contacts he developed with American chemical manufacturers and industries involved in fermentation, as well as the burgeoning post-war relationship between scientific research and the federal dollar. Files for the American Cancer Society, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and the U.S. Public Health Service in particular contain useful information for study of the politics and mechanics of government grants.