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In this oral history, Jean H. Chu (formerly Jean H. Fetter) discusses her twenty-five-year career at Stanford University where she served as Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, as assistant to two university presidents (Richard W. Lyman and Gerhard Casper), and in other administrative capacities. Chu begins with an account of her childhood in Wales during World War II, when German bombings demolished nearby Swansea and frequently sent her scrambling for shelter. Raised by a great-aunt and great-uncle, she recalls how her youthful interest in mathematics and physics was fostered at a rigorous all-women’s high school. Her excellence there helped gain admission to Oxford University’s all-women’s college, St. Hugh’s. In vivid detail, Chu recounts her experiences as one of six women, compared to 120 men, studying physics at Oxford. She was awarded a first in physics, among the best in her class. During her Oxford years, she met and married American Alexander (Sandy) Fetter (now Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stanford), and she discusses accompanying him to successive faculty appointments at Harvard, Berkeley, and finally Stanford. Describing life as a faculty wife and mother of small children, she recalls a brief job with William Shockley that led to a teaching position and then assistant professorship in physics at San Jose State. Turning to her employment at Stanford, Chu discusses her work with David Halliburton of the English Department on two grant-funded projects that she used to promote recruitment of women in sciences. She credits the broad perspective of Stanford that she gained during that project with helping her win appointment as assistant to Stanford President Richard W. Lyman. She recalls a heavy workload filtering the barrage of mail and in-person complaints brought to the president. Described as a “cog between big wheels,” she says, she learned about how the university operated at the highest level. Chu offers a brief account of her time as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research under Jerry Lieberman where she oversaw the recruitment of women and minorities into graduate programs at Stanford and worked to develop grievance procedures for graduate students. Much of the oral history involves the many challenges she faced as Dean of Admissions. She describes the conflict she confronted between those who supported recruiting “well-rounded” students and others who favored “angular” students (“nerds” with extraordinary talents). Chu tells how she enabled the Department of Mathematics and later the departments of Music, Art, Drama, and Dance to review outstanding applicants in their fields, using the model created for athletes. She explains other policies she initiated and provides a detailed description of the review process, recounting some unusual cases as well as special efforts to recruit minorities and women. Chu outlines her service on the search committee that selected Gerhard Casper to be the new university president and the circumstances that led her to accept the role as his assistant. She contrasts her experiences as assistant to Lyman and Casper. Concluding her remarks, Chu recalls her experiences with her second husband, Steven Chu, when he received the Nobel Prize in physics.

The records of the office of James E. Simmons under its several titles includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, general material on black affairs at Stanford and some additional files on Native American students. Also includes Simmons' 1973 report to the President.