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Clifford C. Furnas Memorial Room
- Introduction
- Gallery
- Bibliography
Introduction
The Furnas Memorial Collection was established by Mrs. Sparkle M. Furnas to commemorate the achievements of her husband, Dr. Clifford C. Furnas (1900-1969), the ninth Chancellor of University of Buffalo and the first President of State University of New York (SUNY) from 1955 to 1966. It was Dr. Furnas who oversaw the University's 1962 merger with SUNY.
The Furnas Memorial Collection, housed at the University Archives, consists of approximately 900 historical artifacts, 200 linear feet of archival documents and photographs, documenting Dr. Furnas' life and career from the 1920s to 1969. Dr. Furnas was a nationally recognized scientist, educator, administrator, and author. He studied chemical engineering at Purdue University from 1918 to 1922 and taught Engineering at Yale in the 1930s. He directed the Airplane Division of Curtiss-Wright in Buffalo, New York from 1942 to 1945 and the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory from 1946 to1954. From 1955 to 1957, Dr. Furnas served as Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon, under the Eisenhower administration. His personal and professional achievements included his participation in the 1920 Olympic Games, authoring an award-winning book, and working on the project to develop the United States first space satellite, Explorer I. Dr. Furnas once said, "All of my life I have been involved alternately in research and university education. They go together and they are both necessary for human progress…" The Clifford C. Furnas Memorial Exhibit is seeks to capture Dr. Furnas as an individual who found the growth of the human spirit in research and university education. Credits:
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Gallery Clifford C. Furnas (1900-1969) was born in 1900 in Sheridan, Indiana, as the son of Clara S. and T. Chalmers Furnas. His family came from England to this country in 1763. His father was a horticulturist and nurseryman, who wrote poetry as a hobby. Clifford married Sparkle Moore, also a Purdue graduate, in April 1925. They had one child, Beatrice Louise. Mrs. Furnas was a very active woman and was given many awards for her roles in the University and the community. List of Objects: 1. Milk pitcher, eyeglasses change purse, thimble, ca. 1900
1. Photograph of Clifford Furnas in a Purdue track suit at Stuart Field, Purdue University, 1920
1. Photograph of Clifford C. Furnas with Purdue track team and coach, ca. 1920.
The 1950s and 1960s was a time of rapid growth for the University of Buffalo. In terms of the physical expansion of the size of the university, twenty-two new buildings were added during Chancellor Furnas' tenure. In 1958 the U. B. Bulls, football team, left a record of 8 wins and 1 loss, becoming the winner of Lambert Cup. After much consideration, the University of Buffalo decided to become a part of the State University of New York system in 1962. List of Objects: 1. Airplane model of Boeing B52 Stratofortress (USAF), date unknown
List of Objects: 1. Ceramic bowl with Aztec Calendar, presented from University of Mexico, 1960s |
In 1918, Furnas entered Purdue University in Indiana, majoring in engineering. Throughout his college years, Furnas had been successful in Track and Field and won many medals in intercollegiate conferences held at mid-western universities. Furnas represented the United States in the 1920 Olympic Games that were held in Antwerp, Belgium and was among the finalists to run the 5000 meter. After the 1920 Olympic Games, he participated in the French Championship of Track and Field at Lille, France, and won 1st prize in the one mile run. He also won 1st place in the two-mile run in the meet between the American team and British team held in London. Besides being a good athlete, Clifford was an excellent student and was elected president of his class. 
Dr. Furnas was a very energetic and enthusiastic man who had a wide range of interests in life, from sports, outdoor life, and the natural world to music and literature. Dr. Furnas and his family especially loved to climb mountains and spend time in the outdoors. 
In 1922, Clifford graduated from Purdue with a B. S. in Chemical Engineering and was awarded the Big Ten Conference medal for the best scholarship and athletic combined prowess. After receiving his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1926, Dr. Furnas became a research engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Minneapolis, conducting research on metallurgical processes and the operation of blast furnaces. In 1931, he joined the faculty of Yale University as an associate professor of chemical engineering. While teaching there, he began giving scientific lectures and writing scientific articles and books, including America’s Tomorrow (1932), Man, Bread and Destiny (1937), and The Storehouse of Civilization (1939). His book, The Next Hundred Years (1936), became a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection. In 1941, with the outbreak of World War II, Dr. Furnas was appointed Chief Technical Aide to the National Defense Research Committee in Washington D.C., on a part-time basis. 
In 1942, Dr. Furnas was named Director of the Curtiss-Wright Research Laboratory in Buffalo, New York. During World War II, the company greatly contributed to the war effort by producing advanced engines for fighter airplanes. In 1946, Dr. Furnas became the first director of the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, formerly the Airplane Division of Curtiss-Wright, and guided it through the first decade of its establishment. As a leading aeronautical research center in the U.S., the laboratory conducted imaginative research and development in such areas as wind tunnels, aircraft structures, and supersonic guided missiles. 
In 1954, Dr. Furnas was appointed Chancellor of the University of Buffalo. Shortly after becoming Chancellor, he was named by President Eisenhower to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Development in the Pentagon. He held this position from December 1955 to February 1957. 
Dr. Furnas became the first President of the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1962. After his retirement in 1966, he continued to serve the University both as President-Emeritus and as President of the Board of the Western New York Nuclear Research Center. Bibliography
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