Clifford Cook Furnas (October 24, 1900 – April 27, 1969) was an American author, Olympic athlete, scientist, expert on guided missiles, university president, and public servant. He was first cousin of the authorEvangeline Walton.^[1] Furnas participated in the5,000-meter event at the1920 Olympic Games inAntwerp,Belgium.^[2]

He taughtchemical engineering atYale University, and directed the airplane division ofCurtiss-Wright duringWorld War II. He became the ninth chancellor of the privateUniversity of Buffalo in 1954.^[3] After guiding the University through the merger process with theState University of New York in 1962, Furnas became the first president of theState University of New York at Buffalo.^[2] Between 1955 and 1957 he was on a leave of absence to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense during theEisenhower administration.^[3]

He retired from the University of Buffalo in 1966 and died in 1969 at age 68.^[3]

• 1920 Olympic Games,Antwerp,Belgium^[4]
• 1922Big Ten Conference Medal, for best combined scholastic and athletic record

• 1922 B.S., with honors,Purdue University
• 1926 Ph.D.,University of Michigan
• 1946Honorary Doctor of Engineering,Purdue University
• 1957 Honorary Doctor of Engineering,University of Michigan
• 1958 Honorary Doctor of Laws,Alfred University
• 1960 Honorary Doctor of Science,Thiel College
• 1963 Degree Honoris Causa,Universidad Nacional de Asunción ofParaguay

• 1922–1924 Math teacher,Shattuck School,Minnesota
• 1924–1925 Research Chemist,U.S. Steel Corporation
• 1926–1931 Physical Chemist,U.S. Bureau of Mines
• 1931–1941 Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering,Yale University
• 1941–1942 Technical aide at theNational Defense Research Committee
• 1943–1946 Director of Curtiss-Wright Aeronautical Research Laboratory inBuffalo, New York
• 1946–1954 Director and Executive Vice President,Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory
• 1954–1962Chancellor,University at Buffalo
• 1962–1966 President,State University of New York at Buffalo^[5]
• 1962–1966 President, Western New York Nuclear Research
• 1966–1969 President Emeritus,State University of New York at Buffalo

• 1952–1953 Chairman, Guided Missile Commission, Research and Development Board
• 1954–1957 Chairman,U.S. Department of Defense Advisory Panel on Aeronautics
• 1954–1969 Member,U.S. Army Science Advisory Panel
• 1955–1957 Member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
• 1955–1957 Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Development
• 1956–1957 Chairman, Air Navigation Development Board
• 1957–1969 Member of theDefense Science Board
• 1958–1969 Member of theNaval Research Advisory Committee
• 1961–1965 Chairman of the Defense Science Board
• 1961–1969 Chairman, New York Advisory Council, Industrial Research and Development
• 1968–1969 Vice-Chairman,National Research Council

• 1932America's Tomorrow: An Informal Excursion Into the Era of the Two-hour Working Day
• 1935The Unfinished Business of Science
• 1936The Next Hundred Years (full view from Hathi Trust)
• 1937Man, Bread and Destiny
• 1937Technological Trends and National Policy (section on metallurgy) (full view from Archive.org)
• 1939The Storehouse of Civilization (full view from Hathi Trust)
• 1940The Individual and the World
• 1940Excerpts from Our Intellectual World Sections 9-13, Division II of The Individual and the World
• 1948Research in Industry
• 1957 "Sputnik: Why did the US lose the race? Critics speak up",Life Magazine, October 21, 1957
• 1966The Engineer

• Clifford C. Furnas Collection, State University of New York at Buffalo
• Papers of Clifford C. Furnas, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• Furnas Family Album, University of Louisville Photographic Archives

• 1900 births
• 1969 deaths
• Writers from Buffalo, New York
• Track and field athletes from Buffalo, New York
• American men middle-distance runners
• Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics
• Leaders of the University at Buffalo
• University of Michigan alumni
• United States Army Science Board people
• United States assistant secretaries of defense
• Scientists from Buffalo, New York
• 20th-century American academics
• 20th-century American sportsmen
• Purdue Boilermakers men's track and field athletes

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