Collections : [University Archives]

Around the time of Schaefer's break with Munitalp, the American Meteorological Society (AMS, of which Schaefer was a member) approached him to inquire about the possibility of setting up a summer science program for promising high school students. They decided on the existing Loomis School in Windsor, Connecticut as the location for their summer program, which began in 1959 with the support of the National Science Foundation. Schaefer and his colleagues wanted to give academically strong students with a particular interest in science the opportunity to attend extra lectures and, more importantly, experiment with hands-on projects of their choosing. Schaefer and his AMS associates hoped to cultivate a love of learning and passion for discovery that would encourage teens to follow scientific career paths. Although the program began as a males-only endeavor, it eventually welcomed females into its ranks later in the 1960s.

Schaefer's connection with the University at Albany began in 1959 when the school was still known as the New York State Teachers College, located in downtown Albany. When Schaefer began the highly successful Atmospheric Physics Program via the Loomis School in Connecticut, he attracted the attention of Dean Oscar Lanford and President Evan Collins of the New York State Teachers College. They asked Schaefer to come teach at their Albany school, and within his first year as a faculty member, the idea for the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC) was born. Officially established in February 1961, it was originally located in the old General Electric hangar at Schenectady Airport. Although the former New York State Teachers College expanded to the current uptown Albany campus in the mid-1960s, officially becoming the University at Albany, State University of New York, the ASRC remained centered in Schenectady at that time. Meanwhile, the Atmospheric Physics Program that began at the Loomis School shifted to Albany to be under the sponsorship of the ASRC, where it became the Natural Sciences Institute (NSI). However, since the program's roots were not originally with the ASRC and University at Albany, those records comprise their own series within this collection (Series #5).

Materials are made up of correspondence, budget reports, and O'Leary's Curriculum Vitae.

Administrative Records from the term of Vincent O'Leary (1977-1990)