There has always been a governing board known as the Council for the University of Buffalo since its inception in 1846, but the first Chancellors were not appointed from the university community. They were citizens of Buffalo, lawyers and politicians, whose official functions were just to represent the University before the public. The deans of the individual schools were separately responsible for department educational and financial affairs.

In 1920, Chairman of the Council Walter P. Cooke organized a citywide financial campaign that enabled the University to be able to hire a Chancellor that would bring the University into a new era. In 1922 Samuel P. Capen, former director of the American Council on Education, was hired by the Council to become the first full time Chancellor at the University of Buffalo. It was during Capen's tenure from 1922-1956 that the University became academically and financially unified.

With the 1962-1963 academic year, the University of Buffalo merged with the State University of New York, and the Chancellor of the University becomes the President. Clifford D. Furnas served as the last Chancellor of the private University of Buffalo and the first President of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

This collection contains the working files of the Annual Reports of the Chancellor of the University of Buffalo, and, after the merger of the University of Buffalo with the State University of New York in 1962, the President of the State University of New York at Buffalo.