“In World War II….in addition to the thousands of its graduates and students who served in the armed forces, the University contributed many trained specialists, both graduates and teachers, to public and semi-public agencies prosecuting the war on the scientific, economic and psychological fronts. It accelerated its regular programs so that doctors, dentists, physicists, chemists and other scientists could complete their four-year training in three years and add their knowledge, ability and services to the war effort sooner.

Moreover, the University trained nearly 3,000 members of military units, reservists and technical specialists, on the campus and in the Medical and Dental Schools. It taught more than 10,000 war workers in engineering, science and management courses sponsored by the Government.

Even before the end of the war, the University installed special programs designed to meet the needs and interests of returning veterans. As the number of these veterans grew, the University enlarged its offerings, its staff and, insofar as possible, its facilities to accommodate as many of them as possible.”

[From The Greater University of Buffalo: 1946, p. 21, University Archives history file]

Additional notes on the University of Buffalo during World War II:

During World War II, the University of Buffalo was a training center for the Army Air Force and Army. In addition to accelerated courses, the university served as a barracks to house officers and enlisted men while they completed their studies. Programs for military personnel, offered 1942-43, included aircrew ground training, which gave cadets background in the history of Europe since WWI, technical language, and traditional courses in geography and mathematics.

Engineering Science and Management War Training was a program offered by UB from 1941-1945, designed to provide instruction to civilians in personnel and labor relations, industrial safety, industrial chemistry, geometrical optics and optical instruments, and other technical fields. Students preparing for careers in medicine, dentistry, chemistry, physics and engineering at the University at Buffalo were considered to be in deferred occupations but were recruited heavily in the period 1942-1945 to serve in the armed forces.

The University also offered programs in war training to high school graduates waiting to be drafted or not eligible for military service. Courses offered included physics, analytical chemistry and chemical technology, personnel administration, accounting and statistics, draftsmanship, and preflight training.

War production training was offered in the summer of 1942 and ended in the summer of the following year. The program was aimed at high school graduates who would be entering industrial work and wanted training to prepare them for supervisory responsibilities. Area defense plants, including Bell Aircraft and Curtiss-Wright, sponsored the program.