Robert W. Spencer (1921-2012 ) attended Riverside High School in Buffalo, New York and received his B.A. degree in 1942 from the University of Geneseo. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army during World War II in the Pacific. He married Mary Pearl Elder on October 30th, 1942. Following the war they moved to Eden, New York, where Mr. Spencer taught high school science and driver education. He quit teaching to work as a carpenter and later opened his own home and pool construction business. In 1962, he returned to higher education working towards his doctorate degree in political science at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He worked in the Office of Planning and Development during his graduate studies focusing on planning for the new Amherst campus. In 1967, before he was able to complete his dissertation he was offered a position with SUNY Central in Albany in the Long Range Planning Office. He later became a special assistant to the Chancellor of SUNY. He and Mary, who taught kindergarten for 25 years, retired in August 1983 and returned to Buffalo. The Spencers have four children, Mary, Robert, Karen, and Kevin, eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Robert Spencer died on January 14th, 2012.