Capen, Samuel Paul, 1878-1956

Samuel Paul Capen graduated from Tufts College in 1898 and received his graduate education at Harvard University. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1902, he was hired to teach German at Clark College in Worcester, Mass. In 1914 he was hired by the United States Bureau of Education where he was asked to conduct numerous surveys on American higher education and in 1918 he became the first director of the American Council on Education (ACE). In 1922 Capen was hired by the Council of the University of Buffalo to be the first full-time Chancellor of the University. The Council looked at Capen to establish a strong central administration that would unify the University. During his twenty-eight years at the University of Buffalo, Capen established many University programs and educational experiments that helped to further the expansion of higher education. He brought strong leadership and intellectual integrity to the University and helped to broaden the education of the professional schools, developed standardized curricula, and personally hand-picked a first-class faculty of full-time, academically trained professors. He also established the Millard Fillmore College for adult education and created the Bureau of Personnel Research, a counseling office, to administer programs that tested the achievements and personalities of students in order to provide better guidance for career choices and help them obtain employment. Under his leadership, student enrollment increased from 1,687 in 1922 to over 10,000 by the time of his retirement in 1950. Capen's experience working on the Bureau of Education and the ACE helped him establish a central and solid administration for the University. He often addressed conferences, commencements, and social clubs on the subjects of educational administration and academic freedom. Samuel P. Capen made a huge impact on the history of the University at Buffalo and brought it into a new era.

From the description of Samuel P. Capen papers, 1893-1956. (SUNY at Buffalo). WorldCat record id: 65525982