The State University of New York is America's largest comprehensive public university system, with sixty-four campuses, including community colleges, colleges of technology, university colleges, research universities, medical schools, academic medical centers, and specialized campuses in fields as diverse as optometry, ceramics, horticulture, fashion, forestry, and maritime training. Despite its reputation for wide access, demanding academic programs, vital public services, and cutting-edge research, little has been written about its fascinating history. Originating in a lively conference held in spring 2009 to mark SUNY's sixtieth anniversary, the book's authors examine SUNY's origins, political landscape, evolving mission, institutional variety, international partnerships, leadership, and more. Taking its place alongside studies of state systems such as those in California, Michigan, and Texas, this book is a long overdue effort to return SUNY to the national conversation about public higher education during the last half century. Edited by a former interim chancellor of the system and two SUNY history professors, and with a foreword by current Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the problems and promise of public higher education in New York State, or, indeed, anywhere. This book contains ten parts. Part 1, "The Empire State Creates a University", contains: Introduction (Sanford H. Levine); (I) Shared Goals, Different Politics, and Differing Outcomes: The Truman Commission and the Dewey Commission (Philo Hutcheson); (II) Forging SUNY in New York's Political Cauldron (Tod Ottman); and (III) The Temporary Commission Surveys Bias in Admissions (Harold S. Wechsler). Part 2, "The Building Blocks of SUNY", contains: Introduction (Douglas R. Skopp); (I) SUNY Oswego: From Recovery and Refugees to Re-Invention and Revival (Tim Nekritz); (II) Rescuing the State Teachers College from History's Scrapheap (Kenneth P. O'Brien and W. Bruce Leslie); (III) "A Touch of New England in Western New York": The Transformation of SUNY Geneseo (Wayne Mahood); and (IV) From Schools of Agriculture to Colleges of Technology: A Century of Evolution (Joseph Petrick). Part 3, "Varied Missions in America's Largest Comprehensive University", contains: Introduction (Christopher C. Dahl); (I) The College of Environmental Science and Forestry and SUNY: A Unique Relationship (Hugh O. Canham); (II) SUNY Maritime College: A History (Maryellen Keefe); and (III) Why a University Press Should Be and Must Be Relevant (Gary Dunham). Part 4, "Community Colleges: Emergence of an Educational Giant," contains: Introduction (Dennis Golladay); (I) A Retrospective View of the Westchester Community College Experience (Marjorie Glusker); and (II) The Pioneers Speak: Voices from the Early Years of the SUNY Community Colleges (Benjamin J. Weaver). Part 5, "SUNY Strides onto the National Research Stage", contains: Introduction (John W. Kalas); (I) Presidential Leadership, Change, and Community: SUNY-Buffalo from 1966 to 1981 (Patricia A. Maloney); (II) Documenting Research at SUNY University Centers: A Comparative Approach (Nancy Diamond); and (III) Better Late Than Never: Intentions, Timing, and Results in Creating SUNY Research Universities (Roger L. Geiger). Part 6, "The Best Laid Plans", contains: Introduction (John Aubrey Douglass); (I) James Bryant Conant and the Limits of Educational Planning in California and New York (Wayne J. Urban); (II) Three Historical Moments: Contested Visions of the State University of New York (Henry Steck); and (III) An Assessment of the Recommendations of the NYS Commission on Higher Education (John B. Clark). Part 7, "Diversity-Demography, Culture, and Education for a Changing New York", contains: Introduction (Pedro N. Caban); (I) Changing Demographics and Representational Dilemmas: Latinos at SUNY and CUNY Meeting the Diversity Challenge (Jose E. Cruz); and (II) Creating Educational Equity: A Brief Look at the History and Development of the SUNY EOCs and EOP (Carlos N. Medina and Jeffrey Scott). Part 8, "SUNY in and of the World", contains: Introduction (James Ketterer); (I) SUNY's Strategic Role in International Higher Education (Karla Back); and (II) SUNY from an English Perspective (John Halsey). Part 9, "The View from the SUNY Tower: Two Chancellors Look Back", contains: (I) Historical Vignettes of SUNY: A Personal Sampling (Clifton R. Wharton Jr.); and (II) The State University of New York: Memories and Perspectives (D. Bruce Johnstone). Part 10, "Telling SUNY's Tale: Historians Look Back and Forward", contains: Introduction (Chris Ward); (I) The State of Archives on SUNY Campuses: The Good, the Bad, and the Unaccounted (Geoffrey Williams); (II) Pride and Identity: The College Histories of the SUNY Campuses (Joel T. Rosenthal); and (III) The Strange Career of SUNY's History (W. Bruce Leslie).