Steven B. Sample, who served as the University at Buffalo's president from 1982 to 1991, has died. He was 75 years old. Sample's nearly decade at helm led the university to greater levels of recognition. He sought to improve UB’s research climate and oversaw major campus construction. Under his leadership, the National Science Foundation in 1986 awarded the first National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research to a consortium headquartered at UB. The university also was elected to the prestigious Association of American Universities, of which Sample later served as chairman.
Steven Sample was a man of many talents — an electrical engineer, musician, inventor, outdoorsman, author and teacher. A member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Sample invented and patented several devices, including digital appliance controls and touch pads, used in more than 300 million microwave ovens and other home appliances worldwide.
He died yesterday in California and is survived by his wife Kathryn Brunkow Sample, daughters Michelle Sample Smith and Elizabeth Sample, son-in-law Kirk Smith and grandchildren Kathryn and Andrew Smith.
