Bob Spencer was born in Buffalo, NY. He, and his wife Mary(nee Elder) graduated from Geneseo State College in 1942 with the first class to receive Baccalaureate degrees from that campus. Drafted in 1942 he rose to the rank of Captain when he emerged from the service in 1946. He served in the Phillipines where he was awarded a Bronze Star for "meritorious service under fire." From 1946 to 1950 He taught Junior High school science at Eden Central School. In 1950 He left to work in the const ruction business until 1963. He served one four year term from 1953 thru 1957 as Justice of the Peace in Eden, NY. In 1963 he returned to school at the State University at Buffalo where he earned the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science. In 1967 he joined the Chancellor's Staff of The State University of New York as Director of the Master Plan. He retired from the Office of the Chancellor of The State University of New York in July of 1983, where he was an Asistant Deputy to the Chancellor for Ca mpus Liasion. He has many hobbies and interests, including: woodworking, bookbinding, stained glass work, reading, poetry, computer surfing, history, and philosophy, although his major interest is in learning about anything, a prediliction he indulges in by attending Elderhostels with Mary.

Bob's passion for learning has been a way of life for him. The following quote from "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White, best illustrates its principle in Merlyn's advice to King Arthur. It appeared in an article by Lewis H. Lapham on page 9 in t he August 1995 issue of Harpers Magazine.

"The best for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then--to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tourtured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting."