Robert L. Ketter

Who was Robert L. Ketter?

Robert L. Ketter, was an authority on earthquake engineering research and a former president of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

A graduate of Lehigh University, Ketter went to UB, then known as the University of Buffalo, in 1957 to inaugurate and head the school's first Department of Civil Engineering. He went on to become the Dean of UB's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and became University President in 1970, after years of student unrest associated with the Vietnam War closed the campus during the spring semester.

A favorite with Civil Engineering students for his earthy style and wit, Ketter designed the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library building and wrote several engineering texts while at UB. His practical, engineering-based approach as university president was a calming influence on campus during his eleven-year tenure. In 1981, he retired as president and took a one-year sabbatical before reurning to UB's CEAS as a professor of engineering and applied sciences. He died April 18, 1989. Robert L. Ketter Hall, on the UB campus, is named in his honor.