Paul F. Maeder papers (OF-1CA-M1)

Biographical note

Paul Fritz Maeder served as professor of engineering, vice president for finance and operations, and associate provost during the social and financial upheavals of the late sixties and early seventies at Brown.

Born in Basel, Switzerland in 1923, Paul Maeder received his master's in engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich before coming to the United States in 1946 to teach and pursue his Ph.D. at Brown. He received his doctorate in 1951 and, three years later, became the youngest Brown faculty member to attain the rank of full professor.

He chaired the engineering division from 1962 to 1968, bringing it to national prominence. As head of Brown's aerodynamics laboratory, he accrued numerous government contracts and patents for his inventions, several of which were manufactured by College Hill Industries Inc., a company he founded. With colleagues, he built a transonic wind tunnel (reportedly the first at a university), and he worked on the conversion of the F-86 airplane, enabling it to break the sound barrier.

In 1968, at the height of campus unrest nationwide, Maeder joined Brown's administration as associate provost. Although his stern, upright, and acutely logical manner were unpopular with students at the time, he played a critical role in responding to their demands. He helped negotiate the resolution of the 1968 black student walkout, which resulted in Brown's commitment to increase the number of black students on campus. The following spring, the so-called Maeder Report on undergraduate education incorporated many recommendations from the Magaziner/Maxwell Report, leading to acceptance of the New Curriculum.

In 1972, as vice president for finance and operations, Maeder took on the additional challenge of curbing Brown's deficit. Bringing expenditures in line was at odds with student idealism and the release of President Donald F. Hornig's 1974 White Paper outlining forthcoming cuts sparked protests.

In 1977, Maeder quit administration to return to science, continuing his research in fluid mechanics. In 1986, he retired to Delray Beach, Florida, maintaining a home in Switzerland as well. Maeder died on January 30, 1994. (BAM 94:7:15)