This collection contains correspondence and other papers relating to Spurr's professional activities while he was on the faculty of the University of Michigan. It also includes a small amount of material relating to his faculty activities. The collection is made up of four series: Correspondence, Organization for Tropical Studies, Ramparts Canyon Dam (Alaska) proposal, and Reprints.
Stephen Hopkins Spurr was a professor of forestry at the University of Michigan and other institutions, who spent a major part of his career at Michigan and the University of Texas as a university administrator.
Spurr was born in 1918 and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida. After earning a graduate degree from the Yale forestry school in 1940, he worked at the Harvard Forest and the University of Minnesota before becoming professor of silviculture at the University of Michigan in 1952. While at Michigan Spurr took on administrative responsibilities, becoming dean of the School of Natural Resources in 1962, dean of the Graduate School in 1964, and vice president and dean of graduate studies in 1969. Spurr was active in many professional associations, serving at various times as president, chairman, or other officer in the Society of American Foresters, Lake States Forest Tree Improvement Committee, and Organization for Tropical Studies while on the Michigan faculty.
In 1971 Spurr left the University of Michigan to become president of the University of Texas. He was fired from that position in 1974, but remained on the faculty there. Spurr died in 1990.
