New Mexico State University Library
Newsletter
Volume 8, Number 2
Summer 1993
Sandy Schilling, Editor
$15,000 Endowment Enhances
Library's Communications Collection
Mary Lee Bailey Shelton
NMSU Information Services
Richard Benfer, a retired engineer who has
been supporting NMSU since the days of Roger
Corbetf s presidency (1955-1970), has given a
$15,000 endowment to the New Mexico State
University New Library to buy materials dealing
with communications.
"That includes everything from smoke signals
to body language," said the former director of
AT&T Bell Laboratories' operations at White
Sands Missile Range.
Benfer, who spent his career working in communications for Bell Labs, said the field is broad
and by no means limited to the study of telephones.
"Who wants to read about telephones?" he
said. "Boy, that is a small part of it Communications is the basic thing all people have in com-
Benfer received his electrical engineering degree from the University of Illinois in 1929, the
year the stock market crashed, and was thrilled to
get a full-time job with communication giant Bell
Labs in New York City for $25 a week.
"The movie industry was going like wildfire,"
What's in this issue...
Children's Book Collection 3
Interlibrary Loan's Changing Role 4
In Celebration of Reading 5
NMSU Library Still Behind Peer Institutions 6
FORO Report 9
Benfer'srole * Richard Benfer
in Hollywood was on the technical sound stages
of major studios such as Paramount, Columbia
and MGM. He enjoyed his professional association with the glamour stars of that day.
And then the bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor.
The next day he was notified by mail that he
would be transferred to design fire control equip-
"I couldn't help but think that I had been
building something to entertain people, and now
I was building something to kill people. We sugar-
coated it by saying it was defense."
But Benfer was intrigued by his new work.
"From 1929 right up to today, it is fascinating
what is being done in the field of communications," he explained. "Now with the new high-
tech, electronic equipment, no one person understands all of it. Young engineers are specialized."
He's all for keeping up with the technology.
He became interested in buying books for the
library when he heard there would be a new
library building.
next page...
Library publications; New Mexico State University. Library
Publisher
New Mexico State University Library
Type
Text
Format
image/tiff
Collection
New Mexico State University Library Newsletters
Identifier
URLN_1993Summer_001
Source
Scan produced from physical item held by the NMSU Library.
Language
eng
Rights
Copyright, NMSU Board of Regents
OCR
New Mexico State University Library
Newsletter
Volume 8, Number 2
Summer 1993
Sandy Schilling, Editor
$15,000 Endowment Enhances
Library's Communications Collection
Mary Lee Bailey Shelton
NMSU Information Services
Richard Benfer, a retired engineer who has
been supporting NMSU since the days of Roger
Corbetf s presidency (1955-1970), has given a
$15,000 endowment to the New Mexico State
University New Library to buy materials dealing
with communications.
"That includes everything from smoke signals
to body language" said the former director of
AT&T Bell Laboratories' operations at White
Sands Missile Range.
Benfer, who spent his career working in communications for Bell Labs, said the field is broad
and by no means limited to the study of telephones.
"Who wants to read about telephones?" he
said. "Boy, that is a small part of it Communications is the basic thing all people have in com-
Benfer received his electrical engineering degree from the University of Illinois in 1929, the
year the stock market crashed, and was thrilled to
get a full-time job with communication giant Bell
Labs in New York City for $25 a week.
"The movie industry was going like wildfire"
What's in this issue...
Children's Book Collection 3
Interlibrary Loan's Changing Role 4
In Celebration of Reading 5
NMSU Library Still Behind Peer Institutions 6
FORO Report 9
Benfer'srole * Richard Benfer
in Hollywood was on the technical sound stages
of major studios such as Paramount, Columbia
and MGM. He enjoyed his professional association with the glamour stars of that day.
And then the bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor.
The next day he was notified by mail that he
would be transferred to design fire control equip-
"I couldn't help but think that I had been
building something to entertain people, and now
I was building something to kill people. We sugar-
coated it by saying it was defense."
But Benfer was intrigued by his new work.
"From 1929 right up to today, it is fascinating
what is being done in the field of communications" he explained. "Now with the new high-
tech, electronic equipment, no one person understands all of it. Young engineers are specialized."
He's all for keeping up with the technology.
He became interested in buying books for the
library when he heard there would be a new
library building.
next page...