Since its establishment in , the school has evolved from a small liberal arts college to a large research university. It is one of U. The Bearcats are members of the America East Conference. Thomas J. In the early s he collaborated with local leaders to begin establishing Triple Cities College as a two-year junior college operating as a satellite of private Syracuse University.
Watson also donated land that would become the school's early home. Originally, Triple Cities College students going on to a bachelor's degree finished their program at Syracuse. By the β academic year, the degrees could be completed entirely in Binghamton. At that time, Harpur and Champlain College in Plattsburgh were the only two liberal arts schools in the New York state system.
Harpur also received 16, non-duplicate volumes and the complete contents of the Champlain College library. In , Harpur began to plan its current location in Vestal , a town next to Binghamton. A site large enough to anticipate future growth was purchased, with the school's move to its new acre 1. Redesignated the State University of New York at Binghamton , the school's new name reflected its status as an advanced degree granting institution.
In a nod to tradition, its undergraduate college of arts and sciences remained "Harpur College". Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, which was founded in In , the school became the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science. Both names are accepted as first reference in news stories. While the school's legal and official name, the State University of New York at Binghamton , still appears on official documents such as diplomas, the administration discourages using the full name unless absolutely necessary.
Next was C. Peter Magrath , former interim president of the University of Nebraska , who served from to then left to become president at the University of Minnesota. The fourth president at Binghamton was Clifford D. Clark, who left his position as dean of the business school at the University of Kansas to serve as vice president for academic affairs at Binghamton in He was asked to take on the job of acting president in the fall of , when Magrath left for Minnesota.
