Thomas N. Stainback
FindaGrave
Undated, unidentified clipping in a scrapbook at the Saranac Lake Veteran's Club.
Undated, unidentified clipping in a scrapbook at the Saranac Lake Veteran's Club.Born: October 19, 1923
Died: August 23, 1998
Married: Aida
Children:
Thomas Nathaniel Stainback was a World War II veteran. He was a son of A. Forest Stainback and Virginia Peacock Stainback. They died prematurely, leaving three young children, Tom, Florence [Wenke] and Virginia. "A great deal of pressure was exerted to have them put up for adoption, but the grandfather [guide Tom Peacock] would have none of it and reared them himself," wrote Maitland DeSormo in Summers on the Saranacs. Tom Stainback graduated from Paul Smith's College in 1941, in the first class, and later became its president.
In 1952, Thomas Stainback was Secretary of the Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, July 12, 1982
In weekend announcement
PSC president resigns
PAUL SMITHS — Paul Smith's College President Thomas N. Stainback will be stepping down Sept. 1 from the post he has held for the past six years.
Stainback's resignation was announced this weekend at the regular summer meeting of the college Board of Trustees, held on the local campus. The PSC alumnus listed private reasons, including the desire "to pursue various interests and opportunities in the executive field to which I have devoted most of my career," as the cause of his resignation.
Stainback, who will leave his post only weeks before the beginning of the 1982-83 school year, becomes the second head of an institution of higher learning to resign this year. North, Country Community College President Peter Cayan announced his resignation from that position earlier this year. Bolhmen began their service to their respective institutions in 1976.
The PSC board immediately took steps to secure an interim president while a search is conducted for a successor to Stainback. John Herold, a trustee of the college since 1976 and chairman of the Academic Policy Committee, was selected to act as chairman of the search committee.
"We have accepted President Stainback's decision to step down with real regret," Board of Trustees President C. Converse Goddard said in a press release. "He has served this college well, leading it ably through a complex transition period following the long-term presidency of Chester L. Buxton. The board will indeed miss the strengths he has brought to the operation of the college.
"At the same time," Goddard continued, "We recognize and understand his desire to pursue other interests at this stage of his career. It is therefore with deep gratitude for his great contribution to Paul Smith's College and best wishes for his continued success in his future endeavors that we accept his resignation as president."
Stainback, a native of Saranac Lake, is a former executive director of the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. He also worked as the executive secretary of the Hazelton, Pa., chamber, executive vice-president of the Jersey City Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce before returning to his home state as as executive secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce.
During his tenure as president of his alma mater, Stainback led the college through a number of major changes, including the sale of the Gabriels campus to the state Department of Correctional Services for use as a minimum security prison. Other changes in the physical plant made under Stainback's guidance included the construction of two modern townhouse dormitories, laboratory facilities, and renovations to existing structures, including $3 million in improvements to campus properties and the college owned Hotel Saranac.
During his second year in office, PSC for the first time received accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Growth has also been accomplished in other academic areas, with growth of programs in ecology, environmental technology, and travel and tourism. A chef training program has also been established
Paul Smith's College Sequel, Fall 1998
Thomas Stainback, Former PSC President, Dies
Thomas N. Stainback, member of the class of 1948 and President of the College from 1976 to 1982, died in August, 1998.
He was a native of Saranac Lake and a graduate of both Paul Smith's College and Ithaca College.
With the exception of the years during which he was President of Paul Smith's, Mr. Stainback spent his entire career as a Chamber of Commerce executive. He started this work in 1950 in Saranac Lake and eventually became Executive Vice-President and then President of the New York Chamber of Commerce. He was the first president of the Adirondack North Country Association. Mr. Stainback is survived by his wife, Aida, of Saranac Lake.
