The explosion of enrollment after WWII came with a rapid expansion of academics. Clifford C. Furnas, chemical engineer, metallurgist, aviator researcher, and Olympic athlete, was the University's ninth chief executive, holding the position of Chancellor from 1954 until 1962 when the University merged with the State University of New York and his title changed to President. Furnas undertook an extensive program of expansion and enrichment to meet the growing educational needs of Western New York. He was the guiding force in the merger of the private UB with the State University of New York in 1962, affording an infusion of funding. Between 1961 and 1963, over 200 new faculty were hired to meet growing enrollment demand.

Likewise, UB's footprint expanded rapidly from the Main Street (South) campus to Amherst. The University at Buffalo's North Campus is located almost exactly in the center of the town of Amherst, NY approximately 3.5 miles from South Campus on the northeast edge of Buffalo, NY. In the mid-1960s, the University was quickly outgrowing its 178-acre campus, which was once the grounds for the Erie County Almshouse and County Hospital.

After a few unsuccessful attempts to acquire land for a new campus in downtown Buffalo, the University looked to the surrounding suburbs. Then governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller helped the University acquire 2,000 acres in Amherst, and in October 1968, the University began the intensive planning for the newly acquired land.