Roy M. Huffington Ambassadorial Papers, 1988-2008

Collection

Identifier: MS 0617

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

This collection is a subset of a wider gathering of Roy M. Huffington’s personal and professional papers. The materials here reflect his time as Ambassador to Austria and the many connections made during his appointment. It includes office records, reports, correspondence, and photographs from the American embassy in Austria, as well as records from the Salzburg Institute, Geological Society of America Foundation, and the American Austrian Foundation.

Series are composed of records mostly in their original order, though some records were rearranged to reflect their significance or to create more intuitive groupings. While the first series pertains specifically to Huffington’s service as Ambassador to Austria, all but one of the subsequent series are based on particular organizations, such as the Salzburg Seminar and the Council of American Ambassadors. Users of this collection should bear in mind that while Huffington’s involvement with most of these organizations began due to his service as Ambassador, his interest and involvement in them continued well past the end of his appointment, and consequently the bulk of the records of these series were not generated during that time.

Dates

Creation: 1988-2008

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Roy M. Huffington Ambassadorial Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biographical Sketch

Roy M. Huffington was born in Tomball, Texas on Oct 4, 1917. The son of an oil man, he earned his bachelors in geology from Southern Methodist University in 1938, and earned a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard in 1942. After serving aboard the USS Hornet as a lieutenant during World War II, he left the Navy and went to work for Humble Oil. In 1956, Huffington left Humble to start his own business with the money he had saved over the previous decade, Roy M. Huffington, Inc. or as it was also known as, “Huffco”. The company made a number of successful ventures around the world, most notably the discovery of vast reserves of natural gas in Indonesia in 1972. In 1989, Huffington sold his oil company, and in 1990 President Bush appointed him to Ambassador to Austria. Among his many other commitments he also served as chairman of the Asia Society and the Salzburg Seminar. Huffington passed away in 2008 at the age of 90.

Extent

9 Linear Feet (10 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection is part of a wider compilation of Roy M. Huffington’s personal and professional papers. Specifically, these papers encompass Huffington’s appointment and work as Ambassador to Austria, as well as the numerous political, personal, and business connections he made while serving in Vienna.

Related Materials

Please refer to Roy M. Huffington Personal and Professional papers,1972-2009, MS 688; Roy M. Huffington Naval Papers, 1942-2005 MS 611 for more information on the Navy and Mr. Huffington; Huffington Oil company records, 1977-2006 MS 575; as well as the Huffington and allied families' papers, 1650-1955 MS 883.