Robert Huff, Stanford’s first financial aid director, dies

Robert Huff, Stanford’s first financial aid director, died of cancer on March 7. Huff was 89.

Huff served as financial aid director from 1958 to 1994 and worked under five Stanford presidents. In his early years on the job, Huff mainly met with students individually, but his work transformed to focus more on budgets and ensuring financial aid for the growing student population.

Huff was dedicated to improving college financial aid beyond Stanford and was widely recognized for his contributions on a national scale. After serving as president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) from 1979 to 1980, Huff received NASFAA’s inaugural Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award — an annual accolade created in his honor for contributions to literature on student financial aid.

Huff was also a chair of the College Scholarship Service Assembly and Council, as well as the first president of the California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

In 1994, Huff became a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, which four years later would publish Huff’s essay on “how college student financial aid might be made more logical and effective.”

Huff was a 50-year member of the Stanford Faculty Club and remained involved with the University until his death. Huff is survived by his son, Robert Huff III, and daughter, Margaret Huff, as well as his brothers, David and Edward Huff, and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held this Saturday, March 19 in Palo Alto.

Contact Sophie Stuber at sstuber8 ‘at’ stanford.edu.