Thomas Scharman Buechner ’48

With the death of Tom Buechner from lymphoma June 13, 2010, Princeton and the class has bid farewell to a most distinguished creative genius and friend.  

Tom did it all in the arts. He was a painter, illustrator, and museum director. He served as president of Steuben Glass, chairman of the Corning Glass Works Foundation, and president of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Tom came to us from the Lawrenceville School via the Naval Air Corps training program. He left Princeton in 1945, spent a year in Puerto Rico learning Spanish, and then studied at the Art Students League of New York, while working as an elevator operator at the Plaza Hotel to pay his tuition. He next studied painting in Paris and Amsterdam. His return to New York found him at the Metropolitan Museum in the display department. He was the first director of the Corning Museum of Glass (from 1950 to 1960) and of the Brooklyn Museum (from 1960 to 1971).  

Tom was well known as an author and lecturer, having written the glass section for the Encyclopedia Britannica. His best-known book is Norman Rockwell, Artist and Illustrator (1971). After retiring in 1987, he painted portraits, landscapes, and still lifes full time.

Tom married Mary Hawkins in 1949. She survives him as do their daughter, Bohn; sons Thomas III and Matthew; and seven grandchildren.