Philanthropy

It took him 16 years of studying part time on nights and weekends while working full time and raising a family to complete his engineering degree at the University at Buffalo, but Felix Smist, B.S. '65, kept at it. To honor his father and help students who experience similar situations, Felix's son James Smist, B.S. '80, and his wife, Mary, have established the Felix Smist Scholarship at UB.

Professor James A. Gardner has been named to a new civil justice professorship in the University at Buffalo Law School, created through the generosity of alumnus Joseph W. Belluck and his wife, Laura L. Aswad.

The family of the late Om Parkash Bahl, a distinguished University at Buffalo professor whose scientific research led to the development of the home pregnancy test, is remembering him by raising money for a new endowed professorship in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

Two locally owned professional design firms are offering scholarships for minority students who attend the University at Buffalo in the fields of architecture and engineering.

A $1 million unitrust from Erich Bloch, B.S. '52, who has named the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) as the remainder beneficiary, will support undergraduate fellowships and graduate assistantships for the school through the Erich Bloch Scholarship & Graduate Assistantship Fund.

Sankyo Pharma Development is giving $120,000 to the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences for graduate fellowships, as a response to the shortage of qualified researchers in the study of body/drug interactions.

A $100,000 bequest commitment from Robert J. Miller, B.S. '59, of Youngstown, N.Y., will support the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

A $225,000 grant from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and a $220,000 grant from the national organization, Research to Prevent Blindness, have helped push the University at Buffalo's new Ira G. Ross Eye Institute over goal in meeting a $3 million challenge.

A $75,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. to the University at Buffalo Art Galleries will help produce a scholarly catalogue to accompany "The Wall: Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art," the largest exhibition of contemporary Chinese art ever to travel beyond that country's borders.

A bequest of $484,020 from the late Gretchen Joyner, daughter of the late Arthur Goetzman, M.D. '27, will be used to fund scholarships for students in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in memory of her father.