7 Faculty Members Inducted Into Golden Key Honor Society

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo Golden Key National Honor Society recently inducted seven members of the UB faculty as honorary members of the UB chapter at its 10th annual fall induction ceremony.

The new honorary members are Carrie Tirado Bramen, Robert Chatov, Helene Kershner, Johannes Nitsche, Kenneth Regan, John Ringland and Kenneth Takeuchi.

Golden Key is an undergraduate academic honor association that recognizes the top 15 percent of juniors and seniors in all academic fields. Student members nominate faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in undergraduate education.

Carrie Tirado Bramen of Buffalo, assistant professor of English, teaches "American Pluralism", among other courses, and has published several works on the subject. She is the faculty advisor for Lambda Delta Phi and a member of the Graduate Group for Feminist Studies, both at UB.

In 1996, Bramen received the UB Student Association Milton Plesur Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching.

She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut, a master's degree from the University of Sussex and a doctorate from Stanford University.

Robert Chatov, associate professor of accounting and law in the School of Management, directs the school's interdisciplinary workshop in business and ethics. He also teaches in the Executive MBA, Micro-MBA and Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, at UB and leadership programs for local police agencies.

A member of the graduate school faculty and a faculty mentor for the undergraduate honors program, Chatov also holds positions on the National Defense Executive Reserve and the State Bar of Michigan. He lives in Snyder.

Helene Kershner of Williamsville serves as assistant chair in the Department of Computer Science, as well as a teacher and supervisor of undergraduate computer courses. She received a teaching award from the Student Association in 1983 and currently serves on 13 UB committees and six community committees.

Kershner is the author of five books on computer literacy and has written several professional reviews on such topics as software engineering, data structures and algorithms. A graduate of Queens College, she received her master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her doctorate from the University of Connecticut.

Johannes M. Nitsche, associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of the Center for Advanced Molecular Biology and Immunology (CAMBI), reviews grant proposals for the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund and the Cornell Theory Center.

He recently received a Teacher of the Year Award from the UB chapter of Tau Beta Pi and was the 1995 recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for excellence in teaching. Nitsche also serves as a member of the chemical engineering graduate committee.

He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Minnesota and received his doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a resident of Amherst.

Kenneth W. Regan of Amherst, associate professor of computer science, conducts research primarily in theoretical computer science, specifically in computational complexity theory. The author of 15 articles and contributor to two books, he serves on three departmental committees and is an alternate for the Faculty Senate.

Regan received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and his doctoral degree from Oxford University. He held postdoctoral positions at Oxford and Cornell universities.

John Ringland of Buffalo, associate professor of mathematics, has been the faculty advisor for the undergraduate mathematics club since 1994, coached the annual William Lowell Putnam mathematical competition, and participated in several conferences on teaching quality.

He was awarded a prestigious research grant in 1996 by the National Science Foundation's Division of Computational Mathematics and has been involved in the development of two computer software packages.

After receiving his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Southern Methodist University and then jointly at Yale and Brown universities.

Kenneth J. Takeuchi, associate professor of chemistry, most recently received the inaugural Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He also has received the Chemical Manufacturers Association's 1997 Responsible Care Catalyst Award and the Milton Plesur Award.

In addition, Takeuchi is an honorary member of the UB chapters of the Phi Eta Sigma freshman honor society and the Mortar Board senior honor society. He serves on the Faculty Senate Committee on Teaching Quality and is a mentor to a number of student programs.

A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Takeuchi received his doctoral degree from The Ohio State University. He is a resident of East Amherst.