UB Faculty, Staff, Librarians Receive Chancellor's Awards

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Six University at Buffalo faculty members, two librarians and four professional staff members have received 1998 State University of New York Chancellor's Awards for Excellence from SUNY Chancellor John W. Ryan.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Chancellor's Awards and the 50th anniversary of SUNY.

Each Chancellor's Award recipient receives an inscribed certificate and a cast bronze medallion.

The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching honors "superb" teaching at the undergraduate, graduate or professional level. Recipients are Rodney L. Doran, Ph.D., professor of learning and instruction; Michael G. Fuda, Ph.D., professor of physics; Philip G. Miles, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences; Richard T. Sarkin, M.D., associate professor of clinical pediatrics and director of pediatric medical student education; M. Beth Tauke, associate professor of architecture, and Nancy P. Zimmerman, Ph.D., assistant professor of library and information studies.

They were cited for "mastery of teaching, dedication to students, adherence to the highest academic standards and continued professional growth and scholarship."

The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship recognizes "skill in librarianship; service to the campus, the university and to the field; scholarship and professional growth, and major professional achievements." Recipients are William Hepfer, associate librarian in Lockwood Memorial Library, and Ellen T. McGrath, associate librarian in the Charles B. Sears Law Library.

The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service honors accomplishments and sustained performance excellence, "both within and beyond the position." Recipients are John M. Grela, director of the Department of Public Safety; Eileen L. Hassett, assistant to the dean of engineering; Sean P. Sullivan, vice provost for academic information and planning, and Nelson E. Townsend, director of the Division of Athletics.

Doran, who joined UB in 1969, teaches science education in the Graduate School of Education. His research involves expanding and improving assessment options and formulating new approaches for science teachers. He also is actively involved in secondary-science-education reform efforts and has published extensively on science education and classroom assessment.

In 1994, he received a Service Award from the New York State Science Mentor Network. He also has received an award for outstanding service to science education by the New York State Science Supervisors Association and was recognized by the Association of Education for Teachers in Science as the year's Outstanding Science Educator in 1980.

Doran is a resident of Snyder.

A member of the UB physics faculty since 1967, Fuda is a fellow of the American Physical Society, an honor reserved for no more than .5 percent of the 41,000-member society.

Fuda, the author of more than 60 publications in scientific journals, is focusing his most recent research on relativistic quantum mechanics of few particle systems.

He has received numerous grants from the National Science Foundation.

He lives on the West Side of Buffalo.

Miles, who joined the UB faculty in 1956, is an expert in the biology of plants and fungi, and serves as the president of the World Society of Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products and the international editor of the Mexican publication Micologia Neotropical Applicada.

His main research interests include genetics and physiology of sexuality in fungi, hyphal fusion, nuclear migration and edible fungi.

Miles resides in Williamsville.

A UB faculty member since 1981, Sarkin coordinated the Teaching Effectiveness Program in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, which was designed to help faculty improve teaching skills.

He is an internationally renowned expert in the area of improving the teaching skills of faculty and residents, as well as improving ways for physicians to communicate more effectively with patients and families.

An attending physician at Children's Hospital, Sarkin also is a general pediatrician.

He resides in Eggertsville.

Tauke, who came to UB in 1985, serves as interim associate chair of the Department of Architecture.

In 1994, her essay, "IMAGinING the CITY," which explores how electronic images are replacing the physical as the authority model of our cities, won first place in a national faculty competition of the National Institute for Architectural Education.

The author of several published articles in design journals, she has won numerous awards including outstanding teaching and service awards from UB in 1986 and 1987.

Tauke is a resident of Derby.

A member of the UB faculty since 1993, Zimmerman is the coordinator of the School Library Media Program within the UB School of Information and Library Studies.

She is an expert in the areas of children's and young-adult services and literature, as well as computer applications for libraries and the integration of information technologies into the instructional process and school-library media centers.

Zimmerman, who is president of the New York State Library Association, also serves as the treasurer and an executive board member of the American Association of School Librarians and was listed in Who's Who in America from 1995-97.

She is a resident of East Amherst.

Hepfer came to UB in 1983 as head of the serials department of the University Libraries Central Technical Services. He serves as an associate librarian in the reference and collection-development department in Lockwood Library, where he performs specialized reference, bibliographic instruction and collection-development duties in the fields of education and linguistics.

He has published several articles in librarian journals and in 1986 received the Blackwell North America Scholarship Award for co-editing a publication of the American Libraries Association.

Hepfer is a resident of East Amherst.

McGrath, who came to UB in 1987, was named associate librarian of the UB law library in 1993 and is responsible for the administration of the cataloging department in the library, as well as for numerous special projects.

From 1989-91, she led a project involving the cataloging of LEXIS files with a grant from Mead Data Central, Inc. She also has supervised projects involving students in the UB School of Information and Library Studies.

She lives in Cheektowaga.

Grela, a member of the UB staff since 1973, served as associate director of public safety from 1985 until 1995, when he was named director. As director, he is responsible for all law enforcement activities on both UB campuses.

Throughout his UB career, Grela has been commended for his work in community-oriented policing, which takes a "problem-oriented, consumer-friendly approach to law enforcement."

He is a member of the Niagara Frontier Police Athletic Association, International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, International Association of Chiefs of Police and Northeast Colleges and Universities Security, Inc.

He lives in Williamsville.

A member of the UB professional staff since 1983, Hassett serves on committees both internal and external to the engineering school and assists the dean with the preparation of research reports and proposals, as well as with special projects and administrative operations.

She is the program administrator for the Greater Regional Industrial Technology program, a $1.5 million federal project in which UB provides technical assistance to small companies.

Hassett lives in Amherst.

Sullivan, who came to UB in 1979, serves as the provost's chief budget-planner and academic officer, chief educational-technology planning officer and chief facilities-planning coordinator.

His contributions to UB include originating and coordinating the Educational Technology Action Plan Initiative which, in the past two years, has established distributed technology-support and educational-technology planning teams throughout the academic organization.

He lives in Depew.

As director of athletics, Townsend is responsible for the administration and development of a comprehensive, athletic, academic and recreational program serving the needs of all UB students.

Since he came to UB in 1987, Townsend has successfully led 15 UB sports from NCAA Division III back to Division I status. He also served on the committee that helped bring the 1993 World University Games to Buffalo.

He has served on many national committees, including the NCAA Olympic Sports Liaison Committee, the NCAA Nominating Committee and the President's Council of Physical Fitness.

Townsend is a Williamsville resident.