UB at Sunrise Downtown Speakers Series to Begin with Presentation by "The Car Coach"

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Lauren Fix, B.S. '86, one of the leading automotive experts in the nation and a frequent guest on national television and cable network shows, will open the University at Buffalo's "UB at Sunrise Downtown" speaker series with a presentation titled "Driving Ambition," to be held Oct. 12 in the Hyatt Regency, 2 Fountain Plaza.

Presented by the UB Alumni Association, the Sunrise series provides a convenient forum for the Western New York business community, UB alumni, faculty, staff and friends to learn about topics of human interest and current concern from members of the university community and others.

The sessions will begin at 7:30 a.m. with a continental breakfast and networking. Presentations will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude promptly at 9 a.m., with opportunities devoted within that timeframe for questions and answers

Business First of Buffalo is the series sponsor.

Fix, known professionally as The Car Coach (tm), has made several appearances on "Oprah!," "The Today Show," "Inside Edition" and "The Early Show," among others. She is co-host of "Talk 2-DIY Automotive" on the Do-It-Yourself Network, which is distributed to 22 million households in the U.S. Her new show, "Get Car Smarts," will debut on PAX television this fall.

A champion racecar driver and author of three books, Fix resides in Williamsville and owns Automotive Aspects, Inc., a consulting firm in Amherst. Her presentation, "Driving Ambition," will offer insight into how she became proficient in the automotive field and parlayed that knowledge into a career, and how anyone else can do the same.

Fix's presentation will be one of more than 50 inaugural events being held during the month of October in conjunction with the investiture of John B. Simpson as UB's 14th president.

Other upcoming series speakers will be Bernard Tolbert, M.S.W. '72, BS '71, vice president of security for the National Basketball Association and former special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Buffalo. On Nov. 17, he will discuss security at sports events.

Michel Bruneau, Ph.D., director of the UB Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), will discuss "One Destructive Earthquake per Week in Buffalo -- Where and Why" on Dec. 15. His program will focus on the MCEER, which includes the Structural Engineering Simulation Laboratory and recently has undergone a $21 million upgrade and expansion.

To register for the entire series, or for individual presentations, call the UB Office of Alumni Relations at 829-2608 or 1-800-284-5382. A fall series subscription is $32 per person; $25 for UB Alumni Association members. Subscriptions must be made by Oct. 8

Reservations for individual presentations are $12 per person or $10 for UB Alumni Association members and must be made five days prior to each presentation.

For more information about the UB at Sunrise Downtown Speakers Series, call Michael Jankowski in the Office of Alumni Relations, at 829-2608 or 1-800-284-5382.