Pendergast Receives Top Award from Undersea and Hyperbaric Society

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- David R. Pendergast of Hamburg, professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has received the Albert R. Behnke Award, the most prominent honor awarded by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS).

Pendergast received the award, presented in recognition of outstanding scientific contributions to advances in the undersea or hyperbaric biomedical field, at the annual scientific meeting of the UHMS, held in late June in Orlando, Fla. The UHMS is the primary source of information for diving and hyperbaric medicine physiology worldwide.

An adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pendergast also serves as associate director of the Center for Research and Education in Special Environments in the UB medical school.

A UB faculty member since 1973, Pendergast studies a broad range of human adaptations to exercise on land, in water and in outer space. He received an Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement from UB in 2004.

Pendergast and UB colleagues Joseph Mollendorf, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Budd Termin, head coach of the UB men's swim team, developed a low-drag swimsuit that is licensed by TYR Sport and was worn by a number of 2004 Olympians from around the world.

Pendergast received a bachelor's degree from Brockport State College, a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate from UB.