4 Faculty Members Named UB Distinguished Professors

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Four University at Buffalo faculty members have been named UB Distinguished Professors for achieving distinction and being leaders in their fields.

They are: Francis M. Gasparini of Williamsville, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS); David A. Gerber of North Buffalo, professor and chair of the Department of History, CAS; William J. Jusko of East Amherst, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Frank C. Zagare of North Buffalo, professor in the Department of Political Science, CAS.

The UB Distinguished Professor designation -- not to be confused with the SUNY Distinguished Professor designation, a rank above that of full professor awarded by the SUNY trustees -- was created several years ago by the Office of the Provost to recognize full professors who have achieved true distinction and who are leaders in their fields.

It is open to faculty members who have been a full professor for at least five years and who have achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within their field through significant contributions to the research/scholarly literature or through artistic performance or achievement in the fine arts.

A fellow of the American Physical Society, Francis M. Gasparini conducts research in quantum fluids and explored critical behavior and finite-size scaling at the superfluid transition of liquid helium. He leads the low temperature research group in the Department of Physics.

Gasparini joined the UB faculty in 1973 after working at AT&T Bell Laboratories and serving as a visiting associate professor in the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics at Cornell University.

He is a recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and a Sustained Achievement Award from UB in recognition of his research achievements.

A graduate of Villanova University, Gasparini received his doctorate in physics from the University of Minnesota.

David A. Gerber is a social historian who specializes in 19th and 20th century American history, with interests in personal identity and personal relationships among non-elite populations. During the past three decades, he has conducted research on African Americans, Jewish Americans, European immigrants and veterans of military service who have incurred disabilities or chronic illness while in the service.

A UB faculty member since 1971, Gerber has received numerous awards during his academic career, including the 2001 Carleton Qualey Prize from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society for the best article published in the Journal of American Ethnic History during 2000, the 1997 Owen Augsperger Award from the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society for contributions to local history and a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. He also is the recipient of two Fulbright Awards.

He received a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Northwestern University and a doctorate from Princeton University.

William J. Jusko has been a UB faculty member since 1972 and is a former chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics, Jusko's research focuses on pharmacodynamics -- the use of mathematical models to capture the details of how drugs affect the body's systems over time. His work has been funded continuously for more than 25 years by the National Institutes of Health, including a coveted NIH MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award, which is given to fewer than 5 percent of NIH-funded investigators.

Among his numerous awards are a Fulbright Scholarship; the Rawls-Palmer Award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics; the Russell R. Miller Award and the Distinguished Service Award, both from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, and the Research Achievement Award in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism from American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

Jusko received his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from UB.

Frank C. Zagare joined the UB faculty in 1987 and served as chair of the Department of Political Science from 1991-94 and from 1996-2005. Zagare has been called "one of the major contributors to game theoretic approaches to international relations." His theoretical work has focused on deterrence, crises, conflict escalation, and bargaining and negotiation.

A former vice president of the International Studies Association, Zagare is a member of the editorial board of International Interactions. He has served on the Advisory Panel of the National Science Foundation, on the editorial board of International Studies Quarterly, as a member of the Presidential Nominating Committee and the Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee of the International Studies Association, as a councilor for the Peace Science Society (International) and as a council member of the Conflict Processes Section of the American Political Science Association. His research has been

supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the International Studies Association and the United States Institute of Peace.

Zagare received a B.A. from Fordham University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University.