13 to be honored by UB Alumni Association

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo Alumni Association will honor an entrepreneur and the former president and CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises Inc. during the UB Alumni Association Achievement Awards ceremony to be held at 6:30 p.m. April 8 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall on the North Campus.

Entrepreneur John Kapoor, PhD '72, will receive the UB Alumni Association's highest honor, the Samuel P. Capen Award, and John Alm, BS '73, former Coca Cola executive will receive a Distinguished Alumni Award. They are among the 10 individuals who will be honored, along with three university volunteers. UB Officer in Charge Satish K. Tripathi, PhD, and UB Alumni Association President Larry Zielinski, MBA '77 & BA '75, will present the awards. A post-award reception will feature premium food stations, an open bar and entertainment in the Center for the Arts atrium on the UB North Campus.

Tickets for the Alumni Association Achievement Awards are $75 per person and may be purchased online at http://www.alumni.buffalo.edu/events or by calling the UB Office of Alumni Relations at 1-800-284-5382.

Kapoor, of Phoenix, Ariz., is a native of Amristar, India. Crediting UB with providing the financial support that enabled him to earn a doctorate in medicinal chemistry from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kapoor has continuously supported the university ever since. A strong advocate for UB, he has funded research, a state-of-the-art instrumentation core and a number of graduate fellowships. His most recent investment, a $5 million challenge gift, is being used to construct a building on the South Campus to house the pharmacy school, which will be named in his honor in recognition of his unmatched generosity.

Alm, of Cave Creek, Ariz., will receive a Distinguished Alumni Award, given in recognition of exceptional career accomplishments, community or university service, or research and scholarly activity.

His career accomplishments are numerous; the certified public accountant worked for both Price Waterhouse and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation before entering Coca Cola Bottling Group as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Though successful in business, Alm today prides himself on his the Paintrock Canyon Program, a 7,000-acre working ranch in Wyoming that assists underprivileged youth to "realize new life lessons and begin to 'paint/create' a future pathway to success," he says.

Additional 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are Tilmon "Tim" F. Brown, BS '93 & BA '93, of Hyatville, Wyo.; Patricia A. Burns, PhD '88 & MS '79, of Lutz, Fla.; D. Jackson Coleman, MD '60, of Haworth, N.J.; and Gina B. Hammond, MS '73, of Warrenton, Va.

An International Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented to Irid F. Agoes, MA '82 & PhD '99, of Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Clifford C. Furnas Award, presented to engineering, natural sciences or mathematics alumni who have distinguished themselves in a field of science, is to be given to Russell L. Agrusa, BS '76, of Westwood, Mass.

The Dr. Richard T. Sarkin Award for Excellence in Teaching will be presented to Harry L. Metcalf, MD '60 & BA '56, of Williamsville, N.Y.

The Dr. Philip B. Wels Award will be given to Frank L. Ciminelli, for his contributions to the university, academia, the community and the profession.

In appreciation of outstanding volunteer contributions to the university, Volunteer Recognition Awards will be presented to: Judith Adams-Volpe, of Eggertsville, N.Y.; James Boyle, BS '78, of West Seneca, N.Y.; and Andrea Costantino, PhD '00, EdM '93 & BA '92, of Depew, N.Y.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.