Media advisory: Panel discussion on university-driven economic development will feature leadership from seven regional institutions

Buffalo, N.Y. – Leaders from seven regional academic and economic development institutions will participate in a panel discussion about the role of higher education in spurring new economic growth across Western New York.

WHAT: The Regional Summit on Higher Education and Economic Development will feature an interactive discussion session on how academic institutions, through research-based innovation, technology transfer and other means, can help create new jobs and encourage the growth of industry. Members of the business community are encouraged to attend. RSVP at www.tinyurl.com/regionalsummit.

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to noon

WHERE: University at Buffalo Clinical and Translational Research Center at 875 Ellicott St., Buffalo.

Panelists:

• Howard Cohen, PhD, Interim President, SUNY Buffalo State
• Charles Edmondson, PhD, President, Alfred University
• Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, President and CEO, Buffalo Niagara Partnership
• Virginia Schaefer Horvath, PhD, President, SUNY Fredonia
• Jack Quinn, President, Erie Community College
• Satish K. Tripathi, PhD, President, University at Buffalo
• Howard Zemsky, Co-chair, Western New York Regional Economic Development Council

The session will be moderated by Grove Potter, executive business editor of The Buffalo News, and will feature remarks from D. Bruce Johnstone, PhD, SUNY distinguished service professor emeritus at UB and former SUNY chancellor, and Jason E. Lane, PhD, deputy director for research at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Johnstone and Lane are co-authors of “Universities and Colleges as Economic Drivers.”

The panel is made possible by the participating institutions noted and the Western New York Consortium of Higher Education, with support from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Similar events have been hosted across the state with the goal of encouraging new collaborations that can lead to innovation-based economic development.