Engineering alumnus gives $500,000 to support professorship

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A graduate of the University at Buffalo’s doctoral industrial engineering program has given $500,000 to help establish a professorship in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, intends the gift to help the school hire a faculty member in operations research and related fields in the Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) department.

Ann Bisantz, ISE chair, said the department—whose graduates go on to careers in industry, health care, logistics and manufacturing, among others—is very grateful for the gift.

“Gifts such as this one are important for the future of ISE because they allow us to recruit and retain excellent faculty,” Bisantz said. “ISE works hard to provide its students with a high quality, meaningful education, and it is gratifying to know that alumni can be so supportive of the department.”

UB’s ISE program was recently ranked 25th out of 91 ISE and related programs nationwide, according to the U.S. News and World Report graduate program rankings. Among programs at public universities, it is ranked 18th.

Liesl Folks, dean of engineering, said the gift helps draw welcome attention to the ISE department and the UB engineering school as a whole.

“In addition to helping us attract outstanding faculty, named professorships like this one bring considerable prestige to an institution,” Folks said. “A named professor is held in great regard in academia.  Gifts like this help us in so many ways—beyond the obvious financial support, the exposure and prominence it brings to the department and school is invaluable.”