Published September 10, 2015 This content is archived.
Dear Colleagues:
Classes are underway and the excitement on campus is tangible as we begin the new academic year. We welcome nearly 90 new full-time members to our talented and passionate faculty and an outstanding group of undergraduate, graduate and professional students from 39 states and 65 countries.
UB is an extraordinary place. Our faculty, staff and students have demonstrated exceptional capabilities and a strong desire to contribute at the highest levels. As faculty, we develop the new knowledge that transforms society, and we transmit this new understanding to our students, the next generation of leaders. We shape and enrich our culture through creative activities, and save and improve lives through our outstanding clinical care.
Our new initiatives build on our historical strengths. Our health sciences expansion in the heart of Buffalo creates a state-of-the-art teaching and research environment and allows us to collaborate more closely with our partners to provide enhanced care to the community we serve. Newly designated Communities of Excellence – Global Health Equity, Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART), The Genome, the Environment and the Microbiome (GEM), and UB RENEW – bring together faculty from across the university to address the largest challenges of our time through exceptional scholarship, education, and engagement. Our signature “UB Curriculum,” UB’s new general education program, provides students with the liberal arts foundation, international perspective, appreciation for human and cultural diversity, and desire to be life-long learners needed to thrive in our complex and global society. This year, I look forward to seeing the UB Curriculum take shape as faculty design key courses and to learning about the new collaborations and innovative ideas that emerge from the Communities.
These initiatives will transform our university, allowing us to continue delivering exceptional research, education, and engagement and making us a model 21st-century university. I want to express my appreciation to all of our faculty and staff for your contributions to our UB 2020 initiatives. Your continued commitment is critical to UB’s success.
Sincerely,
Charles F. Zukoski Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs