UB celebrates student excellence

The UB community gathered yesterday to recognize students’ exceptional scholarly and research pursuits at the 15th annual Celebration of Student Academic Excellence.

The event began with a research poster exhibition in the Center the Arts atrium. Around 300 different research projects conducted by UB students were on display, with student researchers available to take questions and explain their findings. The projects covered the range of disciplines, examining subjects like innovating the way photochemistry is taught in high school, geographically mapping out online hate speech and the effect exercise has on learning a new language.

Following the poster exhibition, the crowd filed into the Mainstage theater for the celebration ceremony in which students were recognized for received major awards.

“We are so pleased to spotlight our students’ outstanding accomplishments across a wide spectrum of disciplines,” President Satish K. Tripathi said in an opening address. “It fills me with immense pride to know our students are pushing the boundaries of scholarly research, broadening their perspectives, making new discoveries and ultimately accomplishing what they set out to do through dedication and hard work. That is why every year I look forward to this great university tradition.”

Tripathi noted he was grateful for the guidance of faculty and staff mentors who helped make the students’ research projects a reality. He also expressed pride in the growth of student excellence at the university.

“I’m very proud of how far our undergraduate and graduate research endeavors have come over the last 15 years, Tripathi said. “We are clearly successful in bringing together faculty and students to break ground in their respective fields or to address society’s most pressing issues.”

Following his opening remarks, Ann M. Bisantz, dean of undergraduate education, recognized winners, finalists and nominees for prestigious national fellowships and scholarships, such as the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the British Marshall Scholarship, the Fulbright Program and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. More than 70 UB students were considered for these prestigious awards.

Students also were recognized for receiving UB and SUNY awards, including the Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence; the UB “Journey of Discovery” Library-Supported Undergraduate Research Prize; the UB Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity; the UB Sigma Xi “Companions in Zealous Research” Award; the Clifford C. Furnas Scholar-Athlete Award; the UB Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award; and the UB Three-Minute Thesis Award.

Over the course of the ceremony, multiple videos that demonstrated the exemplary work done by UB students were shown to the audience. One of the videos captured the work of the team of nine students who built the U.S. exhibits for the 2019 Prague Quadrennial.

“I’ve been pleased to learn more about our students and their academic journeys through today’s videos,” Provost Charles F. Zukoski said following the videos. “These videos highlight the attributes that we instill in our students through a UB education and mentorship from faculty and staff. These attributes include being curious, creative, eager to contribute to innovation in its many forms, wanting to make a difference in the world and embracing and finding ways to contribute to our local and global economies.

“At UB, we have designed a curriculum that offers expansive opportunities to explore the vast array of disciplines that comprise a comprehensive research university,” Zukoski said. “To facilitate the ability to make connections and apply ideas, UB offers a variety of experiential learning and mentoring opportunities. In these programs UB’s students are partners in creating new knowledge, discovering new possibilities and redefining fields and professional roles.”

A full list of award winners can be found on the Celebration for Student Academic Excellence website.