Tripathi named 2022 Renaissance Man of the Year

The Buffalo Renaissance Foundation has named President Satish K. Tripathi its 2022 Renaissance Man of the Year.

The award recognizes an individual who exemplifies outstanding community leadership and service to the Buffalo region. The foundation, established in 1981, fosters programs and dialogue to improve the quality of life in Western New York.

Previous honorees of the award include Candace S. Johnson, Jeremy M. Jacobs Sr. and Terry and Kim Pegula.

In accepting the award at the foundation’s awards luncheon on Sept. 15 in Kleinhans Music Hall, Tripathi expressed his “heartfelt appreciation for this award, which means so much to me personally and professionally.”

He noted that the week had been an exciting one at UB, with Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to campus to discuss the climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act.

“I know that some people wondered why the White House chose UB for this high-profile visit,” he said. “Let me tell you why.”

Tripathi explained that as a flagship university, UB is an internationally recognized leader in both climate research and sustainability practices on campus. “Our commitment goes back more than four decades, to the public health crisis at Love Canal,” he said, adding that the commitment continues today, citing as examples the work of UB researchers studying the water quality of Lake Erie, developing sustainable food systems in Buffalo and partnering with the community on a workforce training program to create jobs in clean technology.

“These are just a few of the many impactful ways we contribute to the vitality, prosperity and economic development of this great region,” he said. This commitment, he noted, is “explicit in our university mission.”

“And let me assure you, it is one of my foremost priorities as president of UB.”

In his introduction of Tripathi, Mark Alnutt, vice president and director of athletics, noted that thanks to the president’s vision, UB has made “a tremendous impact on the health, vitality and prosperity of our city and region for the past 20 years — and we’re only just getting started.”

Alnutt shared several examples of UB’s impact, among them the move of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to downtown Buffalo, the Graduate School of Education’s Teacher Residency Program, the School of Law’s Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic, and the university’s support for UB startup and spin-off companies.

“Truly, the positive impact that our entire scholarly community is having in the community can be directly attributed to President Tripathi’s leadership,” he said.