UB to celebrate student excellence

UB will recognize the achievements of its students on May 2 at the annual Celebration of Student Academic Excellence.

The celebration features two parts: a Student Showcase, where graduate and undergraduate students present the mentored research, scholarship, and creative and community projects they have worked on during the current academic year, and the Celebration Ceremony, where student recipients of select national, SUNY and UB awards are recognized publicly.

“The Celebration of Student Academic Excellence recognizes the hard work and dedication of our students in their pursuit of research and academic accomplishments,” says Graham Hammill, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School. “It gives the campus community an opportunity to show our pride in our students’ success.”

The celebration kicks off at 1 p.m. in Alumni Arena with the Student Showcase, coordinated by the UB Experiential Learning Network (ELN).

Participation has increased this year, notes Christina Heath, administrative director of the ELN, with 325 students presenting nearly 250 projects at the showcase — an increase of 50 projects over last year. And the lion’s share of the projects —150 of the 250 projects — are from undergraduates. The breakdown, Health says, “accurately reflects our campus, with each unit putting forth their best student work.”

“ELN is thrilled to celebrate such amazing UB student work and delighted to see participation up by 50 projects this year,” she adds.

After the showcase wraps up at 2:30 p.m., the focus moves to the Celebration Ceremony, hosted by President Satish K. Tripathi and Provost A. Scott Weber.

The ceremony, which begins at 3 p.m. in Slee Hall, features a welcome by Tripathi, remarks by Weber and on-stage recognition of students in several categories:

• Select national scholarships and fellowships.
• SUNY Graduate Research Empowering and Accelerating Talent Award.
• SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
• SUNY Benjamin and David Scharps Legal Essay Award.
• UB Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity Award.
• UB Sigma Xi “Companions in Zealous Research” Award.

A full list of honorees is available on the celebration website.