Tripathi urges ‘impact through excellence’ in State of the University address

President Satish K. Tripathi reminded the UB community how its growing research and scholarship are making a difference in people’s daily lives and encouraged the university to continue making that “impact through excellence.”

“Our mission, and our values, compel us to make a difference,” Tripathi said.

“And today,” he said, “I am going to lay out how we are translating our standard of excellence into meaningful, societal impact that resonates across the region, nation and world.”

Tripathi’s remarks came Friday during his annual State of the University address in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, where he said the state of the SUNY flagship remains strong. As evidence, he pointed to UB as the new home of the state’s Empire AI consortium, the university’s rising sponsored research expenditures, a record-setting Boldly Buffalo campaign now in the books and more than $1 billion in campus construction on the horizon.

But the president devoted much of his speech to emphasizing UB’s far-reaching impact.

UB applies its “standard of excellence to the defining problems of the day” and then puts into practice its collective knowledge and discoveries, Tripathi said.

“And then, we extend our innovations to those who would benefit most — at local, national and global scales,” he said.

As examples, the president pointed to a wide range of UB research, from curbing vaping among teens, to helping elderly successfully age, to developing an antidote for resistant bacteria, to changing our understanding of the history of a modern art movement.

He mentioned an opioid-treatment program conceived at UB and replicated in three other states. He referred to a free, online platform built by UB researchers to allow the public to discern deepfakes, and $10 million awarded UB to improve reading skills of children with the help of AI.

He talked about UB’s efforts to train thousands of underserved Buffalonians CPR after the world saw how the lifesaving technique was used last year to revive Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

And he spoke of the meaningful ways in which UB is contributing to the ongoing resurgence of Western New York.

Over the past 10 years, UB has provided mentorship, training and funding to scores of entrepreneurs on their path to marketplace, while more than half of the technologies UB licensed were to local companies, Tripathi said.

“In fact, in the last three years alone we supported more than 1,400 industry partnerships and helped create 1,700 jobs,” the president said.

During his speech, Tripathi thanked Western New York’s state delegation and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was at UB Friday morning to launch the first phase of Empire AI’s supercomputing data center within the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences downtown.

Tripathi recognized the work and influence of UB faculty, whose scholarly citations have increased nearly 50% in just five years. He acknowledged student excellence and the growing number earning fellowships, scholarships and national awards. And he thanked university staff, whom each in their own way provide meaningful contributions to this greater good.

“Whether we’re huddled over the research bench, standing at the ballet barre or building a startup, we are, each one of us, working toward a shared goal,” Tripathi said.

“Impact through excellence. This is what binds us,” he said. “This is the foundation of the universal language we share.”

The president addressed some of the challenges that lie ahead for UB and higher education. He mentioned last year’s Supreme Court decision to restrict colleges and universities from using race-conscious admission policies, which has yielded mixed results for the nation’s institutions.

“That said, I am pleased to report that, overall, the number of historically underrepresented UB students continues to increase year over year,” Tripathi said.

The percentage of historically underrepresented students at UB rose to 19.8% this year, up from 18.5% last year.

“At UB,” he said, “we remain steadfast in our commitment to build upon our culture of equity so all members of our scholarly community can thrive.”

More than 400 people attended the event, which included a short piece of original music performed by professors Jon Nelson and Jeffrey Scott from the Department of Music.

Tripathi also noted:

Rising research dollars. Two years ago, UB’s annual sponsored research expenditures crossed the $200 million mark. Today, those expenditures total $249 million, Tripathi said.

“But this is just one part of the story,” he said.

“What we do with the knowledge we master — the papers and books we author, the solutions we produce, the lives we improve: This is how our excellence bears fruit,” he said.

Empire AI. “While today only the private sector has the computing power needed to seriously advance AI research, Empire AI will put New York State at the epicenter of artificial intelligence innovation,” Tripathi said.

“This game-changing initiative will enable us to tap the full power of AI to solve complex issues facing our state, nation and world.”

UB’s global reach. UB welcomed students from 109 countries to campus this year and celebrated its 20th anniversary of undergraduate programs at the Singapore Institute of Management. It also formalized research and academic partnerships with universities in Vietnam, South Korean, India and the West Indies, bringing its total number of global alliances to 115.

Campus development. UB is embarking on one of the most significant periods of growth and modernization in its history, with more than $1.64 billion in construction planned over the next decade.

Projects include new buildings on the North Campus for engineering, interdisciplinary research and multidisciplinary research that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence. On the South Campus, the university will build a James Joyce museum within Abbott Library, while renovations to Foster and Parker halls will provide new homes for the Graduate School of Education and the School of Social Work.

This week, UB will celebrate the opening of the Brittany Murchie Mulla Sports Performance Center.

But that, Tripathi said, is just the beginning.