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Recognizing UB’s achievements
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“Our honorees’ work exemplifies our missions of creating knowledge, disseminating that knowledge and applying it for the greater good.”
The many ways in which UB faculty, staff and students reach others through their academic achievement was on prominent display Tuesday as UB honored its best and brightest in the fifth annual Celebration of Academic Excellence, held in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
President John B. Simpson praised faculty and staff who were honored at the event for such accomplishments as increasing cultural understanding among UB’s multinational community of scholars, improving educational access among local student populations, changing the landscape of contemporary musical composition and breaking new ground on the treatment of cancer, diabetes, stroke and infectious disease.
“Our honorees’ work exemplifies our missions of creating knowledge, disseminating that knowledge and applying it for the greater good,” he said. “Our university’s achievements mean that we reach, through our work, many others, here in our own academic community and region, across the nation and around the globe.”
Clearly, noted Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, “UB’s people enrich our own academic community and extend its borders in a variety of ways.
“The University at Buffalo’s faculty and staff and students are among the best of the best,” he added. “Our faculty are at the forefront of their disciplines; every day they’re making transformational contributions to their academic fields and, in many cases, transferring these medical, technological and artistic breakthroughs into the public domain for the benefit and enrichment of society.”
The celebration began with a procession of student flag-bearers, led by Elizabeth Lidano, director of judicial affairs and student advocacy, and previous faculty and staff award winners, led by macebearer Robert G. Hoeing, associate professor of linguistics and chair of the Faculty Senate. The event also featured student performances, including short films by students in the Department of Media Study, College of Arts and Sciences, and a performance by the Zodiaque Dance Company.
This year, faculty and staff members recognized at the event included nine SUNY Distinguished Professors, two SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professors, three UB Distinguished Professors and 18 recipients of SUNY Chancellor’s Awards.
Recognized for achieving SUNY’s highest faculty rank were Frank V. Bright, UB Distinguished Professor and A. Conger Goodyear Professor in the Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences; Douglas H. Clements, professor of learning and instruction, Graduate School of Education; David Felder, Birge Cary Chair in the Department of Music, CAS; Bruce A. Holm, professor in the departments of Pediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, and Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; William J. Jusko, UB Distinguished Professor in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Vladimir V. Mitin, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Mulchand S. Patel, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, medical school; William E. Pelham Jr., UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology, CAS, and the departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, medical school; Stephen Rudin, professor of radiology and director of the Division of Radiation Physics, medical school; Kenneth J. Takeuchi, professor of chemistry, CAS; and Joseph J. Zambon, professor of periodontology and oral biology, dental school.
Takeuchi and Zambon are SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professors; the rest are SUNY Distinguished Professors.
Honored as UB Distinguished Professors were Paschalis Alexandridis, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, SEAS; Venugopal Govindaraju, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SEAS; and Daniel J. Kosman, professor in the Department of Biochemistry, medical school.
Also recognized were faculty and staff who received SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence. They included:
• The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities: Mary Ann Jezewski, professor, School of Nursing; Frank Scannapieco, professor and chair, Department of Oral Biology, dental school; and Robert Straubinger, professor, pharmacy school.
• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching: Sampson Blair, associate professor, Department of Sociology, CAS; Robert Cohen, professor and program director, Department of Periodontics and Endodontics, dental school; Kenneth Kim, associate professor, Department of Finance and Managerial Economics, School of Management; Kate Rittenhouse-Olson, associate professor, Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences, medical school; Yvonne Krall Scherer, associate professor and adjunct associate professor of rehabilitation sciences, Nursing; and Troy Wood, associate professor, Chemistry.
• The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service: Gayle Brazeau, associate dean for academic affairs, Pharmacy.
• The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service: Randall Borst, director of disability services; Priscilla Clarke, laboratory director, Department of Chemistry; Andrea Costantino, director of student life; Ellen Dussourd, director of international student and scholar services; and Walter Simpson, former UB energy officer.
• The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship: Cynthia Bertuca, associate director of access services for document delivery, University Libraries; Cynthia Tysick, associate librarian, University Libraries; and Daisy Waters, electronic periodicals management specialist, University Libraries.
Also honored during the ceremony were UB students, including the recipients of the UB Undergraduate Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity; UB Libraries Undergraduate Research Prize; Clifford C. Furnas Scholar-Athlete Award; and four “scholars of excellence,” each of whom received or was a finalist for a highly prestigious and competitive national fellowship or scholarship.
The recipients of the Undergraduate Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity were Monisha Khanna and Emily DiBlasi of the Department of Biological Sciences, CAS; Amy Hardy of the Department of Linguistics, CAS; Xiang Gao of the School of Management; Ravinder, Pooja Makhija, Diane Lochocki and Chung Lin of the School of Public Health and Health Professions; Takako Yoshikuni of the School of Architecture and Planning; Alex Wallach of the University Honors College; Jian Hui Liu of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Casey Kilpatrick, Alexander Morrison-Nozik and Yi Kan Leung of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
The recipients of the UB Libraries Undergraduate Research Prize were Sophia Azeb, a senior history major, and Michael Wach, a sophomore biomedical sciences major.
Mary Veith, a senior chemistry major, received the Clifford C. Furnas Scholar-Athlete Award. A member of the women’s track-and-field and cross-country teams, Veith is the first UB cross-country athlete to be a three-time member of the All-MAC Cross Country First Team. She also is a USA Track and Field junior national qualifier for the 1,500 meters and earned All-Academic team honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Recognized as “scholars of excellence” were:
• Aaron Krolikowski, a senior pursuing a double major in political science and environmental studies, who is the recipient of a four-year Clarendon Scholarship from Oxford University and was a finalist for the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.
• Christopher Llop, a junior pursuing a double major in electrical and industrial engineering, who received a Morris K. Udall Scholarship.
• Claire Lochner, a sophomore electrical engineering major, who is the recipient of a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.
• Emily Bauer, a junior majoring in biological sciences and minoring in environmental design, who was a finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.
In addition, UB students were recognized as part of a large undergraduate research poster presentation in the Center for the Arts atrium.
Posters were taken from the Sigma Xi Student Research Competition, held each spring by the local chapter of Sigma Xi.
Recipients of the 2009 Sigma Xi Research Award for best poster presentation were Alex Gregorski of the Interdisciplinary Master's Program, Dhaval Shah of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Jonathan Missel of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SEAS.
Beta Alpha Psi, the honors organization for the School of Management, received the first annual Student Organization Award for Excellence in Academics and Service.
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