University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

‘Science Guy’ to speak

Scientist and comedian Bill Nye—the Science Guy—will speak at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Alumni Arena, North Campus, as part of UB’s Distinguished Speakers Series.

A life-long interest in how things work and the science behind it inspired Nye to study mechanical engineering at Cornell University. After graduating, he worked as an engineer for Boeing, where he designed a flight system component that continues to be used today, and later provided consulting services for the Department of Justice. While working as a successful engineer by day, Nye began dabbling in stand-up comedy at night. He later pursued a full-time comedy career as a writer and performer with the “Almost Live” television show. It was here that the “Science Guy” character first appeared.

Nye wrote, produced and hosted “Bill Nye the Science Guy” from 1992-95. The show won 28 Emmy awards, with Nye himself receiving an additional seven Emmys.

Nye’s other television ventures have included the Science Channel’s “100 Greatest Discoveries” and “The Eyes of Nye.” A passionate voice for the environment, Nye currently hosts “Stuff Happens”—a mix of entertaining demonstrations, humor, story-telling and expert interviews that can be seen on Discovery’s Planet Green Channel.

Nye also is the author of several books, including “Bill Nye the Science Guy's Big Blast of Science” and “Bill Nye’s Great Big Book of Tiny Germs,” to name just a couple.

Two of the Distinguished Speakers Series’ contributing sponsors—United University Professions and TIAA-CREF—are offering discount vouchers on tickets for UB faculty and staff. Click here for more information.

Fundraiser to benefit Stewart

An “All You Can Eat” fundraiser for Amy Stewart, the UB graduate student who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident on March 7, will be held April 23 in the Tiffin Room in the Student Union, North Campus.

A $10 lunch buffet will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The fundraiser is sponsored by Career Services, Student Affairs and the Tiffin Room, Campus Dining and Shops.

To make reservations, call 645-2551. Walk-ins also are welcome.

Lydian Quartet to return

The Lydian String Quartet, which in November performed the second concert of this season’s Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle, will return to UB on April 24 to present the sixth and final concert in the cycle at 8 p.m. in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.

The quartet also will hold a composer workshop session at 1 p.m. April 25 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus. The session will be free and open to the public.

The program on April 24 will feature “Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4,” “Quartet in F Major, Op. 135” and “Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2.”

The Lydian String Quartet—violinists Daniel Stepner and Judith Eissenberg, violist Mary Ruth Ray and cellist Joshua Gordon—has inspired critical acclaim worldwide with its compelling and vividly dramatic performances, special flair and interpretive mastery of standard and contemporary repertoire. It has won a Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and has been the recipient of various grants from the Meet the Composer/Rockefeller Foundation/AT&T Jazz Program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as numerous awards from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.

Advance tickets are $12 for general admission, $9 for UB faculty/staff/alumni and seniors, and $5 for students. Tickets at the door are $20, $15 and $8. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Slee Hall box office, the Center for the Arts box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

Senior thesis show set

"Some Assembly Required,” the senior thesis show exhibiting work by the 29 graduating B.F.A. students in the Department of Visual Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, will open with a reception from 6-9 p.m. Saturday in Room 542 of the Tri-Main Center, 4295 Main St., Buffalo.

The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, also will be on view in the center from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and April 25 and 26.

The self-organized and curated exhibition is the culmination of a year’s worth of research, development and studio work by each of the students and brings together the disciplines of art, art history and critical theory.

The title of the exhibition draws on the ideas that a work of art is never complete until it has engaged with an audience; that students from different concentrations are working together to create a single exhibition; and that a work of art has many readings and often is more complex than what is seen on the surface.

The works take many forms, including interactive videos, painting and photography, large-scale digital prints, performance and installation, and cover a broad range of topics, among them patterns of consumption, pop culture and personal narratives.

Sweeney to perform

Comedienne Julia Sweeney will perform a special staged reading of her one-woman show “God Said Ha!” at 8 p.m. April 23 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The reading is part of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare's 20th Annual International Conference, being hosted by the Center for the Arts April 22-25.

The conference, designed to highlight best practices, innovative programs and cutting-edge research in the field of arts in healthcare, will bring more than 300 students, educators, health-care professionals and artists from across the United States, Canada and Europe to Buffalo. The conference also will highlight the work being done locally by the CFA’s Arts in Healthcare initiative, which includes partner institutions Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Best known for her four hit seasons on "Saturday Night Live," Sweeney and her brother both were diagnosed with cancer in 1994. Her experiences led her to write and star in "God Said Ha!" which focuses on how she survived a painful period of her life by relying on her art—her comedy.

Tickets are $30 for general admission and $15 for students. Conference registration is not required to purchase tickets. To save $5 per ticket, click here.

To view a video of “God Said Ha!” click here.