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New faculty arrive on campus
President John B. Simpson greets new faculty member Anne Marie Perrault at a reception concluding this year’s New Faculty Orientation Program. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI
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“We are very excited and delighted that unlike many universities in these tough fiscal times, UB is able to hire new faculty and is continuing to move forward with our academic UB 2020 plans.”
Fifty-eight new faculty members have arrived on campus, settling into their classrooms and laboratories, and quickly forming ties with newfound friends and colleagues. Their enthusiasm is palpable—one new scholar went so far as to describe a feeling of “rebirth” in coming to UB.
Most of the new hires are in the College of Arts and Sciences, not surprising since this is the largest academic unit on campus. New professors also are arriving in the health sciences and in the professional schools. The newest members of the UB faculty include a specialist in extreme events, a distinguished scholar in medieval and Renaissance Judaism, and an economist and industrial relations expert who was previously at the University of Tokyo.
While there are not as many lateral hires as last year—faculty from other universities coming in at the associate or full professor ranks—all new faculty have “stellar qualifications,” affirms Lucinda M. Finley, vice provost for faculty affairs. Moreover, their arrival is especially significant given the financial constraints faced by universities everywhere. “We are very excited and delighted that unlike many universities in these tough fiscal times, UB is able to hire new faculty and is continuing to move forward with our academic UB 2020 plans,” Finley says. “It was very exciting to welcome 58 full-time faculty to the university. …I think it shows UB’s commitment to continuing to emphasize academic excellence and to manage its resources in a way to keep [faculty] focused on academics.”
Aaron W. Hughes, the new Gordon and Gretchen Gross Professor of Jewish Studies, says he was attracted by President John B. Simpson’s “visionary 2020 initiative.” In specific terms, Hughes says he appreciates the momentum established with the 2008 establishment of the Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage (IJTH), of which he will be associate director. Hughes, who previously taught at the University of Calgary, is the author of several important books in this area, including The Art of Dialogue in Jewish Philosophy and Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline.
Hughes finds the support from Simpson, the Western New York Jewish community and UB colleagues “amazing,” adding that UB compares most favorably with the Canadian university system when it comes to establishing and communicating an academic vision. “I feel reborn here and I hope to channel the energy associated with this rebirth into actualizing some of the many potential excellences of the IJTH.
“I believe that the formation of the IJTH is a real opportunity to add an important component that is currently lacking, or being dismantled in most Jewish Studies departments/programs in North America: namely, a focus on Jewish philosophy and Jewish ideas,” Hughes says. Many other programs put primary emphasis on Jewish history, religion or sociology, but the UB institute will focus on teaching and original research, he points out.
Hughes and IJTH Director Richard A. Cohen plan to make several more hires over the next few years. “We are confident that in the very near future UB will be one of the premier institutions to engage in the historical, cultural and philosophical analysis of Jewish ideas, thereby attracting a new generation of students and scholars—both undergraduate and graduate, Jewish and non-Jewish—to engage seriously in this activity.”
Another new faculty member interviewed for this article voiced similar enthusiasm about her academic home. For Anne Marie Perrault, her position as assistant professor in the Department of Library and Information Studies, Graduate School of Education, represents a return to her alma mater. Perrault received her M.L.S. degree from UB before earning her doctorate from the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester. Perrault’s research centers on educational informatics, which she defines as “the intersection of education, technology and information, and how we can improve the information literacy skills of students in the 21st century.”
Now that she’s at UB, Perrault is particularly interested in partnering with young adults who have disabilities and finding ways to foster relationships with school districts. “Ultimately, our touchstone is how we help the students become lifelong learners and equip them to pursue their educational and personal goals. …How can these synergistic relationships be fully leveraged to support the information needs and resources for young adults in informal and formal learning settings?”
Perrault was among those attending this year’s new faculty orientation program, which has been expanded to three sessions. Each program, Finley explains, was held at one of UB’s three campuses; each explored a theme of interest or importance to newly arriving faculty. The first day consisted of a general university overview with information about the history of UB, UB 2020 and the goals and directions for the university. Provost Satish K. Tripathi addressed the new faculty, who also heard from Kathryn A. Foster, director of the UB Regional Institute in the UB Law School, who presented on the Buffalo Niagara region and UB’s role in it. Robert G. Shibley, Building UB project director and director of the Urban Design Project in the School of Architecture and Planning, talked about the university’s master planning process. “The goal for that day was to give them an overview, to try to get them up to speed on UB 2020 and some of the exciting plans so they could get involved,” explains Finley.
The second day, held on the South Campus, focused on teaching and student support services. The final program on Aug. 25 was held downtown at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and focused on research, including a welcome from Jorge José, vice president for research. Presentations included a panel of recently tenured faculty who gave advice on how to successfully manage one’s UB career. The panel, featuring faculty from several schools and academic units, was especially well received, says Finley. “We ended with a reception following the Aug. 25 program that both the provost and the president attended. [In all] it was a very comprehensive program.”
For her part, Perrault says she appreciated the “very comprehensive and informative new faculty orientation.” For instance, a tour of the Center for Computational Research (CCR) sparked a plan to work with CCR as part of a project she already has undertaken with an area agency providing services to young adults with disabilities. On the personal front, having most recently taught at the University of South Carolina, Perrault welcomes a return to four seasons after residing in the south for several years. “There is nothing like the natural beauty of this area, combined with the extensive cultural and recreational offerings.”
Also arriving on campus this year is Lisa Butler, whose research interests in extreme events include trauma, resilience and growth, dissociative process, and adjustment following life-threatening illness. Associate professor in the School of Social Work, she is also interested in representations of mental illness in film.
Joining the Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences, is Eiichiro Kazumori, whose research is at the forefront of his field of industrial relations. After earning his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2004, he spent two years as a postdoctoral associate at Caltech before joining the University of Tokyo as a researcher.
The Department of Visual Studies this year greets Jonathan Katz, a distinguished and widely respected scholar, curator, professor and academic program builder who has been published by Yale University Press, University of Chicago Press, Duke University Press, Routledge, Thames and Hudson, and has two upcoming books to be published by University of Chicago Press.
Debra Luczkiewicz joins the Department of Family Medicine in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where she will continue her clinical focus on palliative care in partnership with Hospice Buffalo. She also will develop projects evaluating pain management and nutritional support in end-of-life care.
New to the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, is Heather Ochs-Balcom. A genetic epidemiologist, Ochs-Balcom has a specific interest in the genetics of chronic disease. She currently is funded to study the genetics of breast cancer in African-American families from across the United States.
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