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Obituaries
Taher A. Razik, professor emeritus in the Graduate School of Education who worked extensively in the Middle East as a consultant, died Feb. 21 under hospice care in his Amherst home. He was 85.
A native of Egypt, Razik came to the U.S. to attend Ohio State University, where he earned a master of fine arts degree and doctorate in education.
He joined the GSE faculty in 1963, authoring numerous books and articles, and also serving on UB’s Institutional Review Board.
In addition to his work at UB, Razik had extensive experience as an international consultant—on his own and through UNESCO—in Oman, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait and other countries in the region. He advised top education officials, evaluated the educational systems in those countries and helped establish and design new universities.
He held the Order of Sultan Qaboos, the highest civilian honor issued to non-Omanis for distinguished service to that country.
After retiring from UB in 1995 he continued to work with some of the many graduate students from around the world whom he mentored. He and his wife would visit them and host them for visits each summer.
Razik and his wife established the Taher A. Razik and Myra S. Razik International Fellowship in the GSE. The fellowship covers tuition and fees for three years of study for a junior faculty member from Egypt working toward a doctoral degree in educational administration.
Bong Hee Sung, a retired faculty member in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and a pastor in the United Methodist Church, died Feb. 5 in Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. She was 62.
Born in South Korea, Sung graduated from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul. She immigrated to the United States in 1970, earning her doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Oklahoma and working at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Oklahoma City. She moved to Buffalo in 1992 and joined the UB faculty.
She published or presented more than 200 abstracts and articles in her specialty area of cardiovascular medicine. She also attended the seminary while maintaining her full-time career in medical research.
After retiring from UB several years ago, Sung entered the ministry and was pastor to congregations in Wilson, Orchard Park and Sodus.
A memorial service will be held May 1 in the Korean United Methodist Church, 711 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst.
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