This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
News

Briefs

Published: December 1, 2011

  • Deputy director of Gender Institute

    Despina Stratigakos, associate professor of visual studies and architecture, and an award-winning architectural historian whose work addresses issues of diversity in architecture, has been named deputy director of the UB Institute for Research and Education on Women & Gender, the university-wide center that supports and promotes research and teaching related to gender and sexuality.

    “We are indeed lucky to have her on board,” says institute Director Kari J. Winter, citing Stratigakos’ international reputation as a historian and author of such groundbreaking books as the award-winning “A Women’s Berlin: Building the Modern City,” the story of a forgotten metropolis designed by and for women.

    “Stratigakos lectures publicly on issues of diversity in architecture and in 2007 curated an exhibition at the University of Michigan proposing an ‘Architect Barbie’ in order to focus attention on gendered stereotypes within the architectural profession,” says Winter, professor of American studies

    She notes that in 2010-11, Stratigakos and architect Kelly Hayes McAlonie, interim assistant vice president of UB’s Capital Planning Group, collaborated with Mattel Inc. on the production and launch of the commercial version of the doll, which received a great deal of national attention, as well as enormous attention within the profession.

    Stratigakos has served on the boards of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, the Society of Architectural Historians and the International Archive of Women in Architecture. She also has been a member of Buffalo’s municipal taskforce for Diversity in Architecture and helped to found the Architecture and Design Academy (ADA) in the Buffalo Public Schools.

    She received her PhD from Bryn Mawr College and taught at Harvard University and the University of Michigan before joining the UB Department of Architecture in 2007.

  • EMBA ranked in Bloomberg Businessweek

    Bloomberg Businessweek has ranked the School of Management as one of the nation’s best business schools in its biennial ranking of Executive MBA (EMBA) programs.

    The School of Management was one of 26 schools in the ranking’s second tier, which includes Boston University, Rutgers and the University of Pittsburgh.

    “This ranking is evidence of our burgeoning global reputation,” says Courtney Walsh, assistant dean of executive education in the School of Management. “We’re a tremendous value for leaders and their organizations.”

    According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the rankings focus on the end-users’ satisfaction, whether they are students who attend the programs or companies that enroll employees.

    The EMBA ranking is based on two surveys—one of EMBA graduates and a peer assessment by EMBA directors. Graduates are asked to complete a survey on teaching quality, career services, curriculum and other aspects of their experience. The results of the 2011 survey then are combined with those from two previous surveys (2009 and 2007) for a student survey score that contributes 65 percent of the final ranking.

    The other 35 percent of the ranking comes from a poll of EMBA program directors who are asked to rank their top 10. Bloomberg Businessweek assigns 10 points for every No. 1 ranking, nine points for each No. 2 rating and so on.

  • Department of Music offers free concerts

    Budget-conscious music lovers at UB can find a wide variety of concerts to keep them busy in December.

    The free monthly Brown Bag Concert will take place at noon Dec. 6 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.

    Now in its 12th season, this series of free, informal concerts presented during the lunch hour allows patrons to catch a glimpse of the kind of programming offered on a regular basis by the Department of Music. Patrons are encouraged to bring their lunch and enjoy a complimentary cup of Tim Hortons coffee. Each attendee will receive a pair of complimentary tickets to a more formal concert within the following month.

    Several ensemble performances and student recitals in December also are free of charge:

    • MM Recital, Christopher Rudroff, saxophone: 5 p.m. Dec. 4, Lippes Concert Hall.
    • Chamber Music Concert: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4, Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus.
    • UB Concert Band: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6, Lippes Concert Hall.
    • UB Choir, Chorus and Orchestra Concert: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, Lippes Concert Hall.
    • Class Recital “On the Edge”: 3 p.m. Dec. 8, Baird Recital Hall.
    • UB Percussion Ensemble: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8, Lippes Concert Hall.
    • UB Contemporary Ensemble: midnight Dec. 9-10, Lippes Concert Hall.

  • Computer Science to host scavenger hunt

    In honor of Computer Science Education week, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering is hosting a computing scavenger hunt from 4-7 p.m. Dec. 8 in the department’s new home in Davis Hall, North Campus.

    The event is open to the UB community. In addition to participating in the scavenger hunt, those who attend will learn about the fields of computer science and computer engineering, careers in computing and the employment outlook for computing graduates.

    For the scavenger hunt, puzzles will be printed out and hidden throughout Davis Hall, giving students a self-guided tour of the new building. Participants will be eligible for prizes, including an IPod Nano and an Amazon Kindle.

    “At each stop on the CS Ed Week puzzle hunt, participants will be given a spatial reasoning puzzle to solve,” says Geoff Challen, assistant professor of computer science and engineering. “Successfully completing the puzzle produces a numeric code that unlocks the location of the next clue. As the puzzle hunt continues, the puzzles become more and more difficult. Prize eligibility will be determined by how far participants proceed through the hunt.”

    Computer Science Education Week is an activity of Computing in the Core, a national, nonpartisan coalition that advocates for computer science education. CS Ed week, which runs Dec. 4-10, is held in honor of computer science innovator Grace Hopper, an admiral in the U.S. Navy, who pioneered the employment of computer system standards in the 1970s and developed the first compiler for a computer programming language.