UB plans 18-month sesqui celebration

By PATRICIA DONOVAN

News Services Staff

THE UNIVERSITY at Buffalo has announced plans to mark its 150th birthday with an 18-month celebration to begin in January 1996. A highlight of the UB sesquicentennial celebration will be a four-day period in October 1996 that will include a convocation, an academic symposium, programs sponsored by UB's 16 academic faculties and professional schools, a concert and a sesquicentennial gala.

Plans for the celebration were announced Oct. 10 at the unveiling of the UB Sesquicentennial Logo during a press conference in the Jeannette Martin Room of Capen Hall. The celebration will mark the founding of the University at Buffalo as a medical college in 1846, an event that will also be celebrated in 1996 and 1997 by the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (See related story on Page 7).

UB President William R. Greiner noted that "It's been a great century and a half for the University at Buffalo...it's the people in this room and all those who went before you who made these 150 years together great, and who guarantee that there are another 150 great years ahead of us." Also paying tribute to the university's 150,000 graduates and current 26,000 students, he said, "UB is a great community of people."

Festivities and special events for UB's sesquicentennial are being planned by a committee of more than 30 members of the university community headed by Carole Smith Petro, associate vice president for university services; Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science, and Barbara Bono, associate professor in the Department of English.

At the press conference, Philip B. Wels, chair of the UB Council and honorary chair of the sesquicentennial committee, singled out the committee co-chairs, Carole Smith Petro, Claude Welch and Barbara Bono, as well as the medical school sesquicentennial co-chairs, Ronald E. Batt and Harold Brody, for their service in planning the celebration. Wels, who recalled the 1946 centennial celebration which engendered much excitement in the community, said he believes the sesquicentennial will be equally exciting for WNY.

The 18-month calendar for the university's sesquicentennial celebration includes:

  • An enhanced ceremony commemorating the birthday of Millard Fillmore, one of the founders of UB and its first chancellor, on January 8, 1996.

  • An exhibition of historic UB photographs, documents, books and memorabilia to open in March 1996 in the university archives. The exhibit will present the changing picture of UB life from the university's early days as a medical college in downtown Buffalo to its development as a major public research and service university.

  • A University Founders event and a Founders Dinner in April 1996.

  • A special four-day, university-wide convocation period in October 1996. Among the events scheduled are:

  • October 2: A university convocation with a presentation by the first speaker in UB's 1996-97 Distinguished Speaker Series.

  • October 3: Programs in the disciplines to be sponsored by UB's 16 academic faculties and professional schools. These will include mini-conferences, distinguished speakers, alumni activities and other events.

  • October 3: Alumni Concert, with presentation of a commissioned sesquicentennial orchestral composition by Lukas Foss.

  • October 4: A university-wide academic symposium on the subject "Does the Body Matter?" featuring six scholars of international distinction.

  • October 4, evening: A sesquicentennial gala featuring the Parsons Dance Company and Billy Taylor Trio in the UB Center for the Arts.

  • October 5: Student leadership conference featuring past and present UB student-government leaders.

    Members of the UB Sesquicentennial Planning Committee include Philip B. Wels, chair of the UB Council; Richard E. Baldwin, associate director, Office of Conferences and Special Events; Ronald E. Batt, clinical associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics; Dennis R. Black, associate vice president for student services and dean of students; Ronald R. Blickhahn, assistant vice president for facilities planning and design in the Division of University Services; James J. Bono, associate professor of history.

    Also, Harold Brody, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology; Marilyn Ciancio, past president of the UB Women's Club; Timothy J. Conroy, director, Office of Publications; Laura Cornwall, student representative to the committee; Stephen C. Dunnett, vice provost for international education; William J. Evitts, executive director, Office of Alumni Relations; Sandra J. Fazekas, program coordinator, UB Center for the Arts.

    Also, Shonnie Finnegan, university archivist; Mary H. Gresham, associate vice president, Division of Public Service and Urban Affairs; Kenneth J. Levy, senior vice provost; Jane A. Liebner, assistant director for presidential events and protocol, Office of Conferences and Special Events; Bruce D. McCombe, professor and chair, Department of Physics.

    Also, Kara Millonzi, student representative to the committee; Arthur H. Page, director, UB News Services; William J. Regan, director, Office of Conferences and Special Events; Kathryn A. Sawner, executive assistant to the president; Stuart C. Shapiro, professor of computer science; Harriet R. Simons, professor of music; Charles L. Stinger, professor of history; Nelson E. Townsend, director, Division of Athletics, and Ezra B. Zubrow, professor of anthropology.

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