Honorary degrees, medal to be given at Convocation

By ARTHUR PAGE
News Services Director

A SUNY honorary doctorate in humane letters will be presented to Northrup R. Knox and a SUNY honorary doctorate in humane letters will be conferred posthumously on his brother, the late Seymour H. Knox III.

The President's Medal will be presented to Irving H. Freedman. SUNY vice chancellor for capital facilities and general manager of the State University Construction Fund, Freedman has helped shape the construction of the North Campus, one of the largest construction projects in Western New York history.

Also to be honored are four UB faculty members recently named a SUNY Distinguished Professor and UB faculty and staff members who earlier this year were named recipients of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for excellence in the areas of teaching, librarianship and professional service. They will be recognized by Interim SUNY Chancellor John W. Ryan and UB President William R. Greiner.

The convocation will open with an academic procession, and be declared open by Claude E. Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and chair of the Faculty Senate, who will be macebearer.

Greetings will be offered by Greiner. Closing remarks will be presented by Provost Thomas E. Headrick.

Frederic V. Salerno, immediate past chair of the SUNY Board of Trustees, will be keynote speaker at the convocation, being held as a major event of UB's sesquicentennial celebration. Salerno is president and chief executive officer of NYNEX.

The convocation also will feature the premiere of a musical composition, "Celebration," by Lukas Foss dedicated to the university on the occasion of its sesquicentennial. It will be performed by the UB Wind Ensemble and UB Choir. A sesquicentennial poem written by Irving Feldman, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB Department of English and a poet of national distinction, will be read by him.

The family of Northrup R. Knox and the late Seymour H. Knox III has had a long, distinguished relationship with UB. In 1916, their grandmother, the late Grace Knox, assured the future of the arts and sciences at UB by establishing the university's first endowment, in memory of her husband, Seymour H. Knox I.

Their son, Seymour H. Knox II, was a founding member of the UB Council. He served as chair of the council and chair emeritus for more than 40 years.

His sons, Northrup R. and the late Seymour H. III, have carried on the family tradition of commitment to the growth and prosperity of Western New York, including that of the university.

They brought into existence the Buffalo Sabres hockey team, and were integral to the conception and construction of the new Marine Midland Arena in downtown Buffalo.

Through the Seymour H. Knox Foundation, they have supported arts education, higher and secondary education, human services, recreation, and wildlife preservation and protection organizations. The foundation has generously supported special cultural events and artistic exhibitions at UB, as well as many charities and cultural institutions in the eastern U.S.

The Knox brothers also have been active in the life of the university.

Seymour H. Knox III, who died in May, was a member of the UB Arts Advisory Council. His wife, Jean, continues as a member of the University Founders.

Northrup R. Knox is a member of the President's Board of Visitors, a member of the University at Buffalo Foundation Board of Trustees and served as national chair of the university's Pathways to Greatness Campaign. He and his wife, Cetta, are members of the University Founders.

Also to be honored during the program are four faculty members who this spring were named a Distinguished Professor, the highest faculty rank in the SUNY system, by the SUNY Board of Trustees.

They are SUNY Distinguished Service Professors Saul Elkin, professor of theatre and dance, and James P. Nolan, professor of medicine, and SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professors Perry Hogan, professor of physiology, and Kenneth F. Joyce, professor of law.

Those being recognized for receiving Chancellor's Awards for excellence are:

Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching: Christina L. Bloebaum, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Joseph A. Gardella Jr., professor of chemistry and biomaterials; Francis M. Gasparini, professor of physics and astronomy; Gerald B. Koudelka, associate professor of biological sciences; James R. Meindl, professor of organization and human resources, and Joseph R. Natiella, professor of oral pathology.

Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship: Jean S. Decker, head of the serials cataloging section for the UB Libraries, and Donald K. Hartman, coordinator for on-line services and associate librarian in Lockwood Memorial Library Reference and Collection Development Department.

Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service: Peter G. Avery, instructional support technician in the Department of Geology; Dennis R. Black, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students; Henry J. Durand, executive director of the Center for Academic Development Services, and Joseph P. Lane, associate director of the Center for Assistive Technology.