Peter G. Bradford, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, and Michael F. Sheridan, professor of geology, have joined the Steering Committee of the Environment and Society Institute. The Steering Committee, whose members represent eight departments in three schools and the Libraries, meets monthly to set policy, oversee the Environmental Management Alternative Program and the Environmental Science Interdisciplinary Research Program small grants programs, the fellowship program for graduate students, and the plans for an environmental studies curriculum. The committee also coordinates community service outreach, and serves as a clearinghouse for environmentally related information for the region, including sponsoring or providing partnership support for conferences, workshops and seminars.

Bruce Naughton, clinical associate professor of medicine, has received the 2001 Community Service Award from the Western New York Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Naughton was cited for "including the chapter in cutting-edge research projects that have significant potential to improve care" for persons with alzheimer's, for "improving the community's system for diagnosis and treatment of dementia" and fulfilling the chapter's community education mandate, and for his fund-raising efforts.

Charles M. Severin, assistant dean for students and associate professor of pathology and anatomical sciences in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, was one of 56 medical school faculty physicians nominated by medical students nationwide for the 2001 Humanism in Medicine Award sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The physicians were nominated by the AAMC's Organization of Student Representatives based on five defining characteristics of humanism in medical education: positive mentoring skills, collaboration, compassion/sensitivity, community service activity and observance of professional ethics.

Alan Selman, professor of computer science, was honored by the Conference on Computational Complexity on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Three retrospective talks on Selman's work were given prior to the beginning of the conference, held recently in Chicago. Selman, a UB faculty member since 1990 and a founder of the Complexity Theory Conference, has been an active and influential member of the complexity theory community for nearly 30 years.