University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: April 26, 2007

By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Staff Writer

The major achievements of UB faculty, staff and students in the past year across a broad spectrum of activities in teaching, research and service were recognized at the third annual Celebration of Academic Excellence, held April 19 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

President John B. Simpson (left) presents to Chancellor John R. Ryan framed photographs of Ryan with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama from the Dalai Lama’s visit to UB in September.
PHOTOS: NANCY J. PARISI

Although excellence is sought by everyone in a university community, SUNY Chancellor John R. Ryan told the audience in his keynote address that true excellence must be earned through practice and perseverance, and cannot come from a single action or achievement.

"President Simpson and the UB team know that true excellence is an ongoing practice," he said. "Perhaps that's why the UB 2020 Path to Prominence program was developed back in 2004, to ensure the campus would set bigger and better goals for itself, expand its partnerships with the surrounding community and, most importantly, enhance the education being provided its students and opportunities being provided its faculty.

"It goes without saying that UB 2020 has the potential to propel the university to new levels of excellence," he said.

Simpson talks with Cheng-Ting Chen, a senior management major, about her prize-winning poster presentation.

Continued leadership and hard work is all that remain to execute UB's strategic plan, now that its vision is defined and its roadmap drawn, Ryan added.

"I'm confident that as UB 2020 goes along," he said, "you will generate hundreds of new jobs, thousands of new students and millions more in research dollars. UB will have an even greater impact on the local and state economies, and in fact be the driving force behind the City of Buffalo's future and the successes of Western New York as a region."

President John B. Simpson spoke about UB's leadership in international education in light of the changing global marketplace in his address later in the program. He said UB is setting the nation's pace as the public university ranked number one nationwide for its proportion of international students.

"Our embrace of change, of crossing borders and erasing boundaries, goes beyond international education," Simson added. "Instead of regarding the traditional cornerstones of the public research university—teaching, research and service—as separate entities, we are evolving a philosophy whereby we see these as intrinsically integrated endeavors. Excellence at UB means is a broad and holistic view of academic achievement and academic impact, one that transforms the traditional 20th-century paradigm of the public research university."

Provost Satish K. Tripathi also pointed to the bright future of UB scholarship in his praise of those students whose research and creative endeavors were highlighted in a poster presentation that preceded the program in the CFA atrium. "Throughout this academic year, our students have spent countless hours in pursuit of ideas that have manifested into new approaches to thinking about our world and expanding understanding of the human condition," he said.

The program included several student performances, including musical performances by the Genkin Philharmonic, an electro-acoustic chamber ensemble directed by Jon R. Nelson of the Department of Music; a dance by the Young Choreographers, a troupe of UB student choreographers directed by Tressa Gorman Crehan of the Department of Theatre and Dance; and a rededication of UB's alma mater conducted by Jim Mauck, director of UB's athletic bands. The program also featured a screening was a short video retrospective of the visit of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to UB in September.

Leading the list of faculty members honored was Stephen C. Dunnett, vice provost of international education, whose efforts Simpson recognized as the central force behind the historic three-day visit of the Dalai Lama, as well as the more than 4,000 international students from more than 100 countries enrolled at UB. Dunnett was recognized as the 2007 UB Distinguished Alumni Award winner, as well as the recipient of the 2007 President's Medal, which will be conferred at the university's general commencement ceremony on May 13, for the profound impact of his contributions to the university community.

Recognized for achieving SUNY's highest faculty rank were Isaac Ehrlich, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and Melvin H. Baker Professor of American Enterprise, School of Management; Lois M. Weis, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, Graduate School of Education (GSE); and Oren R. Lyons, professor in the Department of American Studies, CAS, who were named SUNY Distinguished Service Professors in 2006.

Francis M. Gasparini, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, CAS; David A. Gerber, professor and chair of the Department of History, CAS; William J. Jusko, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Frances C. Zagare, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science, CAS, were recognized as UB Distinguished Professors.

Also recognized were faculty and staff who received SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence. The recipients were:

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching: Paschalis Alexandridis, professor of chemical and biological engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and S. G. Grant, associate professor of learning and instruction, GSE.

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship: Amy Gische Lyons, associate director of the Health Sciences Library, and A. Ben Wagner, associate librarian in the Science and Engineering Library, Arts and Sciences Libraries.

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service: Barbara A. Burke, interim director of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Affirmative Action Administration; Joseph J. Hindrawan, assistant vice provost of international education and director of international enrollment management; Laura S. Mangan, special assistant to the dean for civic engagement and public policy, Law School; Cheryl J. Taplin, director of student advising services and associate vice provost of undergraduate education; and Raymond D. Volpe, program director for UBMicro IT Support Services and associate director for Academic Services.

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities: Douglas H. Clements, professor of learning and instruction, GSE; Marilyn Emily Morris, professor of pharmaceutical sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Thomas Peter Ralabate, associate professor of theatre and dance, CAS.

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service: LeAdelle Phelps, professor of counseling, school and educational psychology, GSE.

Recognized as recipients of the Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Awards were Sophie Letter, romance languages and literatures; Virginia Gutierrez-Berner, romance languages and literatures; Kevin D. Pelletier, English; Scott F. Ferguson, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Michael Frank, linguistics; Jeongmi Choi, linguistics; Scott Paauw, linguistics; Anneliese L. Vance, geography; Elizabeth A. Gage, sociology; Luke J. Goble, American studies; Timothy M. Connolly, philosophy; and Peter M. Heller, architecture.

Several undergraduate students who participated in the poster presentation that preceded the program were presented UB Undergraduate Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity. These students and their projects are Stephanie Vito, architecture and planning, "Work/Live"; Ann Marie Olivo, linguistics, "The Phonological Variation of Latin American Spanish"; Robert Russello, Eric Nagler, Brenda Lynn Chodkowski and Johnpaul Wiejaczka, computer science and engineering, "The UB Talker: An Augmentative Communications Device for the Speech-Impaired"; Alex Wallach, environmental design, "The Lusitania Disaster Portrayed by the Media"; Cheng-Ting Chen, management, "An Empirical Analysis of Consumption Behavior"; Nathaniel Page, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, "Effects of Nitroglycerin on the Gene Expression of Adhesion and Extracellular Matrix Molecules in Human EA.hy926 Endothelial Cells"; Dimitra Ekonomidis, medicine and biomedical sciences, "Typanosoma Brucei Encodes a Bifunctional Capping Enzyme Essential for Parasite Gene Expression"; Elizabeth Rose, public health and health professions, "Effect of Prolonged Walking with Extra Weight on Strength and Limb Loading Measures"; Josh Thomas, nursing, "Validation and User Manual Creation for the Super ECG Program"; and Kelly Miller, environmental engineering, A Greener Shade of Blue, "Evaluating Turbidity Removal with a Lab-scale Mor-sand Filter Column."

Also recognized were UB students designated Scholars of Excellence because of their selection to represent UB in nationally competitive fellowships and scholarship programs. These students include Karen E. Corey, recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship; Kelly R. Miller, recipient of a Morris K. Udall Scholarship; Andrew S. Paluch, recipient of a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship; and Christopher L. Wirth, recipient of a honorable mention in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Fellowship competition. Also named were Brian A. Danielak, a British Marshall Scholarship and a Rhodes Scholarship nominee; Ogechukwu Etudo and Ola A. Mscichowski, Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship nominees; Mark D. Huntington, a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship nominee; David A. Marsh, Yekaterina V. Merkulova and Christina S. Yaccob, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship nominees; and Melinda K. Wright, a Fulbright Scholarship recipient.

Fourteen students were recognized as recipients of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. Honored in a special ceremony by SUNY Chancellor John Ryan on April 19 in Albany were Rahul C. Chopra, Michael P. Colby, Karen E. H. Corey, Fara E. Ditkowsky, Josh T. Hancock, Mohammad V. Hussain, Craig E. Keller, Zac M. Lochner, Sarah A. Meunier, Ola A. Mscichowski, Robert A. Richards, Peter C. Rizzo, Balbir K. Singh and Ann A. Zykina.

Seven students were recognized as recipients of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Award. They are Stacy L. Bender, Katrina M. Bytschkow, Adrienne J. Curry, Jason C. Findlayter, Michael J. Glenn, Daniel A. Hatch and Joanna N. Rose.