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Roberts named associate vice president
Stephen M. Roberts has been named associate vice president for University Libraries. The appointment was announced last week by Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
Roberts had been serving as acting associate vice president since October 2005.
He joined the UB Libraries in 1977 to oversee the migration of the major library units from the South Campus to new buildings on the North Campus. For the past two decades, he has led efforts to computerize basic library services, such as circulation/reserve and the catalog, and transition from print to online resources.
He also worked with Computing and Information Technology to design and implement UB Wings, the university's first campus-wide information system.
Most recently, he oversaw the construction of an off-campus storage facility on Rensch Road across Sweet Home Road from the North Campus. The new annex alleviated a serious lack of storage space in the libraries and also freed up space for other university needs.
As part of UB 2020, Roberts is serving as chair of the 21st Century Library subcommittee for the Heart of the Campus Project. The subcommittee is charged with conceptualizing the renovation of the existing major library buildings on the North and South campuses to meet the educational and information resources needs of a leading 21st-century public research university.
He has been an investigator in numerous grant programs funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Education and the Council on Library Resources that have focused on using emerging technologies to facilitate the sharing of costly resources and publications among research libraries, and to enhance use and access to special collections.
Roberts earned a bachelor's degree in English from The Johns Hopkins University, a master's degree in library science from UB and a Masters of Art in Teaching from Brown University.
Thomas to speak at luncheon presentation
John M. Thomas, dean of the School of Management, will speak at the next "UB at Noon...Downtown" luncheon series to be held from noon to 1:15 p.m. Nov. 14 in Chef's Restaurant, 291 Seneca St., Buffalo.
Thomas will discuss "The School of Management and the Globalization of the Economy: Progress and Prospects."
The luncheon presentation is co-sponsored by the UB Alumni Association and the School of Management Alumni Association.
Thomas, who earlier this month announced that he was stepping down as dean to devote more time to the school's global business programs as a faculty member, was instrumental in establishing the School of Management as a leader in international business education. During his tenure, the school rose steadily in The Wall Street Journal's ranking of the best business schools, recently achieving a No. 9 ranking among institutions with a strong regional recruiting base. The school also was named by BusinessWeek as one of the country's top five business schools for the quickest return on an MBA investment.
The cost of the presentation is $15 for a buffet lunch, which will be served promptly at noon. Check-in will begin at 11:30 a.m.
For reservations, call the UB Alumni Association at 645-3312 or click here. The deadline for reservations is Nov. 9.
Seminar planned
The Office of Planned Giving will host a free seminar, "Your Guide to Caring for Aging Loved Ones in the Years Ahead," at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 15 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.
Laurie Menzies, a partner with Pfalzgraf Beinhauer & Menzies LLP, will discuss such topics as long-term care issues, Medicare and Medicaid, and how to select an executor and trustee. Menzies is a 1996 graduate of the UB School of Law who specializes in estate planning and elder law.
The seminar is sponsored by the Office of Planned Giving in conjunction with the School of Public Health and Health Professions, the School of Nursing, the Graduate School of Education and the School of Social Work.
It will be free of charge; however, preregistration is required. Call 829-2632, ext. 280 to make a reservation or e-mail dev-pg@buffalo.edu.
Spanish architects to speak
On March 11, 2007, three years to the day after a series of terrorist bombings in Madrid killed 191 commuter-train passengers and injured more than 1,800 others, King Juan Carlos of Spain inaugurated a brilliantly designed monument to the victims at Atocha railway station, where most of the victims were found.
The beautiful Atocha monument is the work of one of Spain's most promising young architectural firms, Estudio FAM, and its principals will present an illustrated discussion of their work at UB on Wednesday.
The talk is one of several in the fall 2007 lecture series presented by the UB School of Architecture and Planning.
Free and open to the public, it will take place at 5:30 p.m. in 301 Crosby Hall, South Campus, and will be followed by a reception for the speakers.
The Atocha monument is distinguished by its two distinct, but interrelated aspects. Outside the station, it takes the form of a 36-foot-high translucent cylinder made of glass bricks, a "potent civic beacon" visible from a considerable distance.
Inside the station, its fluid and light-filled form provokes a meditative and other-worldly mood.
This part of the monument is approached from the railway platform below ground level through a cobalt blue chamber that stands between the platform itself and its street-level "ceiling." The center of the chamber ceiling opens into the cylinder, whose interior is revealed to be a soft, colorless, luminous, curved plastic membrane inflated by air pressure, like the inside of a balloon.
FAM's Mauro Gil-Fournier Esquerra says of the chamber, "It is a silent space, and people cry inside. It's very emotional."
The membrane is screen-printed with hundreds of condolences, as well as the names of the victims and comments of survivors and those who risked their lives to rescue them.
The architects say the transparency and permeability of the space opening above them gives visitors the feeling "that all the messages of the Madrid citizens are flowing above your head."
During the day, the curvaceous lining is back-lit by daylight passing through the glass cylinder, which makes it possible to read the names and comments. At night, the same effect is produced by luminaires situated in the cavity. The lighting also turns the outside of the cylinder into a luminescent column of light.
Social Work to sponsor workshops
Ricky Greenwald, an internationally respected practicing child psychologist, will present two workshops this month on "Treating Problem Behaviors: A Trauma-Informed Approach for Teens," sponsored by the Office of Continuing Education in the School of Social Work.
Greenwald is founder and director of the Child Trauma Institute, a Massachusetts-based organization that provides training, consultation, information and resources for professionals who work with trauma-exposed children, adolescents and adults. He is the author of numerous professional articles as well as several books, including his new book "Treating Problem Behaviors" (in press).
A one-day workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus, focusing on a trauma-informed approach for working with adolescents, as well as other age groups struggling with loss of temper, conduct problems, aggression, crime, school failure and substance abuse.
The program will emphasize a Motivation-Adaptive Skills-Trauma Resolution (MASTR) protocol and is divided into four phases: motivation, adaptive skill development, trauma resolution work and relapse prevention.
A three-day intensive program on treating problem behaviors in teens, which is cosponsored by the Child Trauma Institute, will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday in Child and Family Services, 844 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.
For more information and registration forms, click here or email sw-ce@buffalo.edu or call 829-3939, ext. 154.