@UB: January 2007
As we celebrate the New Year and all its promise, and make resolutions to improve our lives or the lives of others, consider the many ways you can engage in the life of your alma mater. This past year, more than 10,000 alumni made UB a part of their lives – by attending events, helping recruit students, offering career advice, assisting with fundraising, and bringing alumni together.
In 2007, UB’s Office of Alumni Relations has numerous exciting events and programs planned, and will continue to facilitate connections through established volunteer programs such as Meet-a-Mentor, Alumni Ambassadors, Real Life 101 and Dinner for 12 Strangers. In addition, our chapters around the country are always looking for new leadership, and if you are interested in bringing your classmates together for a reunion, we’re here to help. We thank all of the alumni whose volunteer efforts have made UB a better university and invite others to make a resolution for 2007 – to reconnect with and volunteer for your university.
Learn more about the many ways to volunteer for UB.
Graham G. Stewart, Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations
UNIVERSITY NEWS
K-12 PRIORITY: A new strategic partnership between UB and the Buffalo Public Schools will provide students with a high-quality education that prepares them for subsequent grade levels and creates a solid foundation for attending college.
Read more about this strategic partnership.
PATIENT SIMULATOR: A computerized patient simulator designed to improve the training of medical students has been donated to the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences by Margaret W. Paroski, M.D. ’80, and her husband, Peter Martin, Sr., M.B.A. ’83 & B.S. ’79. Paroski is past president of the UB Alumni Association and UB Medical Alumni Association.
Read about the patient simulator.
UB PEOPLE
SCHOLARSHIP WINNER: Peter Rizzo, a senior English major with an environmental design minor in the Advanced Honors Program, is the first UB student to receive a prestigious Morris K. Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, awarded to outstanding undergraduates who intend to pursue careers related to the environment, or who are Native Americans or native Alaskans who intend to pursue careers in Native American health care or careers in tribal public policy.
Learn more about Peter Rizzo and the Udall Scholarship.
CRESE HEAD: David R. Pendergast, Ed.D. ’73, professor of physiology and biophysics and adjunct professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been appointed director of the Center for Research and Education in Special Environments in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Read more about David Pendergast and CRESE.
GOTTDIENER AWARDED FELLOWSHIP: The Lady Davis Fellowship Trust has awarded Mark Gottdiener, Ph.D., professor of sociology, an endowed fellowship to support his residency at the Institute for Urban and Regional Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Learn more about Mark Gottdiener and The Lady Davis Fellowship.
AAAS FELLOWS: Joseph A. Gardella, Jr., Ph.D., professor of chemistry, and Thomas Melendy, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology, have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.
Read more about Joseph Gardella, Jr. and Thomas Melendy.
BREAKING RESEARCH
DEADLY LINK: A team of UB and Italian researchers have linked increased blood levels of a form of LDL - the so-called "bad" cholesterol - with increased risk of heart attack, particularly among diabetics.
Read about this link to "bad" cholesterol.
FOCUS ON MUSCLES: Studies conducted in UB's Center for Research and Education in Special Environments indicates that targeted training to improve the performance of their respiratory muscles will improve the performance of swimming muscles in swimmers and scuba divers.
Learn more about improving swimmers' performance.
EMERGENCY RESPONDERS: Funded by the National Science Foundation and focusing on the performance of emergency responders during the "October Surprise" snowstorm that shutdown the Buffalo area last fall, an interdisciplinary team of UB researchers will study whether the functioning of emergency responders is impaired significantly when they are worried about their own safety and the safety of their families.
Read more about emergency responders' response.
HEARD ON CAMPUS
“This is a moment that I have been looking forward to since arriving in Buffalo. One of my highest personal priorities was to find ways that UB could become more engaged in supporting our local schools.”
--President John B. Simpson on UB’s new strategic partnership with the Buffalo Public Schools, which holds the potential to become a national model for university collaboration on public school improvement aimed at preparing students to be successful in the 21st century.
IN MY OPINION
Have you ever attended a UB reunion? Was it a formal occasion honoring your graduating class or club, activity or sport? Or perhaps just an informal group of friends getting together during Homecoming? Please tell us about the event, and what type of reunion you're most interested in. Please include your name and graduation year.
Read comments from last month’s question about modern technology that today’s students rely on.
HOT LINKS
Read the essay by President Simpson about the increased public attention to education, published in the Jan. 15 edition of Inside Higher Ed.
“100 Years of Broadway” at the Center for the Arts, March 24.
The exhibition “Joe Brainard, People of the World: Relax!!” will open in the UB Art Gallery Jan. 25.
You don't know your own strength: join the UB Alumni Association.
