UB's excellence on full display

It's often hard to sum up an entire university's goals in a single word, but if UB has had an unofficial catchphrase since President John B. Simpson came onboard, it has certainly been "excellence."

It's on posters, it's on buses, it's in the speeches almost every administrator delivers. And on Thursday, it was on full display in the Center for the Arts, as the second-annual Celebration of Academic Excellence honored students, staff and professors for their outstanding achievements throughout the year.

The university-wide ceremony was well attended, with a couple hundred people moving in and out of the presentations, which came both in the form of traditional speeches and awards, and a number of poster displays.

The posters, set up throughout the atrium, were designed by select undergrads to reflect and explain the research or creative projects for which they were chosen. At any given point the CFA atrium was at least half full as attendees, largely faculty and staff, mingled and considered the students' work.

Alex J. Placito, a poster presenter and senior linguistics major, said the Celebration was one example of how much research potential there is at UB.

"I think it's amazing that this sort of thing is even possible here," he said. "At a smaller, private school, it's not even possible."

Michael Ryan, vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, said the Celebration of Academic Excellence was more than a recognition of yearly achievements.

"We must work together as an academic community to improve the future lives of all," Ryan said.

Professor Philip Miles, Ph.D., was presented with an award recognizing his 50 years of devoted service to the university.

According to Ryan, Miles has played a major role in developing the biological sciences curriculum since joining the university faculty in 1956.

SUNY Distinguished Professor Claude Welch was then presented with the TIAA-CREF Lifetime Achievement Award, for epitomizing the selfless dedication of a leader in his field of study, at UB and in the community.

The SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence were presented to a number of individuals. For outstanding teaching ability and superb classroom performance, the following professors were honored: Christopher Cohan of pathology and anatomical sciences, Charles Fourtner of biological sciences, and Jeri Jaeger of linguistics.

For exceptional skill in librarianship, both professional and scholarly, H. Austin Booth was honored with the SUNY Chancellor's award.

Members of the professional staff were then given the Chancellor's Award for Extraordinary Service Contributions to the University. They were Diane Dittmar from the School of Management, David Gilles-Thomas from Counseling Services, and Stefanos Papazaharias from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Graduate students were also presented with an Award for Excellence in Teaching, including James Maynard and Elisa Ruhl.

Awards for Scholarship and Creative Activities were given to Joseph Gardella, Jr., Claes Lundgren and John Schlegel.

D. Joseph Mook and Maria Horne were given the award for Internationalization, which was newly created in 2003. It recognizes efforts that enable students to study abroad in nations and places that are not commonly visited.

With all the academic fanfare, the event wasn't without entertainment. Thomas DeTrinis, Bethany Moore and Harold Lewter performed a segment from their musical, "Coming, Staying, Leaving: The Stories of New York," which was developed with the help of Horne, associate professor in the department of theatre and dance, and a grant from SUNY, and was performed in Costa Rica.

DeTrinis, Lewter and Moore were also nominated for an award in UB undergraduate research and scholarship projects.

UB graduate Sarah Campbell, Ph.D., also performed "Sound Poetry" for the audience.

DeTrinis said he was honored to be a part of the ceremony, but one of the most interesting parts of the celebration was seeing students in other fields' research.

"It was wonderful to see all of the other students' projects, to see all of the work they did," DeTrinis said.

Lewter also said the award ceremony was a positive experience.

"It's a great opportunity, just to be able to share what we do with the entire student body as a whole," he said. "It's great to be a part of it and have this opportunity to be nominated for research by the undergraduate council."

Jeet Patel, senior biological sciences major, won an award for his project, which was nominated in the University Honors program.

"It was a good day," Patel said. "The entire university put a lot of effort into it."