List of University at Buffalo people

This is a list of people connected to the University at Buffalo. There are more than 230,000 living alumni of UB. Notable alumni include the CEO's of Paramount Pictures and A+E Networks, two NASA astronauts, a recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award, and a former Prime Minister. UB is one of the only two institutions of higher learning in the United States which were founded by a U.S. President (Millard Fillmore), with the other one being the University of Virginia.

Notable faculty

This list includes both present and former faculty members.

Nobel Laureates

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Ronald H. Coase	Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics (1991)	Former professor (1951–1958)
J.M. Coetzee	South African author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2003)	Former professor (1968–1971)
Sir John Carew Eccles	Australian winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine (1963) for discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane (synapse).	Distinguished Professor of Physiology and Biophysics (1968–1975)
Herbert A. Hauptman	Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1985)	Research Professor of Biophysical Sciences, Director of the Medical Foundation of Buffalo

Award recipients

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
John Barth	Author known for postmodern style and winner of the National Book Award	Former professor (1965–1973)
Robert Creeley	Poet and winner of the Bollingen Prize for poetry
Carl Dennis	Poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry	Professor
Irving Feldman	Poet and MacArthur Foundation Fellow	Former professor (1962-2004)
Stephen McKinley Henderson	Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony Award-nominated stage and screen actor. Recognized as a veteran performer of playwright August Wilson's ouvre.	Professor and former chair in the Department of Theater and Dance
Richard Aaker Trythall	Composer, pianist, Guggenheim Fellow and winner of the Rome Prize	Former professor (1972–1973)

Academia

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Ludwig von Bertalanffy	Austrian biologist, known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST)	Professor in Center for Theoretical Biology
Tim Dean	British philosopher, author, notable in the field of contemporary queer theory	Director of The Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Culture
Isaac Ehrlich	Academic economist and researcher, founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Human Capital	Chair of the Department of Economics
Michel Foucault	Historian and philosopher	Visiting professor (early 1970s)
René Girard	Historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science	Distinguished Professor (1971–1976)
Paul Goldstein	globally recognized expert on intellectual property law; awarding-winning author	professor of law (1967-1975)
Charles Haynie	long-time faculty member in the Interdisciplinary Degree Programs	An award was established in his name after his death in 2001
Bruce Jackson	Recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1971); was nominated for a Grammy (1974); former president of the American Folklore Society (1984); Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Folklore Center in the Library of Congress (1988–89, trustee 1984-89); and director, then trustee of the Newport Folk Foundation (1965—)	SUNY Distinguished Professor; Samuel P. Capen Professor of American Culture in 1997; James Agee Professor of American Culture
Robert L. Ketter	Authority on earthquake engineering research and a former president of UB	First chairman of the Civil Engineering Department; dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences; university president from 1970 through 1981
Paul Kurtz	Founder and chairman of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal), the Council for Secular Humanism, the Center for Inquiry, and Prometheus Books	Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
Olive P. Lester	Fellow of the American Psychological Association	Chair of the Psychology Department 1952 (1952-1956 acting)-1966; 1973 Distinguished Alumni Award
David Mark	Pioneer of Geographic information science	SUNY Distinguished Professor
Steve McCaffery	Canadian poet and scholar	Holds the Gray Chair at UB
Lester Walter Milbrath	Environmental academic and public intellectual	Professor of Political Science 1965-1991
Teresa Miller	Established the Office of Inclusive Excellence and created the university's first strategic diversity and inclusion plan	Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence (2014-2017)
Charles Mingus	Jazz bassist, composer, bandleader and pianist.	Slee Professor of Music (1971)
Roswell Park	Founder of Roswell Park Cancer Institute	Former Professor of Surgery
Emanuel Parzen	Statistician, pioneered the use of kernel density estimation (Parzen window)	Former professor (1970–1978)
David Riesman	Law scholar and sociologist	Visiting Professor (1937–1941)
Stephen Schanuel	Mathematician known for discovering "Schanuel's lemma"	Professor of Mathematics
Albert R. Shadle	Professor	Chairman of Biology Department (1919–1953) and Professor of Biology
Bill Siemering	Director of Programming and founding program director for National Public Radio recipient of MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 1993	first professional manager of university-sponsored radio station WBFO;
Leo Smit	Composer of contemporary classical music	Former professor
Craig Venter	Geneticist; founder of Celera Genomics and the J. Craig Venter Institute; Time magazine's 2007 and 2008 lists of the 100 most influential people in the world	Former professor
Ernst Witebsky	formulated "Witebsky's postulates" that determine whether a disease entity can be regarded as an autoimmune disease	Former professor and chair of the Department of Bacteriology and Immunology (1941–1967); director of the Center for Immunology (1967 until his death in 1969)
Ta-You Wu	Chinese physicist known as the "Father of Chinese Physics" and president of Academia Sinica (1983–1994)	Former professor and chair of the Department of Physics (1968–1983)

Collegiate athletics

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Warde Manuel	Director of Athletics of the University of Michigan Wolverines	Former athletic director (2006-2012)
Danny White	Director of Athletics of the University of Central Florida Knights	Former Athletic Director(2012-2015)

Notable alumni

Law, politics, and government

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Harry Bronson	New York State Assemblyman
Chaturon Chaisang	Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand	B.A. in Economics
Sara Horowitz	Founder of Freelancers Union and Board Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York	J.D.
Jack Davis	Industrialist and politician	B.S. '55 in Industrial Engineering
Paul L. Friedman	Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit	J.D. in 1968
Julio M. Fuentes	Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit	J.D. in 1975
Anthony H. Gioia	Former United States Ambassador to Malta	B.A.
Nicole Lee	Former president of TransAfrica	J.D. '02 and B.A. '00
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed	Prime Minister of Somalia and President of Somalia	B.A. History, 1993; M.A. American Studies, 2009
John Morgan	Wisconsin State Assemblyman	M.D. 1873
Vice Admiral Robert B. Murrett	Director of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency	B.A. in History, 1975
Jack Quinn	Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and president of Erie Community College	Ed.M. '78
Jeanine Pirro	Host of the Fox News Channel legal show Justice with Judge Jeanine, author, and former New York State judge, prosecutor, and politician	B.A. 1971
Dave Weldon	Republican member of the United States House of Representatives	M.D.
Michael A. Battle	Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys	J.D. in 1984
Henry J. Nowak	Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives	J.D. in 1961
Donald R. Miller	New York State Assemblyman, represents the 121st district
Denise O'Donnell	Former United States Attorney for the Western District of New York
Michael Ranzenhofer	Member of the New York State Senate	J.D. '79
Hugh B. Scott	Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of New York
Virginia A. Seitz	Former United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the United States Department of Justice	J.D. '85
Michael A. Telesca	Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of New York
Dennis Vacco	New York State Attorney General (1994-1998)
Dale Volker	New York State Senator
Raymond Walter	New York State Assemblyman
Jeffrey White	Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of New York
Ji Zhou	Former Minister of Education for the People's Republic of China (2003-2009)	PhD'84, M.S.'81

Science, technology, and engineering

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Ellen Shulman Baker	Astronaut on the Space Shuttle Atlantis and NASA medical officer	B.A. '74 in Geology
Erich Bloch	Former Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation	B.S. in Electrical Engineering
Bram Cohen	Creator of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer client
Angelo F. Coniglio	Civil engineer, educator, genealogist and author	B.S.C.E. 1961, M.S.C.E. 1971
Alfred P. Southwick	steam-boat engineer, dentist, professor, credited with inventing the electric chair as a method of legal execution
Wilson Greatbach	Recipient of the Lemelson–MIT Prize and National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1990	M.S. in 1957
Gregory Jarvis	NASA astronaut on the Space Shuttle Challenger	B.S. '67
Norman McCombs	Recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2013	B.S. in 1968
Robert Pound	Experimental physicist, co-discoverer of nuclear magnetic resonance in condensed matter, carried out Pound-Rebka experiment confirming gravitational time dilation, professor and chairman of the physics department at Harvard University	B.S. '41 in physics
Christopher Scolese	Director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, former Administrator of NASA, and recipient of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal	B.S. '74
Jeffrey Umland	Chief Mechanical Engineer of NASA's InSight mission, former Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Curiosity rover	B.S. '85 and Ph.D '91 in Mechanical Engineering
Jeffrey Wigand	First tobacco industry executive to become a major whistleblower against the industry; subject of the feature film The Insider	B.A. Chemistry, M.A. Biochemistry, Ph.D. Biochemistry

Medicine

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
George Edward Fell	Early developer of artificial ventilation, also investigated the physiology of electrocution, created the final design for the first electric chair in New York State
Wilson Greatbatch	Inventor of improved versions of the cardiac pacemaker
Orvan Hess	Medical doctor noted for early use of penicillin and developing the cardiotocograph
Mary Blair Moody	Physician and anatomist, first woman to earn a degree from the medical school	M.D. 1876
Donnica Moore	Physician and women's health advocate; author and media commentator on women's health issues	M.D. '86
Elad Levy	Neurosurgeon that progressed the field of endovascular neurosurgery for the treatment of stroke	Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery

Business

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
John Alm	Former CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises
Pete Augustine	Former President and CEO of New Era Cap Company	B.S. '87 in accounting and finance
Alan Brownstein	Former CEO of the American Cancer Society
Millard S. Drexler	Chairman of J. Crew and former CEO of Gap Inc.
Mindy Lubber	President of Ceres	MBA
Ian Bruce Eichner	Founder of The Continuum Company, LLC; real estate developer
Gregg S. Fisher	Founder of Gerstein Fisher	B.S. in Finance
John Hewitt	Founder and former CEO of Liberty Tax Service, Co-founder of Jackson Hewitt
Jeremy Jacobs	Billionaire and CEO of Delaware North Companies and owner of the Boston Bruins	B.A. in Business Administration
Jeff Jacobson	Former CEO of Xerox	B.S. in Business Administration
John Kapoor	Billionaire and founder of Akorn	PhD
Robin Yanhong Li	Billionaire and founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu.com, the most popular search engine in China.	M.S. Computer Science
Chris Sacca	#3 Venture Capitalist LOWERCASE Capital	coursework in mathematics
Kevin P. Maloney	Founding Partner of Property Markets Group
Robert E. Rich, Sr.	Founder of Rich Products Corporation
Christopher Thornberg	Founding Partner and CEO of Beacon Economics, LLC	B.S. '89 in Business Administration
Bob Swan	CEO of Intel	B.S. in Business Administration

News

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Wolf Blitzer	Emmy Award-winning journalist for CNN	B.A. in history, 1970
Liz Dribben	Buffalo's first woman TV anchor at WKBW-TV, CBS News producer	B.A. 1958
Greg D'Alba	Former President of CNN News Networks	B.A. '81
Ira Flatow	Emmy Award-winning science journalist; former host of Newton's Apple; current host of NPR's Science Friday
Terry Gross	Peabody Award-winning host of the radio interview program Fresh Air
Howard Kurtz	Media reporter and columnist at the Washington Post	B.A. in psychology/English 1974
Steve Liesman	Emmy Award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner; CNBC Senior Economics Reporter
Tom Toles	Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post
Nick Gillespie	Editor of Reason.com and Reason.tv and former editor-in-chief of Reason magazine	Ph.D. in English Literature

Film, theatre, and television

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Maury Chaykin	Actor	BFA in theatre, 1972
Matthew Cooper	Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Trans-Media Sports Coverage - NBC Sports	B.A. '14 Media Studies
Katharine Cornell	Tony Award-winning actress on broadway and member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame	Did not graduate
Thomas Curley	2015 Academy Award winner for Best Achievement in Sound Mixing	B.A. '01 Film Studies
Winston Duke	Actor known for portraying M'Baku in Black Panther	B.A. '08
James Foley	Director of House of Cards	B.A. in Psychology '74
Shep Gordon	Hollywood film agent and producer; featured in the 2014 documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon	B.A. '68 in Sociology
Brad Grey	Golden Globe winner; television and film producer; Former CEO of Paramount Pictures	B.A. '79 in communication and business
Max Grodénchik	Television and film actor
Robert Lieberman	Director of Fire in the Sky and Table for Five
Abbe Raven	Chairwoman and former CEO and president of A&E Television Networks, founder of The History Channel	B.A. '74 in theatre
Parry Shen	Chinese American actor
Ron Silver	Actor and political activist
Ellen Spiro	Documentary filmmaker; Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellow
Victoria Siemer	Graphic artist, designer	B.F.A Communication Design
Roy Vongtama	Actor; board-certified radiation oncologist	M.D. '00
John Walsh	Host of America's Most Wanted	1965
Harvey Weinstein	Film producer
Bil Zelman	Photographer and director	BFA '96
Alan Zweibel	Comedy writer, multiple Emmy Award winner, and one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live

Academia

Zhijian James Chen	Member of the National Academy of Sciences	Ph.D. in Biochemistry '91
Marc Edwards	Expert on water treatment and corrosion, professor at Virginia Tech, and MacArthur Fellow
Steven A. Cohen	Executive Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University	Ph.D. and M.A.
Mark Huddleston	President of the University of New Hampshire	B.A. in Political Science
Kay Johnson-Gentile	Professor at Buffalo State College	PhD in Elementary Education
Sung-Mo Kang	President of the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology	M.S. in Electrical Engineering '72
Ann Kirschner	Academic; entrepreneur; author of Sala's Gift; launched NFL.COM for the National Football League; co-founder of Columbia University's interactive knowledge network Fathom.com; University Dean of William E. Macaulay Honors College of The City University of New York	B.A. in English '72
C. L. Max Nikias	President of the University of Southern California	Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering
William J. Rapaport	Researcher on intentionality and artificial intelligence, professor at UB	M.S. '84 in Computer Science
Blair A. Rudes	Linguist known for his work on Native American languages	Ph.D. '76 in Linguistics, M.A. '74, B.A. '73
Murat Soygeniş	Architect and professor, Founding Principal, S+ ARCHITECTURE	M. Arch. in 1985
Sema Soygeniş	Architect and professor, Dean - BAU School of Architecture	M. Arch. in 1986
Ewa Ziarek	Julian Park Professor of Comparative Literature at UB	Ph.D. and M.A.
Robert E. Wright	Nef Family Chair of Political Economy at Augustana College	M.A., History, Ph.D. History

Literature

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Charles Baxter	Author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; Guggenheim Fellow
Taylor Caldwell	Anglo-American novelist	B.A. in English, 1931
Mary Cappello	Guggenheim Fellow and Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Rhode Island	M.A. and Ph.D
Graham Foust	Poet and associate professor at Saint Mary's College of California	Ph.D. '02
Richard Hofstadter	Pulitzer Prize-winning historian; author of Anti-intellectualism in American Life and The Age of Reform
Michael Kelleher	Poet; program director of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prizes at Yale University	M.A. in English (Poetics) '01
Anthony Petrosky	Poet and 1982 Walt Whitman Award winner
Donald Revell	Poet, essayist, translator, Guggenheim Fellow, and 2004 Lenore Marshall Award winner
Elizabeth Willis	Poet, literary critic, and Guggenheim Fellow

Music

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Laura Aikin	Operatic coloratura soprano	Music
Jay Beckenstein	Saxophone player and co-founder of Spyro Gyra	B.A. in music, 1973
Keith Buckley	Vocalist, lyricist and founding member of Buffalo-based hardcore band Every Time I Die and metal supergroup The Damned Things	B.A. in English
Rob Derhak	Bassist, lyricist and founding member of Buffalo-based jam-band moe.
Ronnie James Dio	Heavy metal vocalist and songwriter; lead singer of Rainbow 1975-1979; lead singer and creator of Dio; lead singer of Black Sabbath 1979-1982
Morton Feldman	Composer and Edgard Varèse Professor of Music
Chuck Garvey	Guitarist, lyricist and founding member of the Buffalo-based jam-band moe.
Willie Nile, aka Robert Noonan	Singer, songwriter	B.A. in Philosophy, 1971
Valerian Ruminski	Bass singer; recipient of a Richard Tucker Career Grant, the Lincoln Center Martin Segal Award, a William Mattheus Sullivan Foundation Grant, a 2004 Gerda Lissner Foundation Grant, a Liederkranz Prize, and the 1st Prize in the MacAllister Singing Competition	Bachelor of Music '95
Elliott Sharp	Multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer	M.A. in Music Theory and Composition '77

Sports and athletics

Name	Known for	Relationship to University at Buffalo
Jonathan Akpoborie	Nigerian soccer player
Eddie Basinski	Former MLB pitcher (1944-1945, 1947); third oldest living former MLB player
Dave Hahn	Professional mountain guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer	B.A. '84
Turner Battle	Former basketball player (led the Bulls to their first NIT appearance), basketball coach	B.A. in 2006
Sam Craven	English soccer player
Michael Cross	Director of Athletics, Bradley University	B.S. '91, M.A. '93
Steve Geltz	MLB Pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays	B.A. in 2008
Desmond Green	MAC champion; three-time Division 1 NCAA qualifier wrestler; mixed martial artist in Bellator	Major in Social Sciences 2011
Joe Hesketh	Former MLB pitcher (1984-1994)	B.A. in 1980
Chris Kanyon	Professional wrestler in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment	Bachelor's degree in physical therapy
Khalil Mack	NFL player, Chicago Bears, 5th overall 2014 draft pick	B.A. '14
Liam McHugh	Studio host for the NBC Sports Network, anchoring much of its staple programming, including the NHL, Tour De France and college football/basketball	B.A. '97 in communication
Tom Murphy	Professional baseball player for a minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies	B.A. in 2012
Matvey Natanzon	Backgammon player	B.A. in Accounting, 1991
Branden Oliver	Running back for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League	B.A. in 2014
Dominic Oppong	Canadian soccer player
Gerry Philbin	Member of the 1968 World Champion New York Jets
Jamey Richard	Center for the Indianapolis Colts
Trevor Scott	Defensive end for the Oakland Raiders
James Starks	Running back for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL
John Stofa	Miami Dolphins (AFL, NFL) quarterback, first expansion draft selection of the Cincinnati Bengals AFL)
Josh Thomas	Cornerback in the National Football League
Mitchell Watt	Player for Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Basketball Super League	B.A. in 2012
Jake Schum	Punter for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL

Chancellors and presidents

From its inception until 1962, the private school was known as the University of Buffalo, and it was headed by a chancellor. Since it became the public State University of New York at Buffalo, it has been called the University at Buffalo, and the CEO is its president.

• Millard Fillmore, 1846–1874; 13th President of the United States and 12th Vice President of the United States
• Orsamus H. Marshall, 1882–1884
• E. Carleton Sprague, 1885–1895
• James O. Putnam, 1895–1902; New York State Senator and Postmaster General of Buffalo, first government supported cancer research program in the world (Roswell Park Cancer Institute) was founded at the University during his tenure.
• Wilson S. Bissell, 1902–1903; 36th United States Postmaster General
• Charles Phelps Norton, 1905–1920
• Samuel P. Capen, 1922–1950; former Director of the American Council on Education.
• T. R. McConnell, 1950–1954; former University of Minnesota Dean of the College of Sciences, Literature, and Arts.
• Clifford C. Furnas, 1954–1966; former Assistant Secretary of Defense for the United States.
• Claude E. Puffer (acting), 1955–1957;
• Martin Meyerson, 1966–1970; Interim Chancellor for the University of California Berkeley, President of the University of Pennsylvania
• Robert L. Ketter, 1970–1982
• Steven Sample, 1982–1991; 10th President of the University of Southern California
• Bill Greiner, 1991–2004
• John B. Simpson, 2004–2011 ; former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington
• Satish K. Tripathi, 2011–present

See also

• University at Buffalo

External links

• University at Buffalo – Official website
• Books by UB alumni