University at Buffalo

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
	File:UBseal.gif
Type	Public
Established	1846 Opened 1847
Endowment	US $374 million [1]
President	John B. Simpson
Academic staff	1,932
Students	27,823
Undergraduates	18,165
Postgraduates	9,055
Location	Buffalo, NY, USA
Campus	Suburban, 1,192 acres (4.8 km²)
Colors	UB Blue and Cool Gray
Affiliations	State University of New York, AAU
Mascot	Victor E. Bull; Victoria S. Bull
Website	Buffalo.edu
	Logo of the University at Buffalo

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (also known as University at Buffalo, SUNY Buffalo or simply UB) is a coeducational public research university, which has multiple campuses located in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, USA. Offering 84 bachelor's, 184 master's and 78 doctoral degrees, it is the largest and most comprehensive campus of the four university centers within the State University of New York (SUNY) system.^[1]

The university is classified as a Doctoral/Research Universities–Extensive (formerly called Research I) institution by the Carnegie Foundation, and is one of 62 elected members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

University at Buffalo, which identifies itself as the "Crown Jewel of SUNY", houses the largest state-operated medical school and features the only state law school, architecture and urban planning school, and pharmacy school in the state of New York.

History

Initial years

UB was founded in 1846 as a private medical school to train the doctors for the communities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and surrounding villages. Dr. James Platt White was instrumental in obtaining a charter for the University of Buffalo from the state legislature in 1846. He also taught the first class of 89 men in obstetrics.

The doors first opened to students in 1847 and after associating with a hospital for teaching purposes, the first class of students graduated the medical school in July 1847. The first chancellor of the University was future President of the United States Millard Fillmore. Upon his ascension to the presidency after President Taylor's death, Fillmore stayed on as part-time chancellor. Fillmore's name now graces the evening and continuing education school Millard Fillmore College located on the South Campus as well as the Millard Fillmore Academic Center, an academic and administrative services building at the core of the residential Ellicott Complex, located on the North Campus.

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, 1848 - 1850

Clifford C. Furnas, 1954 - 1966

Claude E. Puffer (acting), 1955 - 1957

Martin Meyerson, 1966 - 1970

Robert L. Ketter, 1970 - 1989

Steven Sample, 1989 - 1991

John B. Simpson, 2004 - present

Early development

After many expansions to the college medical programs, including a pharmacy division, UB acquired the Buffalo Law School from Niagara University in 1891 and formed the Universty of Buffalo Law School.

In 1909 the University acquired property (the "Erie County Almshouse") from the county of Erie, which became the first building on what would later become UB's initial comprehensive campus. Although the South Campus (also called the "Main Street" campus) is often referred to as the "original campus", however; the South (Main Street) Campus is not actually the University's oldest property. UB was originally housed in a leased building, the First Baptist Church which had also served as a post office from 1836-1846.

In 1915, the then University of Buffalo formed the College of Arts and Sciences, formally departing from its tradition of teaching only for licensed professional fields. During the late 1960s, the College of Arts and Sciences was divided into three separate schools: arts and letters, natural sciences and mathematics, and social sciences. During the 1998-1999 academic year, the three schools were reunited to re-create the existing College of Arts and Sciences.

In 1950, the Industrial Engineering department branched off from the Mechanical Engineering department. In 1956, a Civil Engineering Department was formed under Lehigh University graduate Dr. Robert L. Ketter, who went on to become Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and later President of the University.

In 1959, WBFO was launched as a AM radio station by UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and run by UB's students. The station has since become the launching pad of two modern National Public Radio personalities: Terri Gross and Ira Flatow.

In the early 1960s, the private University of Buffalo was purchased by and incorporated into the SUNY system, and became known as the University at Buffalo.

In 1961, the Western New York nuclear research program was created. This little known program installed a miniature, active nuclear fission reactor on the University's South (Main Street) Campus. This program was not particularly active, nor could it compete with government-run research labs operated by rival UC Berkeley. Consequently, the programs performed in this facility were abandoned somewhat shortly after its inception. This reactor was formally decommissioned in 2005 with little fanfare due to material security concerns.

In 1964, UB acquired property in northern Amherst Township, NY for future development of a second campus catering to most non-medical disciplines at UB. This would later become the North Campus, and the center of most non-medical UB activity.

UB 2020

Started in 2004 under President John B. Simpson, UB 2020 is the university's massive strategic planning initiative to develop and implement their institutional vision during the next 15 years. [2] It has several main components:

Excelling in Academics

University at Buffalo will realign resources, make strategic investments, develop partnerships and recruit new faculty in accordance with their "Strategic Strengths."

Strategic Strengths

UB's 10 "Strategic Strengths" are Artistic Expression and Performing Arts; Civic Engagement and Public Policy; Cultural, Historical, Literary and Textual Studies; Extreme Events: Mitigation and Response; Health and Wellness: Across the Lifespan; Information and Computing Technology; Integrated and Nanostructured Systems; and Molecular Recognition/Bioinformatics. Updates on the university's progress in these areas are available on this web page. Most are in "Phase III: Implementation."

Building UB: The Comprehensive Physical Plan

University at Buffalo continues to expand its physical presence throughout Western New York. Additional information on this aspect of UB 2020 is available on this web page.

Impact on Buffalo Niagara region

More than 60 companies have been created in the past four years through the transfer of research and technology from UB to the private sector, and are critical advancement for building a knowledge economy in the region.

Achieving Growth

UB 2020 includes plans to increase the University at Buffalo as much as 40 percent in the next 15 years, which means an additional 10,000 students, 750 faculty members and 600 staff.

Transforming Operations

UB has begun to impliment a project to realign operational services such as Human Resources, Information Technology and Sponsored Programs. Additional information on this aspect of UB 2020 is available on this web page.

Campus

University at Buffalo is the state’s largest and most comprehensive public university and is spread across three campuses: North Campus, South Campus, and Downtown Campus.^[2]

North Campus

Many academic programs, including the entirety of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University at Buffalo Law School, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the School of Management, the School of Pharmacy, the School of Informatics, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the Graduate School of Education, as well as virtually every administrative office and the Lockwood Memorial Library are located at the North Campus in Amherst Township, NY.

UB has facilitated the creation of a system of inter-campus buses providing 20 hours a day transportation from the North Campus in Amherst township to the South Campus on Main Street in Buffalo (a distance of four miles), and is solely responsible for running the UB transit system. The North Campus includes 1,192 acres (nearly seven square miles), 141 buildings (6,655,720 sq. ft.), 10 residence halls and 5 apartment complexes. [3] There are dormitories situated as far as a quarter of a mile from the academic buildings and a bus system to provide students transportation between the dorm complexes on the North Campus and the academic sector of the same campus. The North Campus' immense size also necessitated the creation of a shuttle system circling the academic sector and surrounding areas including the administrative complex, located nearly a quarter mile from the central academic area.

The North Campus offers a variety of entertainment programming and activity for students. The North Campus is the location of the Student Union, which houses offices for the Student Association and student-interest clubs; Slee Hall, which presents contemporary and classical music concerts; Alumni Arena, the home-court for University Athletics; and the Center for the Arts, a non-profit presenter of a wide variety of professional entertainment. Students on the North Campus often venture into the diverse environment of the South Campus in city of Buffalo to enjoy its urban diversity.

South Campus

The initial campus, located at the edge of the northeastern most part of Buffalo NY, is now the South Campus of the University at Buffalo and includes 154 acres, 52 buildings (3,074, 159 sq. ft.) and six resident halls. [4] This campus is served by the northernmost subway station on Buffalo's Niagara Frontier MetroTransit system.

Today, it is the home of some of the University's specialized academic programs including the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the School of Public Health and Health Related Professions, the School of Nursing, the School of Dental Medicine, and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning. UB is currently in the planning and design phase of relocating the School of Pharmacy to Acheson Hall on the South Campus with 2010 as the target year. In addition, the University at Buffalo South Campus is the home of the WBFO radio station, the University's biomedical science research complex, the Health Sciences Library and certain administrative offices. Additionally, 20 percent of UB's resident population continues to live in the original residential complexes located on the South (Main Street) Campus. Adjacent to the UB South Campus is the UB Anderson Art Gallery^[3], a former elementary school converted with an all-glass atrium exhibit space.

Downtown Campus

This is the site of the UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Science, which partners in research with the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute to comprise the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. The campus includes 43 buildings, including shared lease space equal to 588,506 square feet. [5]

Teaching Hospitals

UB's teaching hospitals include the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Veterans Affairs Western New York Health Care System. Additional facilities include free clinics such as the Kalida Health's Niagara Family Health Center and the Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic, a program run by UB medical students.

Organization

Institutional Infrastructure

Information on the University at Buffalo's institutional infrastructure is located on this web page.

Schools and Colleges

UB comprises of the following:^[4]

The School of Architecture and Planning is the only school within the State University of New York system that offers both pre-professional and accredited professional degrees in architecture and urban planning. In academic year 2005-2006, the School of Architecture and Planning awarded 99 baccalaureate degrees and 108 master's degrees.
The School of Dental Medicine
The College of Arts & Sciences
The Graduate School of Education is one of the largest graduate schools at UB comprised of four academic departments: counseling and educational psychology; educational leadership and policy; learning and instruction; and, library and information science. In academic year 2005-2006, the Graduate School of Education awarded 416 master's degrees and 48 doctoral degrees.
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences offer undergraduate and graduate degree programs in six departments. In 2004-05, they conferred 498 BS (and 13 BA), 39 MEng, 330 MS, and 63 PhD degrees.
The UB Law School has new concentrations in Labor and Employment Law and in Technology and Intellectual Property. The University at Buffalo Law School is ranked as one of the top 100 law schools in the nation by U.S. News amd World Reports.
The School of Management ranked in Top 10 in the nation among schools with strong regional recruiting bases by Wall Street Journal. One of the country's top 5 business schools for the fastest return on MBA investment by BusinessWeek. Forbes magazine ranks the UB School of Management as one of the best business schools in the world based on the "return on investment" it provides MBA graduates. The undergraduate program at the UB School of Management is ranked No. 73 by U.S. News & World Report--higher than any other SUNY undergraduate business program. ^[5]
The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is now 154 years old and was the founding faculty of this University.
The School of Nursing maintains membership in the national honor society in nursing, Sigma Theta Tau, Inc., through the Gamma Kappa Chapter. The School also holds membership in the National Student Nurses Association.
The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is the second-oldest component of the University at Buffalo and the only pharmacy school in the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
The School of Public Health and Health Professions was created in 2003 by combining the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and the UB School of Health Related Professions. The school's goal is to create an environment in which researchers, educators, public health and other health professionals, and students can work together to explore problems and produce innovative solutions to address emerging health needs for populations and individuals.
The Roswell Park Cancer Institute was founded in 1898 by the preeminent surgeon Dr. Roswell Park, and is the oldest comprehensive cancer center in the world.
The School of Social Work began in 1924.

Facilities

Libraries

UB has nine libraries on its North, South, and Downtown campuses. The Libraries' 3.6 million+ print volumes are augmented by extensive digital resources, including full-text electronic journals, databases, media, and special collections.

The Architecture & Planning Library offers materials on architecture, environmental design, design theory, urban and rural development, planning, and urban affairs.

Lockwood Memorial Library houses a research-level collection of materials in the arts, social sciences, management, and humanities, along with U.S., New York State, and Canadian government documents.

The Undergraduate Library and Science & Engineering Library have ageneral collection on multiple subject areas, as well as a research-level collection of materials related to topics in the physical and natural sciences. The Libraries' Map Collection, the largest in Western New York, is located here, as is the Multimedia Center which houses audiovisual materials in several formats including DVDs, CDs, audiotapes, and microforms.

The Health Sciences Library supports UB programs in dental medicine, biomedical sciences, health-related professions, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy.

The Law Library offers materials on law and law-related subjects, including court reports and digests, session laws and codes, attorney general reports, and jurisdictional encyclopedias.

The Music Library has recordings, scores, and performance parts in musical styles such as jazz, pop, folk, liturgical, classical, and computer-generated works.

The Educational Technology Center assists UB faculty and staff with the application of technologies for teaching, learning, and scholarship.

The offsite Libraries Annex, opened in 2006, provides high-density storage for up to 1.5 million low-use volumes.

The Poetry Collection features contemporary poetry in English and English translation, poets' notebooks, letters and manuscripts, and literary magazines. Significant holdings relate to James Joyce, Robert Graves, William Carlos Williams, and others.

The University Archives holds primary documents related to the history of UB, including student and university publications, administrative and departmental files, and faculty papers. The holdings of the Archives document the growth of UB from a small medical school in 1846 to a large, comprehensive public university.

The UB Libraries Online Exhibits, free to everyone, range from Albert Einstein to Mount St. Helens.

Nomenclature

Since early 1998, the State University of New York at Buffalo form has evolved, and there are three names deemed acceptable by the university according to "University at Buffalo Visual Identity", with a fourth acceptable for reference to athletic programs:

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. This is the full name, used by the university for formal communications to national audiences.
University at Buffalo. This is the less formal name, used within the university, and with many outside groups that are familiar with the University at Buffalo.
UB. This shortened term "UB" is the preferred casual term to refer to school.
Buffalo. This is the standard name for the University at Buffalo athletic department .

The nomenclature change was enacted to clarify the position of the University at Buffalo as one of the leading doctoral-awarding, research-extensive universities within the SUNY system.

Academia

UB's admissions process is described by U.S. News & World Report as "more selective."[6] This is particularly true for out-of-state applicants. In recent years an increasing emphasis in both publicity and financial consideration has been placed on the development of a thriving community of research scientists, mostly centered around an economic initiative to promote Buffalo and create the Center of Excellence for Bioinformatics and Life Sciences as well as other advanced biomedical and engineering disciplines. The university's Center for Computational Research is one of the most powerful academic supercomputing sites in the eastern United States^[6], which once ranked 22nd out of the top 500 supercomputing sites in the world; as of November 2006, it was ranked 87th. [7]

Like most research institutions, UB gives its faculty great incentive to research alongside their teaching obligations. Although this practice is very widespread, and practiced at virtually every university in America (and all SUNY Universities), some students criticize the system, claiming it guarantees tenure to faculty with questionable teaching capabilities. SUNY as a system has received fluctuating funding from the State of New York over the past 20 years as the result of much political debate by State politicians (though this may be more reflective of the volatile nature of the New York legislature than anything else). UB, like many other institutions, has had to take matters of ensuring future success into their own hands. The result are decisions to begin investments into fields of "commercial benefit" such as medicine, biotechnology, and bioinformatics.

Historically, UB has been a pioneering force in many aspects of technology. For example, UB was one of the first universities to offer a bona fide Computer Science major (distinct from a mathematics major).^{[citation needed]} It was also an early pioneer in providing generous mainframe computer facilities and twenty-four hour terminal labs as an integral part of the undergraduate experience; during the early 1980s, for example, most UB students (regardless of their major) were proficient in the use of the campus mainframe, a gigantic VAX/VMS cluster.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, UB's role as a crucial internet hub for the eastern seaboard during the internet's inception cannot be understated.^{[citation needed]}

Total R&D expenditures rose from 186,829 to 258,952 for FY 2001–04, ranking 58 under New York University (NYU).^[7]

UB also has a comprehensive library system offering information resources, technologies, and services for UB students, faculty, and staff, as well as residents of the Western New York area.

The University at Buffalo is also one of only two public schools in New York to have a medical school and a dental school, the other being the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The only two private schools in New York to have both a medical school and a dental school are New York University (see: New York University College of Dentistry), and Columbia University (see: Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery). UB is also one of two postsecondary institutions to have an accredited professional architecture school (the other is located at the City College of New York).

Student Body

UB has a total student capacity estimated around 30,000 total students, a number which is quite common among other "super university" schools. Though the school has never seen this many enrolled students, the design of UB is nonetheless accommodating. The University at Buffalo is the largest public university in U.S. northeast (comprising New England and New York State). Student enrollment trends reported by the University at Buffalo's Office of Academic Planning and Budget^[8] reflect UB's growing student population:

University at Buffalo Student Enrollment
Fall 2006	27,823
Fall 2005	27,220
Fall 2004	27,276
Fall 2003	27,255
Fall 2002	26,168
Fall 2001	25,838

International student enrollment

UB ranks 10th in the United States for international student enrollment, with about 15 percent of UB undergraduate and graduate students being international. Certain departments' graduate students are overwhelmingly international, such as the mathematics department, in which fewer than 10 percent of students have been U.S. citizens in certain years. Anecdotcal evidence suggests the two largest contingents of the non-international students are students from the local Buffalo area (with as many as 10 to 20 percent of local high school graduates in certain districts choosing to attend) and students from the Long Island and New York City.

Student life

Athletics

File:BuffaloBulls.png

Buffalo Bulls logo

The school's sports teams are known as the Buffalo Bulls. However, the women's teams were originally called the Buffalo Royals. A proposal to rename both men and women's teams to the Royal Bulls has not been taken seriously.

In 1958, the football team won the Lambert Cup, emblematic of supremacy in Eastern U.S. small-college football. Several UB football stars from that era went on to play professional football, including quarterback John Stofa with the American Football League's Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, and defensive lineman Gerry Philbin with the AFL's New York Jets. Philbin is a member of the AFL Hall of Fame and the All-time All-AFL Team.

Since 1996, the UB teams have participated in the NCAA's Division I (I-A for football), in the Mid-American Conference. The mascots are 'Victor E. Bull', a blue bull with a gold nose ring, and his sister 'Victoria S. Bull'. After several years of poor performance in the two most popular college sports, men's basketball and football, the university's men's basketball team has recently begun to show some promise. In March 2005, the team fell short by only 0.5 seconds (for the Mid-American Conference Championship) of clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The school's football team, however, still performs poorly, having won only one game during the 2005 season. At the end of the 2005 season, football coach Jim Hofher was dismissed from his position.

With the hiring of Turner Gill as head football coach, UB is the only Division I-A school with an African American Athletic Director (Warde Manuel), Men's Basketball Head Coach (Reggie Witherspoon), and Football Head Coach (Gill).

Buffalo has three fight songs Victory March, Go For a Touchdown, and Buffalo Fight Song. ^[9]

Victory march

Fight, fight for Buffalo
Be proud to fight for your dear Blue and White.
So Hit 'em high, Hit 'em low, Throw 'em high, Throw 'em low
Fight for your dear old Bulls. (Go! Bulls! Go!)
Cheer, cheer for Buffalo
Our spirit will be with you 'til the end...
So play the game as best you can
For the glory of our dear Buffalo.

Clubs and Activities

UB also boasts three student-run periodicals: a newspaper, The Spectrum; a magazine, Generation; and the SA newsletter, Visions. All three publications are distributed on campus, while Generation is widely available around the city of Buffalo as well.

UB annually hosts the world’s largest mud-volleyball game know as “Ooz-fest.” Teams of at least 6 students compete in a double elimination volleyball tournament at “The Mud Pit” each April. Fire trucks are brought in to saturate the dirt courts to create the mud. Awards are handed out to not only the victors, but the most creatively dressed. In the past, students have worn business suits and even dresses to the tournament.

In September of 2006, the 14th Dalai Lama came to the University at Buffalo for a three-day visit to speak about world peace and to meet with select groups of students.

2005-2006 Speaker/Entertainment Lineup included Conan O'Brien, Brian Greene, and Kanye West.

2006-2007 Speaker/Entertainment Lineup included Al Gore, Anderson Cooper, Guster, Jason Mraz and Sean Paul.

Student housing

File:Hadley Village UB.jpg

The Hadley Village Apartments at North Campus

Student residence halls are located on both the North and South Campuses. In 1999, the university built its first apartment complex for families and graduate students at Flickinger Court. Since the success of Flickinger, UB has developed South Lake Village, Hadley Village, Flint Village, and Creekside Apartments. Most students who wish to still live on or near the North Campus but enjoy the lifestyle of apartment living take advantage of these apartments. Students also find housing in private locations. Those locations are generally situated in the University Heights district of Buffalo, and other areas close to the North and South Campuses. The school assigns rooms based on a lottery system.

Spaulding and Wilkeson Quad at SUNY Buffalo
The Terrace which connects all the halls
Red Jacket (left) and Richmond (right) with the food court inbetween

Notable faculty

(alphabetically arranged)

Ronald H. Coase, Former Professor (1951-1958) and Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics (1991).
J.M. Coetzee, Former Professor (1968-1971), South African author and Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2003).
Robert Creeley, poet
Michel Foucault , Historian and philosopher, Visiting Professor (early 1970s)
Herbert A. Hauptman, Research Professor of Biophysical Sciences, Director of the Medical Foundation of Buffalo, and Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1985)
Charles Haynie, long-time faculty member in the Interdisciplinary Degree Programs. He provided advisement, taught statistics, and engaged students in a range of popular courses about grass roots organizing for social change, 20 th century political movements, and social justice. From 1969 to the mid 1980's, Charles was the academic leader of Tolstoy College , which sponsored courses on left politics and social justice. Before that he was active in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, working to register Black voters in Tennessee and Mississippi. An award is granted in his name after his death at age 65 in 2001.
Robert L. Ketter, first chairman of the Civil Engineering Department, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and President of the University from 1970 through 1981. As president, he helped reduce student tensions which had come to a head prior to his tenure, during the Vietnam War era.
Paul Kurtz, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, founder and chairman of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, formerly the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), the Council for Secular Humanism, the Center for Inquiry and Prometheus Books.
Jayant Patel, Former Assistant Professor of Surgery in the 1980s; center of a political scandal in Queensland, Australia in 2005. Nicknamed "Dr. Death" by the Australian media.
Albert R. Shadle, Chairman of Biology Department (1919–1953) and Professor of Biology
Jason Sorens, Political Science professor, founder of the Free State Project in 2001: a movement to get 20,000 liberty oriented individuals to relocate to New Hampshire.
Ernst Witebsky, Former Professor and Department Chair of Bacteriology and Immunology (1941-1967), and Director of the Center for Immunology (1967 until his death in 1969).
Ta-You Wu, Former Professor and Department Chair of Physics (1968-1983), and President of Academia Sinica (1983-1994).

Notable alumni