蜜桃传媒

Whenever I reflect on UB’s proud history, I am struck by the innovative spirit that has characterized our institution. Long before it distinguished itself as a premier public research university—indeed, dating back to our origins as a small, private medical college—UB was serving as a bastion of big ideas and bold discoveries.

Consider the intellectual fortitude of our 19th-century founders—like James Platt White, who encountered considerable outrage for advancing the clinical teaching of obstetrics with patients in an era when many American medical students were still training on manikins. Or the outsized scholarship of Austin Flint, whose early papers on contagion helped avert a cholera outbreak, and who went on to describe the rumblings of a heart murmur that bears his name. (And, yes, Flint is the eponym for the North Campus bus loop, by the way!)

Over nearly 179 years, a steady succession of groundbreaking research and scholarship has punctuated our university’s timeline. From the pacemaker, the heel prick screening test for newborns, and a simulator for robotic surgery training, to smart concrete, Nicorette gum and the first autonomous system for interpreting handwritten addresses, our breakthroughs have contributed consequentially to the public good. And while UB has undergone dramatic transformations throughout its evolution, if you spent time in any department across campus today, you would find compelling evidence that our contemporary scholars are carrying forward this noble tradition.

At the moment, faculty are designing a “green” alternative to ammonia production that has the potential to replace an industrial process currently consuming 2% of the world’s energy supply. They are providing keys to successful aging and developing an immunotherapy treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. They are drafting guidelines to prevent targeted violence and policies to create safer schools. Around the globe, people are taking advantage of UB’s new-frontier technologies, like a free, open-source platform that discerns authentic media from deepfakes. 

As you know, research, education and service are the pillars of our public higher education mission. At UB, we view these three priorities as interdependent equals. For its part, research informs the education of our students, as well as our commitment to enhance health and well-being across the lifespan, the safety and security of our nation, and social, cultural and economic vibrancy around the world.

That is why, every day, we look to UB’s disciplinary strengths for practical, sustainable solutions to the thorniest issues of the 21st century. Research and scholarship are key to realizing the fullness of UB’s mission. They are enabling us to make a more meaningful impact on society than ever before.

We think our forebears would approve.