蜜桃传媒

Twenty-four faculty and staff members have been named recipients of the 2024 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence.

The Chancellor’s Awards acknowledge and provide system-wide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement and the ongoing pursuit of excellence.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities recognizes the work of those who engage actively in scholarly and creative pursuits beyond their teaching responsibilities. Recipients are Kara M. Kelly, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Michael LaMonte, research professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions; Jonathan Lovell, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Dejan Stojkovic, professor, Department of Physics, College of Art and Sciences; Victoria W. Wolcott, professor, Department of History, CAS; and Janet Z. Yang, professor, Department of Communication, CAS.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching honors those who consistently demonstrate superb teaching at the undergraduate, graduate or professional level. Recipients are Sarah E. Handley-Cousins, associate teaching professor, Department of History, CAS, and Filip Stefanovic, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, SEAS.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service recognizes “the consistently superior service contributions of teaching faculty” sustained over a period of time. This year’s recipient is Paschalis Alexandridis, UB Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, SEAS.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship recognizes “skill in librarianship; service to the campus, the university and to the field; scholarship and professional growth; and major professional achievements.” This year’s recipients are Ophelia Morey, associate librarian and coordinator of community outreach services, 蜜桃传媒 Libraries, and Deborah Chiarella, associate librarian and liaison to the departments of Music and Theatre and Dance, 蜜桃传媒 Libraries.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service honors professional staff performance excellence “both within and beyond the position.” Recipients are Kelly H. Ahuna, director, Office of Academic Integrity; Martin Camacho, assistant dean for technology, CAS; Jonathan Havey, research analyst, Office of Institutional Analysis; Nargis Hossain, department administrator, Department of Surgery, Jacobs School; Joseph Raab, director, Environment, Health and Safety; Kesha Foster, director of human resources and unit diversity officer, Student Life; Michael Redfern, associate dean for strategy, planning and operations, SPHHP; Jeffrey Piscitelli, senior executive director of advancement, School of Management, Graduate School of Education and 蜜桃传媒 Libraries; Ryan Taughrin, assistant dean for enrollment management, Graduate School of Education; Tracey Murphy, executive assistant to the president, Office of the President; and Sue Wuetcher, editor, UBNow, 蜜桃传媒 Communications.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service recognizes classified staff members who have consistently demonstrated superlative performance within and beyond their position. This year’s recipients are Teresa Sikorski, department secretary, Department of Biostatistics, SPHHP, and Jacqueline DiMartino, administrative assistant, Finance and Administration, CAS.

As the inaugural director of the Office of Academic Integrity, Kelly Ahuna leads the unit that provides education and support for all academic integrity matters across UB’s undergraduate and graduate programs.

This includes educating students on the importance of academic integrity, educating faculty on UB’s academic integrity policies and and managing the adjudication of academic integrity appeals. Ahuna works with faculty regularly during orientation sessions and is often invited to staff meetings to speak not just about reporting procedures, but about how to instill integrity into the curriculum.

Ahuna developed the office’s website, which approaches integrity from an educational perspective. The site includes not only the expected student-oriented information about policies and violations on the site, but also guidance about the causes and effects of dishonesty, and resources to assist students in their own development. There is also a section for faculty that offers guidance on how to conduct meetings with students, how to process cases and pedagogical resources.

After reviewing the office’s initial academic integrity policy and identifying numerous areas for improvement, Ahuna reworked the policy, successfully shepherding the revisions through the Faculty Senate and the Graduate School Executive Committee.

When she couldn’t find a suitable practical education course about university expectations for students who violate UB academic integrity policies, she developed one herself. And in addition to the remediation course, she designed a universal course for all incoming and transfer students that focuses on general campus expectations for academic integrity.

Beyond her work at UB, Ahuna is considered a leader in her field nationally and globally. An active participant with the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI), she attends and presents at annual conferences. Through ICAI she helped lead the creation of — and now serves as the co-chair for — the ICAI Northeast Consortium, which includes about 35 institutions and 60 administrators from across the region.

Paschalis Alexandridis has demonstrated extraordinary service to the university and to his profession.

At UB, he has held several administrative positions, including director of graduate studies in chemical engineering, and co-director of the materials science and engineering program and associate dean for research and graduate education, both in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

As director of graduate studies, Alexandridis oversaw the curriculum, program requirements and progress toward degree for graduate students, and directed recruitment and admissions leading to growth in graduate student numbers. He led a revision of the department’s PhD curriculum to better prepare PhD students for research and professional career success.

Alexandridis has been heavily involved in faculty governance, having served seven terms on the UB Faculty Senate and on several committees of the SUNY-wide 蜜桃传媒 Faculty Senate.

A world-renowned expert on soft matter and complex fluids, Alexandridis has led the Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology since 2021 as its editor-in-chief. He serves as review editor of the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents, and section editor-in-chief of Polymers. Alexandridis also has held various leadership positions with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the American Chemical Society.

He has received more than $17 million in funding, been awarded six U.S. patents, edited two books, and co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and 690 presentations, with over 26,000 citations and h-index 84. He has mentored 86 undergraduate, 71 master’s and 25 doctoral students.

A highly regarded scholar, Alexandridis is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), AIChE, Royal Society of Chemistry and the International Association of Advanced Materials.

This is Alexandridis’ third Chancellor’s award: He previously received awards for Excellence in Teaching and for Scholarship and Creative Activities.

As assistant dean for technology in the College of Arts and Sciences, Martin Camacho has demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation in advancing the university’s technological infrastructure and academic mission. A UB alumnus, he holds a bachelor’s degree in geography and economics, and a doctorate in geography.

Over the course of his career, Camacho has played a pivotal role in supporting the university’s largest academic unit, which encompasses 30 departments, 16 academic programs and 23 centers and institutes. Colleagues say his impact “cannot be overstated,” with his vast technical expertise, coupled with a collaborative and solutions-oriented approach, earning him widespread respect among faculty, staff and senior leadership.

“He is a critical problem-solver who makes major contributions to college operations every day,” says Dean Robin Schulze. “Marty keeps the technology running seamlessly behind the scenes. The faculty and staff in the college trust Marty implicitly, as do members of the university administration.”

Camacho led technology efforts during the pandemic, ensuring a seamless transition to remote learning. He supported creation of the Mellon-funded Haudenosaunee Archive, Resource and Knowledge (HARK) Lab, an innovative digital archive supporting Indigenous studies. He also spearheaded a pilot initiative to examine the role of technology in student retention and academic success, producing measurable improvements in student outcomes.

In addition to his operational excellence, Camacho serves on university-wide committees, represents the college in strategic initiatives and manages UB’s institutional partnership with Dell.

Librarian Deborah Chiarella’s experience and subject-matter expertise have proven invaluable to both students and researchers.

“With Deb at the helm,” music chair Eric Huebner wrote in his letter of support, “we know our music library collection is in good hands.”

Chiarella, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music from York 蜜桃传媒 and a master’s in library science from UB, started her career at UB in 2005 as a student reference assistant in the Health Sciences Library. Over the past 20 years, she rose to associate librarian primarily serving UB’s five health sciences schools. She also served as liaison to the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, where she was intricately involved in the school.

In 2018, her responsibilities shifted to the departments of Music, and Theatre and Dance, while overseeing operations of the music library, including collections and public services. One of her biggest projects was facilitating last year’s successful relocation of UB’s musical collection from a stand-alone library in Baird Hall to part of the larger Lockwood Library.

“Faculty have commented on the ‘beautiful new space’ and Ms. Chiarella’s ability to maintain the library feel of the Baird location but with a new element of discovery and accessibility,” wrote Laura Taddeo, head of the arts humanities and social sciences team in 蜜桃传媒 Libraries.

Chiarella’s commitment to librarianship goes well beyond the typical responsibilities. Whether it’s serving as an academic success coach for theatre and dance students or helping researchers navigate copyright law, Chiarella demonstrates how seriously she takes her role.

“Ms. Chiarella is a librarian of outstanding innovativeness, patience and generosity whose experience and pedagogical acumen directly benefit my students’ long-term academic and artistic success,” wrote Meredith Conti, associate professor of theatre.

Administrative assistant in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Jacqueline DiMartino has been a member of the UB community since 1996 and has served in her current position in CAS since 2019.

Part of the college’s administrative operations, DiMartino has a wide range of responsibilities, including supporting the human resources (HR) and finance teams; handling promotions and tenure correspondences on behalf of the dean; serving as a point of contact within the Dean’s Office HR suite for university faculty, staff, students and administrators; and supporting the college’s Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure (APT) Committee, as well as its Awards Committee. Supporting the APT committee requires DiMartino to manage a high volume of meeting schedules and coordinate with committee members, department chairs and faculty advocates to ensure that everything goes as scheduled and members are appropriately prepared — all while maintaining confidentiality throughout the process.

DiMartino’s colleagues note that she goes above and beyond when there is a need for additional support within CAS, pointing to her flexibility during the COVID pandemic. In addition to fulfilling her normal responsibilities while working remotely, DiMartino also provided assistance on site at UB’s Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Clinic.

As director of human resources and unit diversity officer in the Division of Student Life, Kesha Foster is responsible for ensuring the division’s compliance with federal and state laws, collective bargaining agreements and university policies — particularly, as they relate to performance concerns and employee relations referrals. She creates and implements human resource policies, recruitment strategies and training for supervisors on matters relating to DEI, employee development and human resources parameters. She also serves as the primary point of contact for student life with UB’s central human resources office.

Among Foster’s significant contributions is creating the iDEAL Academy, a multiple-day training program developed in coordination with seven departments across campus that equips supervisors with collaboration skills and a critical understanding of DEI. In 2024, iDEAL Academy received the SUNY Outstanding Program Award.

Committed to cultivating a welcoming culture in student life, Foster developed a quarterly welcome session to orient new employees within the division, giving them an opportunity to engage with senior leadership, learn about the division’s priorities and begin building a network of colleagues. The initiative provides intentional support, directly benefiting employees and the division’s long-term retention.

Foster is dedicated to enhancing her knowledge and staying informed about best practices. She holds numerous certifications from the HR Certification Institute, the Society for Human Resource Management, USF Muma College of Business, Cornell 蜜桃传媒 and the Association of Title IX Administrators. Moreover, she has contributed to her profession as a member of the Association for HR Professionals in Higher Education Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce; as co-chair of the WNY Higher Education Consortium Sexual Assault Prevention and Compliance Task Force; as a university centers representative to the SUNY Title IX Coordinator Association Executive Board; and as a member of the SUNY Student Conduct Institute Steering Committee. 

Sarah E. Handley-Cousins has cultivated an approach to teaching that inspires students and elevates her department’s instructional methods to make history approachable and enticing for both academic and non-academic audiences.

A committed educator, Handley-Cousins teaches a wide range of courses and creates classroom exercises that bring history to life for her students. Her course Reacting to the Past (HIS 387) utilizes role-playing games to engage students in historical events. She has invested numerous hours in this type of activity, attending multiple training courses on the topic and thoroughly preparing her students to participate. She is known for exploring best practices for classroom instruction and puts intention and effort into planning her courses. As an example, she employs a contract grading policy, allowing students to target the grade they want to achieve in the course and helping them set milestones for achieving that goal. She allows for unlimited revision on writing assignments so students can continue to improve their skills and knowledge.

Handley-Cousins’ students overwhelmingly appreciate her approach, filling their course evaluations with what her peers describe as “garlands of superlatives.” In 2020, she was nominated for the UB Student Association’s Milton Plesur Teaching Award.

Her scholarship is dedicated to better understanding the history of disability in 19th century America. “Bodies in Blue: Disability in the Civil War North,” a 2019 monograph, received the Disability History Association’s Outstanding Book Award. In 2021, she received an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship for her project “The Age of Crime: Disability, Crime, and Veterans in Gilded Age America.”

Handley-Cousins is also the co-founder and producer of “DIG: A History Podcast” and the executive editor of “Nursing Clio,” a blog focusing on the intersection of history and present-day discussion of gender and Medicine.

A highly skilled data analyst, Jonathan Havey is lauded by colleagues for his “nimble and highly adaptable” approach, remarkable “data wrangling skills” and committed mentorship.

Havey’s work supports the HUB system for student information, which profoundly impacts how UB functions daily. He also helped create the student reports in UB’s Strategic Information and Reporting Initiative (SIRI) to address the diverse data-reporting needs across campus. 

In his position at the Office of Institutional Analysis, he is responsible for official student data known as SUNYIR, the foundation of much of the university’s required reporting efforts, and for the federally mandated Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment Information (FVT/GE) report.

Havey has assisted many offices on campus in reporting on graduation rates, retention rates and sensitive data for SUNY reports, while ensuring HIPAA information remains protected. Moreover, he provides essential support to UB’s senior leaders on ad hoc analysis and reporting needs as they arise.

One colleague noted that Havey “quietly solves problems that most of the university will never be aware existed” but would make all our lives exponentially more difficult if they were not solved.

He also trains the next generation of analysts in his office and beyond to ensure continuity of information. While most individuals who leave or retire take their institutional knowledge with them, a colleague said Havey’s mentorship and training ensures his knowledge is passed on to all relevant departments in a sustainable way.

In her role in the surgery department, Nargis Hossain’s major duties include leading and supervising a team of 12 clerical, administrative and technical staff members, and overseeing special projects and departmental initiatives. Hossain manages and coordinates the department’s budget; develops and writes grant proposals for philanthropic initiatives, as well as assisting with the preparation of materials related to sponsored research; and coordinating marketing initiatives and managing web content.

Moreover, she helps coordinate institutional research, training and educational programs in the department. She develops strategies and policies to improve health care education for UB RISE, a surgical simulation and innovation center, and oversees both the UB Drone STEM Competition and the Surgery Escape Room, which offer local children interactive, hands-on experiences that highlight exciting opportunities in STEM and medicine.

Peers praise Hossain for her work with the next generation of STEM professionals, noting in particular that through her leadership of the UB Drone STEM Competition, she has “provided students from the Buffalo Public Schools with invaluable exposure to the medical field, creating opportunities for them to visit a college campus for the first time and engage in hands-on activities.”

Colleagues call Hossain a tireless advocate for minority representation in medicine who works diligently to strengthen community partnerships. Her efforts to foster inclusivity and equity demonstrate a deep commitment to leadership, problem-solving and serving the broader community, and make her a professional role model within SUNY and in Western New York.

Dedicated to her department and university, Hossain has served on or currently serves on numerous UB committees, including the Department of Surgery’s Social Justice and Health Equity Committee, its Research Council, Strategic Planning Committee, Executive Committee and Leadership Council.

She also served as treasurer of United 蜜桃传媒 Professions Health Sciences Chapter from 2020-22 and, since 2015, has been a mentor with UB’s LeaderCORE program, which helps students develop skills for personal and professional success.

Kara Kelly is hailed by her peers as “an eminent pediatric oncologist and an international leader” in Hodgkin lymphoma biologic research. She plays a major role in developing, conducting and analyzing the clinical trials that have improved how children with cancer are treated.

In 2022, she was senior author on a New England Journal of Medicine paper describing a clinical trial of a new treatment for children with high-risk, advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma resulting in a nearly 10% improvement in event-free survival. It was the first significant breakthrough for this disease in many decades and resulted in the FDA changing the standard of care.

Kelly is currently principal investigator or site PI on grants totaling $10.8 million from the National Cancer Institute, the Department of Defense, industry and other private sources.

Prior to her appointment at the Jacobs School in 2016, Kelly was a faculty member in pediatrics at Columbia 蜜桃传媒; her last position there was as the James A. Wolff Professor of Pediatrics.

A Jacobs School alumna, Kelly is also the Waldemar J. Kaminsky Chair of Pediatrics and a professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she serves as associate director of translational research, care delivery and outcomes. In addition, she serves as associate dean for pediatric translational and population health research at the Jacobs School and program director of the Roswell Park Oishei Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Program.

Earlier this year, she was named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s list of top national leaders in health care.

Michael J. LaMonte is a prolific scholar — he published 20 papers in 2024 alone — who “is widely considered a thought leader in his field for seminal contributions that have enhanced our understanding of the impact of physical activity on cardiovascular health and aging.”

A leading researcher in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), LaMonte has been principal investigator or co-investigator on more than $23 million in research grants since 2002.

He is one of two PIs on a five-year, $1.7 million study examining measurements of physical activity in relation to healthy cardiovascular aging and resilience among women over the age of 80. The study has produced significant, novel, scientific findings and, with LaMonte’s creative leadership, developed a new approach to programming one of the most commonly used activity-tracking devices that is now used as a standard in the field.

His research has resulted in an impressive H-index of 67, according to Google Scholar, and his 256 peer-reviewed publications have been cited more than 35,500 times, including 13 papers that have been cited more than 500 times each.

Additionally, LaMonte has published 18 book chapters and is an editor of an academic textbook on cardiac rehabilitation. One of LaMonte’s early-career publications was the first to show that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with less systemic inflammation. The paper was published in the journal Circulation, one of the premier cardiology journals.

More recently, he led one of the first publications showing device-measured light-intensity activities of daily living were associated with a lower risk of developing heart failure in older women, a study published in JAMA Cardiology.

LaMonte presents his research at national and international conferences, has won numerous awards and served in various journal editor capacities, including for the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition’s Research Digest.

Since joining UB in 2012, Jonathan Lovell has distinguished himself as a stellar scholar and excellent educator. He has established multiple patents, pursued entrepreneurial endeavors and secured substantial research funding — all while teaching dozens of undergraduate and graduate courses and developing curriculum.

Appointed a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in 2020 — and promoted to full professor in 2022 — Lovell conducts research on topics including light-activated drug delivery systems, cancer immunotherapy and optically responsive nanomaterials.

He currently serves as principal investigator on projects funded by more than $8 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense that focus on tuberculosis-vaccine development and cancer immunotherapy. In total, his research has garnered more than $16 million in external funding.

As co-founder of POP Biotechnologies, Lovell holds 14 U.S. patents spanning multiple areas — from photoacoustic imaging agents to next-generation vaccine platforms. Many of the technologies developed through his company focus on drug delivery that — unlike chemotherapy treatments — limits potential harm to the body. During the coronavirus pandemic, he developed the EuCorVac-19 that successfully advanced into human clinical trials.

Lovell has written six book chapters and published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals, including Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Chemistry, and Nature Communications. He has also participated in more than 100 scientific conferences and workshops, and delivered the keynote and plenary talks at such prominent international events as the World Vaccine Congress and the American Society for Photobiology.

In addition, Lovell has been lauded as an excellent teacher and mentor who has guided 12 PhD and 10 master’s students to graduation — many of whom have earned prestigious awards and secured positions in academia and industry.

Ophelia Morey joined the Health Sciences Library in 2001 and assumed the role of coordinator of community outreach services in 2008. She is responsible for cultivating community relationships and developing innovative ways to make medical information readily accessible, with a focus on health literacy and health equity.

One colleague noted that Morey “recognizes the barriers that many face when attempting to access quality health information and has dedicated her career to bridging this gap.” That included receiving a $30,000 award from the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) All of Us Program Center in 2022 to organize a series of community events with the Erie Niagara Health Education Center. Those efforts connected women to health care resources and increased awareness about the health disparities Black women face in receiving maternal health care.

Morey has received other awards from NNLM to partner with the Durham Baby Café to support Black mothers, educate the community about reliable health information resources with the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, and train Buffalo high school students to act as community health advocates.

In 2024, Morey collaborated with the National Institutes of Health to bring a week-long event to the South Campus that continued the conversation about health disparities in medical research and connected individuals with local resources.

A graduate of Canisius College, Morey earned her master’s in information and library studies from UB. She also completed the Buffalo Community Health Worker Training Program, a Health Literacy Leadership Institute program, and educated herself on trauma-informed practices to assist in the aftermath of the Tops supermarket mass shooting in 2022.

Morey is an active member in national and regional library associations, and an experienced researcher who has authored contributions to books and peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.

A member of the UB community for more than 30 years, Tracey Murphy has served in her current position as executive assistant in the Office of the President since 2011 — a role that requires her to have a thorough knowledge of university policies, procedures and operations.

Her peers and colleagues praise her for her “professionalism, resourcefulness, calm presence and unwavering loyalty to UB,” which have made her “an indispensable member of the President’s Office and a highly respected colleague across the university.”

Murphy’s responsibilities include planning and maintaining the presidential schedule, and serving as a liaison between the president and the provost, vice presidents, vice provosts, deans and external constituents, including local, state and national elected officials, members of the SUNY Chancellor’s Office and other SUNY staff.

She manages sensitive information with the utmost discretion and her strong organizational skills allow her to maintain confidentiality, manage multiple competing priorities and serve as a steady presence within a fast-paced environment.

She also has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to changing demands and evolving responsibilities — whether navigating new technologies, learning new processes or adapting to changes in university leadership.

As the primary point of contact in the president’s office, Murphy manages or coordinates aspects of high-level, and often urgent, institutional meetings or advocacy priorities. She also ensures the president has all needed information to be fully prepared for every meeting he attends. Murphy’s interpersonal skills are exceptional, whether working with senior administrators, faculty, staff or students, and she has earned the highest respect from the many constituents with whom she interacts.

Murphy uses her impressive logistical skills in many areas of her job, but particularly when helping to coordinate high-level meetings, including those for the SUNY Board of Trustees or Research Foundation Board of Directors, which have been held at UB in recent years. She ensures that every detail is handled meticulously, starting with pre-meeting preparations through the day of the event, ensuring that the meetings run seamlessly.

Jeffrey Piscitelli’s leadership and commitment to maintaining meaningful relationships with UB’s alumni, partners and friends has won widespread respect. His colleagues see his efforts as profoundly enhancing UB’s ability to meet its philanthropic goals. 

After earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from the 蜜桃传媒 of Rochester — along with being a standout quarterback who was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 — Piscitelli first joined UB as a major gifts officer in the School of Law in 2011. In 2015, he became director of advancement for the 蜜桃传媒 of Rochester’s Simon Business School. Returning to UB in 2018 as the executive director of advancement for the School of Management, he was then promoted to his current role.

As executive director of advancement, Piscitelli is responsible for overseeing the School of Management’s development programs and providing mentorship and guidance to the gift officers. Under his direction, the School of Management surpassed its $57.5 million goal during the Boldly Buffalo campaign. This is particularly notable because this was a substantial increase from the school’s original campaign goal of $40 million.

In addition to his significant contribution to raising millions of dollars for the university, Piscitelli’s leadership is marked by meaningful relationships with many of UB’s alumni and longstanding partners. He has made new connections and cultivated existing ones with his authenticity and sincerity.

“Raising funds seems like a job that could simply be measured in dollars and cents,” said Steven Shepsman, UB alumnus and School of Management campaign chair. “While that is the important numerical metric, Jeff has consistently brought alumni closer to the school by creating and developing relationships that will last a lifetime. While that may be harder to measure, that is what in fact he does.”

As director of Environment, Health and Safety since 2002, Joseph Raab leads the UB office that responds to issues concerning environmental health and safety. He works with federal, state and local compliance officers, as well as university faculty and professional staff, to develop and maintain detailed, comprehensive compliance programs for laboratory safety, general safety, hazardous waste, radiation safety, biological safety, fire safety and environmental protection.

Raab develops risk-management processes and procedures that protect the university and the broader community. In 2003, he created an EH&S Fire and Life Safety Division to implement and enforce fire policies and codes in response to the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control’s expanded oversight of colleges and universities.

From 2003-04 he oversaw UB’s implementation of the EPA Self Disclosure Audit, in which SUNY entered into an agreement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to self-audit and self-disclose regulatory violations.

He also developed the university compliance plan that incorporated the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) requirements from the U.S Department of Homeland Security starting in 2007. In 2009, he led EH&S’s implementation of new OSHA requirements for global harmonization of hazard communication. He collaborated with EH&S staff on the creation of the UB Chemical Hygiene Plan in 2012 and formed a review committee with representatives from academic units, human resources and university counsel.

In 2016, Raab helped oversee the decommissioning of the Buffalo Materials Research Center’s nuclear research reactor on the South Campus, working the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, project consultants and contractors to ensure a successful final status survey and license termination.

Colleagues and peers in particular praise Raab for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, he served as a member of the 蜜桃传媒 Health Guidelines Committee; prepared campus safety guidelines; developed procedures for public assemblies, special events and food events; established, directed and maintained the UB COVID testing centers; and developed a process for bringing campus research laboratories back online.

Associate dean for strategy, planning and operations for the School of Public Health and Health Professions, Michael Redfern’s colleagues praised him for his unwavering commitment to professional excellence and his exemplary contributions — not only within the parameters of his role but also in service of the advancement of the university.

Redfern earned both his master’s degree in higher education administration and his MBA from UB. He began his professional career at the university in 2003, serving 12 years in various roles within the School of Nursing before joining the School of Public Health and Health Professions in 2015 as an associate dean and chief operating and financial officer. In 2020, he was promoted to his current position.

Among his significant achievements highlighted by his peers are the development and implementation of four new academic programs that brought 850 new students to the public health school and generated an additional $5 million in tuition. Colleagues praised Redfern’s “ability to translate vision into tangible outcomes that contribute to the growth and success of the university.”

While with the School of Nursing, Redfern spearheaded and managed the school’s first faculty workload database, working with faculty members to develop and deploy the school’s first academic continuous quality improvement (CQI) program, which systematically reviewed all academic programs. Additionally, he helped co-author and manage a $1.4 million training grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in support of the expanding undergraduate nursing enrollment and which established the school’s accelerated BS in nursing program.

Redfern is frequently asked to use his leadership and innovation talent to contribute to university-wide initiatives. For example, he co-chaired UB’s Budget Model Tuition Share Taskforce and Academic Instruction Program Model. He has also served as a member of the 蜜桃传媒 Space Planning Committee, the Post-Baccalaureate Enrollment Strategies and Initiatives Committee, and the Enrollment and Resource Planning Committee. These efforts fostered collaboration across multiple departments, driving improvements in resource management and institutional planning.

Teresa Sikorski has been a vital contributor to the Department of Biostatistics for more than 36 years.

She routinely handles responsibilities that support the educational and research mission of the department. The wide scope of her role includes reporting, procurement, scheduling and event support, and she is known for her initiative and creativity in problem-solving.

Sikorski was lauded by her department for her “longstanding institutional knowledge combined with her meticulous tracking and record-keeping of office tasks,” which ”has made her an invaluable resource to the chair of the department, faculty and students.”

Her colleagues praised her breadth of expertise, which “significantly contributes to the efficiency of the department, and she shares suggestions for improving processes when challenges arise.”

“She often encounters complex situations that require her keen eye to identify both the problem and the solution, and she communicates effectively with all those involved to resolve the issue,” one colleague wrote in her nomination letter. “For more than three decades, Ms. Sikorski has lent her professional expertise to UB, greatly benefitting our university community.”  

Sikorski’s peers described her as “integral to cultivating a welcoming environment in the office and is often sought out by those in need of assistance or a listening ear.”

Her commitment to helping others is also demonstrated by her committee work for the UB Employees Campaign for the Community, advancing faculty and staff participation in the campaign’s fundraising effort.

Filip Stefanovic is a committed educator and innovative scholar who expertly weaves traditional classroom methods with experiential learning to prepare the next generation of engineers.

Stefanovic worked in private industry and academia in Canada, Serbia and Denmark before joining UB’s Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2015. Over the past decade, he’s made a significant mark on the department, designing four new upper-level courses and integrating additional hands-on experiences and practical applications into existing courses.

His students have had the opportunity to analyze movement in UB’s SMART Motion Capture Lab, learn about rehabilitation technology at Kaleida Health’s Gates Vascular Institute, and design 3D-print and test prosthetic devices.

“Dr. Stefanovic’s teaching does more than impart knowledge,” Ciprian Ionita, associate professor of biomedical engineering and co-director of the Engineering Division at the Canon Stroke & Vascular Research Center, wrote in his supporting letter. “It also encourages students to apply what they’ve learned in innovative ways, preparing them for both academic and professional success.”

Stefanovic has repeatedly received accolades for his teaching methods, including the 2018 School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Best Teaching Faculty of the Year Award, the 2020 UB Student Accessibility in Teaching Award and the 2023 UB Teaching Innovation Award.

And he’s received excellent student feedback. Each of his courses has received an average student evaluation of approximately 4.8 out of 5. Many of his students have gone on to pursue advanced degrees at UB and other institutions, publish articles, win awards and present at conferences.

Stefanovic has also made large strides as a scholar. He’s received four grants totaling more than $450,000, primarily from the National Science Foundation; published 12 journal articles; and presented at numerous conferences. He has one patent, with an additional three patent submissions pending or under review.

Dejan Stojkovic’s research concerns the very small and the very big. 

Trained as a theoretical cosmologist with special expertise in black hole physics, Stojkovic’s work is at the confluence of cosmology and particle physics. He is one of few researchers in the world who has made impactful contributions to understanding both subatomic scale particles and the origins and evolution of the universe at the largest length scales of the observable universe.

One of Stojkovic’s most important contributions to cosmology is his proposal to use quasars — extremely bright distant objects powered by black holes — as distance markers to understand the expansion of the universe. 

Stojkovic’s most important contribution to the particle physics community is his continued work on BlackMax, a numerical simulator that searches for new physics and is now widely used in all the collaborations involved in the Large Hadron Collider. Colleagues describe his work on BlackMax as being of “the greatest immediate service to the scientific community.”

Since joining the Department of Physics in 2007, he has garnered approximately $3 million in grants as a principal investigator and co-principal investigator. He has published 118 papers and two monographs, and edited two books, while also serving as editor of MDPI Particles and a member of the editorial board of Astronomy Magazine.

Stojkovic has also been a highly engaged member of the department in terms of teaching, graduating eight PhD students and advising eight undergraduate students.

His honors include the Astor Award from Oxford 蜜桃传媒 as a visiting scientist in 2007, as well as the Marko Jaric Award, the top award given by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 2023, he was elected a full member of the Serbian Academy of Nonlinear Sciences.

Ryan Taughrin is a dedicated higher education professional who is recognized for his student-centered approach, data-informed strategies and inclusive leadership. Colleagues note his ability to empower others and cultivate professional growth. As one noted, “One of Ryan’s greatest gifts as a leader is his ability to instill confidence in those around him.”

In his current role, Taughrin is focused on enacting meaningful changes to GSE’s enrollment process that benefit students and elevate enrollment outcomes for the school. Along with providing data-driven, tangible improvements to the school’s application and enrollment process, Taughrin remains committed to supporting students and providing the resources they need to be successful.

Taughrin, who earned a master’s degree in higher education at UB and is currently completing his PhD in higher education at the university, began his career at GSE in 2012 before moving to the College of Arts and Sciences as director of graduate recruitment and admissions operations. His dedication to student success has been consistently evident — whether advocating for individual students or redesigning systems to support them more effectively.

Since rejoining GSE in 2020, Taughrin has implemented a digital admissions platform, collaborated with the Office of Institutional Analysis to enhance data literacy and introduced initiatives such as a PhD Accepted Students Day and worked with his admissions team to implement a student ambassador program.

He has also worked with professional organizations to reduce barriers for historically marginalized applicants. His contributions have earned him numerous honors, including NAGAP, The Association for Graduate Enrollment Management’s Future Leader and Chapter Leader awards, two GSE Dean’s Apple Awards and recognition as one of Buffalo Business First’s “30 Under 30” and Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s “360 Spotlight Professional.”

He has also held national leadership roles with the New York Graduate Admissions Professionals and served on several UB-wide committees.

Victoria Wolcott is a social historian with expertise in areas that include the Civil Rights Movement, the New Deal, gender history, urban history, utopian communities and the history of leisure. Her eclectic interests and deep research program have consistently brought the insights of one field to reveal new perspectives in another. Wolcott was described by one colleague as “the most influential and talented historian working at the juncture of gender, race, recreation, and civil rights ideology in modern American.”

The author of three books as well as 16 articles and book chapters, she is currently a co-principal investigator for a prestigious $2.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Through this study, she is helping build a research team tasked with documenting and analyzing the role of community networks in providing health care and related services to vulnerable people with limited resources. This research bridges the disciplines of public health, urban studies and disability studies, promising to support people and communities largely unrepresented in policy planning studies.

Wolcott’s first book, “Remaking Respectability: African-American Women in Interwar Detroit” (2001), explores the experience of Black women activists to produce a compelling interpretation of the internal complexities of the Civil Rights Movement. Her 2012 publication “Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle against Segregated Recreation in Postwar America” explored an area of the Civil Rights Movement that few historians have studied. Her most recent book, “Living in the Future: The Utopian Strain in the Long Civil Rights Movement” (2022), reveals the significant, but often unrecognized impact that utopian socialism and radical pacifism had on the Civil Rights Movement.

Recognized for her scholarly excellence, Wolcott received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in 2016 and has named a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians in 2012.

As editor of UBNow, the university’s primary internal communications platform, Sue Wuetcher has set a professional standard for the university’s most comprehensive communications mediums — a level of excellence she has maintained or enhanced every year. She is held in universal high regard among the numerous accomplished and experienced writers, artists and communications specialists contributing to these innovative, informative communications publications.

Throughout her nearly 40-year career at UB, Wuetcher has advanced and promoted the mission of the university through the development of informative stories, news releases, periodicals and e-newsletters. She has served as editor of UB’s internal communication platforms since 1999, first overseeing UB Reporter, the weekly print publication for faculty and staff, and currently leading production and planning for UBNow, the daily e-newsletter and website.

As editor of UBNow, Wuetcher coordinates with UB unit communicators, faculty and staff to plan content, write and edit stories, update the website and deploy a daily email that highlights transformational research findings, university initiatives, breaking news and other essential information for UB employees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wuetcher often worked well past business hours to deploy messaging to keep the UB community safe and informed.

Wuetcher’s responsiveness, judgment and flexibility have become hallmarks of her leadership. Each year, she adeptly manages shifting schedules and urgent deadlines, accommodating breaking news and complicated feature articles for UBNow with what her co-workers describe as unwavering understanding, accuracy and integrity.

“Sue has a heavy weight of responsibility on her shoulders that she carries with honor,” says UB communications colleague Jackie Hausler. “She is always thoughtful about how she can make UBNow the best it can be and does not settle for anything less. She works in an extremely fast-paced environment with constant competing priorities and urgent matters, yet her detail-oriented nature rises above to make the publication shine.”

Wuetcher’s professional honors include the Public Relations Society of America Buffalo Niagara Bronze Excalibur Award and SUNY Council for 蜜桃传媒 Advancement Professionals Award for Excellence. She has volunteered for campus-wide initiatives to enhance communications. She has served as a Professional Staff Senate (PSS) senator, a member of the PSS Executive Committee and a board member for the UB Child Care Center. 

Janet Yang is a prolific and highly cited researcher who throughout her career has advanced our understanding of public perceptions of risk related to critical environmental and health issues, including climate change, PFAS pollution, plastic pollution, COVID-19, mpox, Ebola, influenza and vaccinations.

Yang has received more than $7 million in research grants, either as a PI or co-PI, principally from the National Science Foundation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. She has given more than 150 refereed conference presentations and published more than 110 peer-reviewed journal articles, placing her among the top 1% in her field in terms of career output.

In recognition of her expansive and impactful scholarly work, Yang has won top paper awards from Society for Risk Analysis, International Communication Association, National Communication Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

She is also a recipient of the Lewis Donohew Outstanding Scholar in Health Communication Award for the Kentucky Conference on Health Communication (2024). In 2023, she was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2021, she received the Chauncey Starr Award from the Society for Risk Analysis, which is awarded to scholars ages 40 years or younger for outstanding achievement in science or public policy related to risk analysis. She also won the Hillier Krieghbaum Under 40 Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2020.