Why children are getting and what UB is - University at Buffalo

Also inside Joe Freedy, BA ’02 | Louis Slovinsky, BA ’61 | Lisa Albrecht, PhD ’84 | Clotilde Dedecker, EdM ’01
todayWinter 2009
a p u b l i c at i o n o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y at b u f f a l o a l u m n i a s s o c i at i o n
Why children
so
are getting
fat,
and what UB is doing
to help them

firstlook
They did it!
In a moment of sheer jubilation, President John B. Simpson and Coach
Turner Gill celebrate the UB Bulls’ decisive win over unbeaten Ball State,
42-24, to capture the 2008 MAC Championship December 5 at Detroit’s
Ford Field. An elated Warde Manuel, UB director of athletics, looks on.
Photo by Paul Hokanson

a publication of the university at buffalo alumni association winter 2009
Online Exclusive
Celebrating WBFO’s
golden anniversary
www.buffalo.edu/UBT
12
Probing childhood obesity
Research team investigates a startling epidemic,
while pioneering family focused treatments
18
The voice of America’s physicians
Nancy Nielsen, MD ’76, presides over the nation’s
most influential physicians’ group as AMA president
22
Avenues of access
Bevy of programs helps students in need reach
higher to carve their part of the American dream
26
UBtoday
Alumni profiles
Joe Freedy,
BA ’02, former
Bulls quarterback,
is ordained to the
29
priesthood
31
33
35
Louis Slovinsky,
BA ’61, retired
executive with Time
Inc., is sculptor,
painter, author
Lisa Albrecht,
PhD ’84, MA ’75
& BA ’72, scholar,
activist and teacher,
offers an inspiring
worldview
Clotilde Perez-
Bode Dedecker,
EdM ’01, community
foundation leader,
draws on her own
immigrant story
Thunder of the East
Marching band’s pageantry, passion and precision
inspire fans and players alike
Cover illustration by Glynis Sweeny
Departments
Letters 5
Shortform 6
Seen Read Heard 9
sportform 10
In my opinion 17
Alumni News 36
final word 48
Reaching others

2 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

from thePresident
his year we are entering a critical phase of UB 2020. Yet in the face of
tight budgets in New York and across the nation, we—like our fellow public universities
around the country—are working especially hard to do more with less.
Our successful campus transformations through UB 2020 are building a
stronger university better able to withstand unforeseen challenges and to take full
advantage of new opportunities as they arise. Now it is imperative that we seize
upon this momentum to push further toward our goal of becoming a model public
research university that reaches others in profound ways.
UB 2020 is an investment in our collective future, and it can help provide a way out of New
York State’s economic crisis. There are limits, however, to what we can do on our own. To implement
UB 2020 fully, we need two things. First, we need long-term and stable investments
committed to the university. Second, we need changes in state regulatory laws that currently
restrict UB’s ability to engage in modern business practices.
Indeed, we need the help of alumni and university
friends everywhere to support a commonsense
Commonsense reforms needed
to realize UB’s potential
>> To join UB Believers,
a broad coalition of
university advocates,
please visit www.buffalo.
edu/community.
T
platform to reform these regulatory laws. Doing so will
unshackle our university and give UB the momentum
needed to realize our great potential. For the coming
year, we are pursuing a series of sound and prudent
policy reforms that will allow UB to continue making progress during challenging times.
These low-cost, high-impact reforms include measures that will allow us greater flexibility
in the use of our land and in making purchasing and contract decisions, as well as a rational
tuition strategy for New York’s public colleges and universities. These reforms would ultimately
save millions for the taxpayer. Furthermore, they would allow us to pursue the goals of
UB 2020 far more quickly, greatly extending the university’s reach and impact in the process.
When fully implemented, we foresee UB 2020 creating 10,000 new jobs
and increasing UB’s $1.5 billion current annual economic impact to $2.6
billion. A vital element of the UB 2020 vision is the creation of a worldclass
Academic Health Center that would bring 13,000 more faculty,
students and staff to downtown Buffalo, and have a global impact on
life sciences research and discovery.
Your help and your support as dedicated alumni will continue to
be critical to our success. Heartfelt thanks to the thousands of you
who have already committed your energy to this effort by
joining UB Believers. If you have not already joined this
broad coalition of UB advocates, I hope you’ll consider
doing so now by registering at www.buffalo.edu/
community.
Thank you for joining UB as we seek to extend
our reach and deepen our impact both near and far.
John B. Simpson, President
University at Buffalo

winter 2009 vol.27, No.2
from theUBAAPresident
Vice President for External Affairs
Marsha S. Henderson, BA ’73
Associate Vice President for University
Communications
Joseph A. Brennan, PhD ’96 & MA ’88
Assistant Vice President for Strategic
Communications
Arthur Page
Editor
Ann Whitcher-Gentzke
Art Director
Rebecca Farnham
Production Coordinator
Cynthia Todd-Flick
Alumni News Director
Barbara A. Byers
Development News Editor
Cynthia Machamer
Class Notes Editor
Amanda Fromm
Communications Coordinator
Gina Cali-Misterkiewicz, MA ’05
Senior Associate Director
Jay R. Friedman, EdM ’00 & BA ’86
Associate Directors
Barbara A. Byers
Michael L. Jankowski
Assistant Directors
Laura Cornwall, EMBA ’07 & BA ’97
Kenneth Lam, EdM ’04 & BA ’01
Kristen M. Murphy, BA ’96
Patricia A. Starr
UB Today is published three times
annually by the UB Alumni Association, in
cooperation with the Office of University
Communications, Division of External Affairs.
Standard rate postage paid at Buffalo, New
York. Editorial offices are located at 330
Crofts Hall, University at Buffalo, Buffalo,
New York 14260. Telephone: (716) 645-2626;
Fax: (716) 645-3765; e-mail: whitcher@
buffalo.edu. UB Today welcomes inquiries,
but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited
manuscripts, artwork or photographs.
Alumni can help maintain UB’s
momentum amid fiscal challenges
L
ast fall, in the face of the U.S. economy’s meltdown, I was
left with many more questions than answers. The country’s
financial situation—and certainly that of New York State—
was tenuous at best. Financial institutions were closing or
being bought out, the stock market was experiencing recordsetting
fluctuations and the presidential election was upon
us. Closer to home, the University at Buffalo was facing a
state budget cut of at least 10 percent or approximately $21 million.
If you’re anything like me and my family, you’ve been making tough choices
in terms of personal spending. What can we afford? What is a true necessity
versus a clear-cut luxury? How much support can we provide to our favorite
charities and not-for-profit causes? Is
retirement even an option?
Likewise, UB is facing a similar challenge
that could be summarized as “making
do with less.” Given these conditions,
how do we continue transforming this
university into a world-class research
institution? In his annual address to
the community this past September,
UB president John B. Simpson outlined
the potential impact of state budget
cuts on the university and its programs.
Furthermore, he implored community
members to help bring about state
regulatory reforms that would enable
UB 2020—our plan for expansion and
academic excellence—to succeed.
Collectively, alumni play a very important role in maintaining UB 2020’s
momentum. The UB Alumni Association is working to keep you and all our constituents
engaged and energized, as the university strengthens its reputation as a
great research university and as a pillar among its peer institutions and within its
various communities, whether they be local, regional, national or international.
Are you interested in being part of the solution? Join UB Believers (it’s free).
Join the UB Alumni Association (it doesn’t cost much and now friends of the
university may join, too). Attend UB-sponsored events in a city near you (and get
reconnected). Or, if you are so inclined, please consider making a philanthropic
gift to a UB department, activity or scholarship fund that has special meaning for
you.
These times do indeed call for vigorous and unqualified support for our alma
mater—please join me in our common plan for action.
Douglas Levere, BA ’89
08-ALR-007
Marc A. Adler, MA ’83, MBA ’82 & BA ’79
President, UB Alumni Association
marc@flynnandfriends.com; 716-523-1957
4 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

drop us a line!
mailbox
Neighborhood story
evokes nostalgia
I very much enjoyed
the article on the South
Campus and its environs
(“Welcome to the
neighborhood,” fall 2008).
I earned both my degrees
on the Main Street campus;
to me the South Campus
is UB. I was a student
who commuted, and my
commute was so long that
it precluded participation
in campus activities.
I owe the pleasures of
campus life to the homes
that directly bordered the
campus where my friends
had apartments. These
homes provided a place
where we could relax
between classes and talk
about courses, professors
and ideas. Just the word
“Winspear” in your report
flooded me with nostalgia.
Pamela Woehr,
MSW ’80 & BS ’68
New York, NY
Bulls’ achievements
come full circle
The 2008 UB Bulls football
season provided all the
action, drama and tension
one can dream of. The
1958 team’s story has
been chronicled nicely.
Now it has come full circle
with Turner Gill’s 2008
team being granted a bowl
game. The significance of
these two teams should
not be overlooked. Coach
Gill said right after clinching
the Eastern Division
title, “I just thank God, I
thank God. A favor was
done here, no question
about it.” A favor has been
granted. The final script
is yet to be determined
at this writing, but for
now the circle is finally
complete. We have come
a long way as a university
community. Now it’s time
to celebrate and to cherish
this miracle.
I am proud of my university
and grateful for all that
it has accomplished, both
on the field of play and in
the display of conscience
and character, in 1958
and today. I am a former
UB football player—and a
forever UB Bull.
Tom Brill, BS ’82
Amherst, NY
Editor’s note:
When the 2008 Bulls
football team won the
MAC Championship and
appeared in the International
Bowl, they did so on
the 50th anniversary of the
remarkable Lambert Cup
team. In 1958, UB received
a bid to the Tangerine Bowl
in Orlando, FL, but turned
it down when confronted
with racial discrimination.
To read ESPN’s account of
these events, go to www.
buffalobulls.com.
Correction
The publisher of Shades
of Justice, a 2008 memoir
by Paul Krehbiel, MS ’79 &
BA ’75, was misstated in
our last issue. It is Autumn
Leaf Press.
UB Today welcomes letters
from readers commenting on
its stories and content. Please
include your UB degree and
the year it was received, along
with a daytime telephone for
verification purposes. Letters
are subject to editing and
may be condensed for length.
Send mail to ub-alumni@
buffalo.edu
This has been a great year for UB football. The Bulls
played in—and won—the Mid-American Conference championship
game on December 5, and for the first time in 50
years, there’s a bowl invitation to savor. In 1958, UB won
eight games and defeated then-powerhouses Columbia and
Harvard, making UB the top small college
football program in the East and winner
of the Lambert Cup.
flashback
1958
The Lambert Cup was awarded in
New York City on December 14, 1958. The
team’s co-captains, Nick Bottini and Lou
Reale, accepted the cup, with Chancellor
Clifford C. Furnas, athletic director Jim
Peele, coach Dick Offenhamer and members of the Lambert
family looking on. There was a dinner at Toots Shor’s and an
appearance on the popular Sunday night television program
The Ed Sullivan Show. With the Lambert Cup and an invitation
to play Florida State in the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, it
was arguably UB’s best season in 102 years of football. What
happened next also made it one of the university’s finest
hours.
When the university was informed that the team’s two
African American players, Willie Evans and Mike Wilson,
would not be welcome in Orlando, the team unanimously
rejected the bowl invitation.
“Those of us who thrilled to their performances recognize
them as fine football players, gentlemen and worthy representatives
of the university,” Furnas said. “We have never
been concerned with the color of their skins, nor do we think
that should be made a point of issue by anyone else.”
UB awarded Lambert Cup
—John Edens, University Archives
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 5

shortform
Academic insights, breaking research, UB people and university news
U n i v e r s i t y N e w s
‘Reaching others’ theme
of new initiative
UB has
launched a
communications
initiative,
“Reaching
Others,” to
increase public
awareness
about the university
and
showcase the
excellence of
its people and
programs.
The first
steps in the effort
include a
Web site that
tells six stories about how the work of faculty, staff and students is
making a difference locally and globally. These stories are being told in
television and radio commercials, including those broadcast nationally
on ESPN2 and ESPNU during telecasts of several Bulls football games
this past season.
To view the Reaching Others
television spots, go to www. “UB is an outstanding university, but research
suggests that many audiences aren’t
buffalo.edu/reachingothers/
fully aware of our academic excellence,” says
Joseph A. Brennan, PhD ’96 & MA ’88, associate vice president for
university communications. “We need to tell the world about all of the
good things going on here in Buffalo.”
The new Web site and commercials were developed by staff in the
Office of University Communications in conjunction with Partners +
Napier, a Rochester, NY–based communications agency. “We think
these are very powerful stories that convey the essence of UB,” says
Sharon Napier, president of Partners + Napier. “They express UB’s
distinctive essence as a model public research university that is positively
changing the world.”
U n i v e r s i t y N e w s
Feedback on UB
master plan
UB is seeking comments
from alumni on the draft
of a comprehensive
physical plan that would
dramatically redesign
and reconfigure UB’s
three campuses with
the goal of making UB
a great place to live,
learn and work.
The plan, which will be
finalized in April 2009
and is a component of UB
2020, would give each
of UB’s campuses a new
identity and purpose.
The North Campus is envisioned
as the academic
heart of the university,
home to UB’s College of
Arts and Sciences and
the School of Engineering
and Applied Sciences.
The South Campus will
become the center of
professional education in
law, executive education,
social work, and
architecture and planning.
A new Downtown Campus
will be the home of the
five health schools that
are part of UB’s Academic
Health Center.
As important as the
development of physical
landscapes, the plan also
addresses creation of
learning landscapes and
public realms, as well as
the issues of transportation
and energy use.
To review the various components
of the plan and
provide comments online
or privately, go to www.
buffalo.edu/ub2020/plan.
30
[states and territories
20,071 3,150
UB freshmen call home]
UB by the numbers
Class of 2012
30
35
[students selected]
statistics
[percentage of
[applicants]
students from
Western New York]
[SAT point increase
Source: Office of the Provost
over past five years]
6 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

Go to
www.buffalo.edu/news
for the latest in
campus news
reports.
UB People
Douglas Levere, BA ’89
>>
In the air Kelly Halvorsen, UB psychology and
dance student (foreground), soars above the dance floor at a
ballet class held this past fall at the Center for the Arts on the
North Campus.
University News
Biomedical Engineering
The university has established a Department of Biomedical Engineering that
will focus on development of groundbreaking medical devices and therapies
addressing society’s most pressing health problems, including cardiovascular
disease, diabetes and cancer.
Launch of the department is made possible by a $3 million grant from the
John R. Oishei Foundation, which requires UB to raise $1 million for the new
department from additional funding sources in 2009.
“The number of biomedical engineering programs nationwide is still small,”
says Harvey G. Stenger Jr., dean of the School of Engineering and Applied
Sciences. “The new department will enable UB to compete for top faculty,
students and research funding with other major research universities, such
as Michigan, Johns Hopkins, MIT and Stanford.”
Furthermore, by innovating cutting-edge devices for diagnosis and treatment in
Western New York, research generated by the department will directly improve
the quality and cost of health care in the region, says Michael E. Cain, dean of
the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “All these new devices and
procedures have allowed things to be done faster, easier and sometimes less
invasively, which in the end lowers health-care costs,” he says.
A historic gift to UB engineering
John R. “Jack” Davis, BS ’55, a well-known
Western New York industrialist and engineering
alumnus, has given $1.5 million to the UB
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
in support of a high-tech, flagship engineering
building to be constructed on UB’s North
Campus. The gift is the largest single contribution
by an individual in the engineering
school’s 62-year history.
The Davis gift will support construction
of the facility’s “clean room,” a complex
structure devoid of
airborne particles
or contamination.
Clean rooms allow
intricate research
in nanotechnology,
electronics, biomedical
engineering and
other precise manufacturing
fields. In
honor of his generosity,
the clean room
will bear the Davis
name.
“An investment
in UB engineering
is an investment in
our region and the
place where I believe
it will do the most
good,” Davis says.
“Young men and women, educated right here
in Western New York, will use their practical
knowledge to solve problems here and around
the world.”
The new engineering building will modernize
programs and facilities for the departments
of computer science and engineering,
and electrical engineering. Groundbreaking for
the building, designed by renowned architects
Perkins + Will, is slated for summer 2009.
Harvey G. Stenger Jr. (right), dean of
the School of Engineering and Applied
Sciences, thanks local businessman
John R. “Jack” Davis, BS ’55, for his
generous gift, which will fund a “clean
room” in the school’s new building.
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 7

shortform
Douglas Levere, BA ’89
Qian Wang (left) and Adel Sadek are newly arrived at UB.
Academic Insight
On the go
A new transportation research specialization at
the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
will provide New York State’s government agencies
and municipalities with access to innovative
technologies and systems that address critical
transportation issues facing the region and the
nation.
As a first step in the development of the
specialization, UB has appointed its first
transportation engineers, Professor Adel W.
Sadek and Assistant Professor Qian Wang
of the Department of Civil, Structural and
Environmental Engineering.
“The new transportation engineering emphasis
at UB fills a critical research need in the upstate
New York region, particularly in light of deteriorating
infrastructure, rising fuel costs, and the
need to serve a diverse and aging population
with ‘intelligent’ and environmentally sustainable
technologies,” says A. Scott Weber, chair
and professor of the UB Department of Civil,
Structural and Environmental Engineering, in
which the specialization is based.
“Many of our nation’s transportation systems
were built in the 1960s, and they are now at the
end of their life,” he says. “It’s a huge issue to figure
out which components to rebuild and how to
optimize appropriations, given budgetary limitations.
This need is even more critical given the
uncertain financial times we face in New York
State and the nation.”
UB People
Steps to
sustainability
With UB a signatory to
the American College and
University Presidents Climate
Commitment, more
than 200 faculty, staff and
students took part in the
UB Sustainability Forum,
“Planning for a Climate
Neutral Campus,” October
21, 2008, on the North
Campus.
The new engineering
building under construction
on the North Campus
is an example of UB’s
institutional commitment
to environmental stewardship,
says Robert G.
Shibley, chair of UB’s En-
University News
vironmental Stewardship
Committee
(ESC), professor of
architecture and planning
and point person
for UB’s comprehensive
physical plan. The project,
he notes, is being built
to higher environmental
standards than those
mandated by SUNY. Construction
related to UB’s
growing presence on the
Buffalo Niagara Medical
Campus and additional
student housing adjacent
to the Ellicott Complex
on the North Campus
also are expected to meet
these higher standards,
he adds.
“Annually, UB uses
enough electricity to
light a 100-watt bulb
for 243,788 years,” says
Michael Dupre, associate
vice president for university
facilities and chair of
the energy subcommittee.
“That same bulb has to be
lit for 24 years for every
student who graduates.
We leave a legacy of
energy use for everything
we do.”
Dupre says great cost
savings also can be
achieved by retrofitting
existing buildings to conserve
energy. A greater
percentage of UB’s
annual capital funding
budget goes toward infrastructure
replacement
than new construction, he
points out.
Assuring quality in HIV/AIDS clinical pharmacology
A $7.6 million, seven-year contract awarded to the School of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Sciences will provide the funds to train in-country laboratory
specialists where HIV/AIDS infection rates are highest globally, test their
proficiency and conduct quality control analysis of HIV/AIDS clinical trials.
Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the
award establishes a Clinical Pharmacology Quality Assurance (PQA)
program and laboratory in the UB Pharmacotherapy Research Center on the
North Campus, and at the Translational Pharmacology
Research Core in the New York State Center for
Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences in
downtown Buffalo.
The UB PQA program and laboratory—the only
one of its type in the world—will assure that AIDS
researchers in developing countries conduct the
highest quality clinical trials. The UB program and
lab will be integrated with global research networks
to target some of the regions where the infection
rate is highest.
Gene Morse
“We are excited about this opportunity to use
our expertise and facilities to help fight the global AIDS epidemic,” says
Gene D. Morse, professor and associate dean for clinical and translational
research, and principal investigator. “This award highlights our expertise in
this critical area.”
8 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

seenreadheard
books, music and films by UB alumni
Books
Voices in a Mask
By Geoffrey Green, PhD ’77
Turning on images
of disguise in
literature, theater
and opera, this
short-story collection
explores
themes of identity
and subterfuge while touching
on Don Giovanni, Tosca,
Rigoletto and more. Author
Geoffrey Green, professor of
English at San Francisco State
University, weaves librettos and
scores together with authentic
biographies of singers and
composers, contemporary settings,
and imaginative twists.
(Northwestern University Press,
2008)
Lauren Fix’s Guide to
Loving Your Car
By Lauren Fix, BS ’86
Lauren Fix,
cohost of Talk 2
DIY Automotive
on the DIY
Network, offers
straightforward
and fun advice
on caring for your car—so that
you can actually enjoy driving
and owning one. “Ladies and
gentlemen, start your engines,
this is definitely a must read,”
says David Pezzino, professional
coach and founder of Success
Within Reach Inc. (St. Martin’s
Griffin, 2008)
Go to
www.buffalo.edu/ubt
for more titles
and submission
guidlines.
Last Call: Alcoholism
and Recovery
By Jack H. Hedblom, PhD ’71
Through powerful
first-person
narratives,
psychotherapist
Jack H. Hedblom
provides compelling
insights
into the minds
and hearts of addicted drinkers,
and reveals the road to recovery
as a journey of self-discovery,
change and hope. (The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2007)
Clothing Optional: And
Other Ways to Read These
Stories
By Alan Zweibel, BA ’72
In Clothing
Optional, Alan
Zweibel—one of
the original writers
for Saturday
Night Live—offers
a collection of
laugh-out-loud personal narratives,
essays, short fiction,
dialogues and even a few whimsical
drawings. “This book made
me sick—that I didn’t write
it,” says comedy writer Larry
Gelbart. (Villard, 2008)
The Northwest Green
Home Primer
By Kathleen O’Brien, BA ’70,
and Kathleen Smith
Sustainable design and building
consultant Kathleen O’Brien
and her colleague Kathleen
Smith offer advice on making
green home decisions that are
both down-to-earth and cutting
edge. Though
written with
a regional
focus, The
Northwest
Green Home
Primer is a
timely and practical green home
manual for readers across the
country. (Timber Press, 2008)
Invisible Suburbs:
Recovering Protest Fiction
in the 1950s United States
Edited by Josh Lukin, PhD ’03
& MA ’00
Were the 1950s
an oppressive
or a liberating
time? Editor Josh
Lukin, lecturer in
English at Temple
University, has
assembled a collection of essays
that analyze the many ways
in which the decade’s culture
stigmatized women, minorities
and the poor, while offering new
perspectives on U.S. literature
of this period and its uneasy
relationship with the culture
at large. (University Press of
Mississippi, 2008)
Hurricane Katrina, Response
and Responsibilities
(Second Edition)
Edited by John Brown Childs,
PhD ’75
The voices in this
book represent
critical and personal
responses
to Hurricane
Katrina and
its aftermath.
According to editor John Brown
Childs, professor of sociology
at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, the new foreword
and afterword of this second
edition “make the connections
between the specifics of Katrina
and the overall social-economic
vulnerabilities facing millions
in the U.S. today.” (New Pacific
Press, 2008)
Rebel: The Life and Times
of John Singleton Mosby
By Kevin H. Siepel, MA ’73
Rebel is the first
complete biography
of John
Singleton Mosby
(1833–1916),
one of the
Confederate
army’s highestprofile
officers who was known
especially for his cavalry battalion’s
continued and effective
harassment of Union armies in
northern Virginia. The book also
covers Mosby’s long and turbulent
postwar life. “A splendid
portrait,” wrote the Richmond
Times-Dispatch. (University of
Nebraska Press, 2008)
Radical Vernacular: Lorine
Niedecker and the Poetics
of Place
Edited by Elizabeth Willis,
PhD ’93
Elizabeth Willis,
who teaches
poetry and poetics
at Wesleyan
University, collects
essays by
leading poets and
scholars that make a major contribution
to the study of Lorine
Niedecker (1903–1970), an
important but long overlooked
American poet. (University of
Iowa Press, 2008)
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 9

sportform
the latest athletic news from the bulls
plenty to cheer about. Especially memorable was
the October 18 overtime win over Army (27-24)
before a Homecoming crowd of 21,719. Then
came the 37-17 win over Miami (OH) on election
night, November 4, nationally telecast by ESPN2
and the first such broadcast in Bulls history. Ten
days later, the Bulls snatched a 43-40 victory over
Akron in four overtimes. When it seemed such moments
couldn’t be topped, the Bulls rallied from a
20-point deficit with 13 minutes left to beat Bowling
Green, 40-34, in double overtime on November
21. Finally, on December 5 in Detroit, the Bulls
beat undefeated Ball State, 42-24, to capture the
MAC Championship.
Quarterback Drew Willy, running back James
Starks and wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt played
starring roles all season. But the Bulls’ success was
a team effort highlighted by many moments of
individual achievement. For Coach Turner Gill, the
season proved a stunning validation of his coaching
philosophy that emphasized maximum effort
on each and every play.
paul Hokanson
The Bulls savor their MAC
Championship at Ford Field.
Football
A season to remember
Thrilling overtime victories, enthusiastic hometown
crowds and a series of remarkable plays dotted
the 2008 Bulls football season that culminated
with the MAC Championship and an invitation to
the International Bowl in Toronto. At UB Today
press time, the Bulls were set to play against Connecticut
in their first bowl appearance ever.
From the opening 42-17 win over Texas-El
Paso on August 28, the Bulls gave their fans
‘The Catch’ comes calling
Like most great plays, the ball seemed to hang
in the air for hours after it left the quarterback’s
hand, as if there were a pause button at UB Stadium
designed for maximum drama.
The date was September 13 and the UB football
team trailed Temple, 28-24, with five seconds
remaining. The Bulls had one last shot at victory
from 35 yards away. Wide receiver Naaman
Roosevelt corralled Drew Willy’s Hail Mary pass in
the end zone to win the game. Replays of the catch
No Bull: volleyball jargon
You’re probably not the only one to think the volleyball
match you’re viewing is being broadcast in
a foreign language. Indeed, the fast-paced
sport offers a laundry list of terms unique
to its game. Here’s a glossary of the
game’s tougher terms:
Back Set: Simple enough—it’s a set of
the ball from behind the setter’s back.
Campfire: A ball that hits the floor between
several members of the defense. (Visualize the
players gathered around the spot as if warming
their hands.) Dig: Saving a spiked or well-hit
ball from the court by passing it to a teammate while very close
to the floor. Double Quick: When two prospective strikers
move toward the setter for an inside hit. Floater: Similar to a
knuckle ball in baseball—a serve that moves unpredictably because
of its lack of spin. Kill: An attack that results in a point.
Roof: A block struck above the net that falls directly below. Rotation:
After a sideout, the players will move clockwise around
the court. Six Pack: A spiked ball that hits the defensive
player in the head or face. Wipe: When a hitter wins a point by
playing a ball directly off a block.
That should be enough to hold a conversation with any volleyball
fan.

From left: Larry Gergley (EdB ’64), Bill Bilowus
(EdM ’69 & EdB ’65), Paula Listrani Starwald
(EdM ’03, BA ’01 & BA ’01), Ron Brandt (EdB
’72 & BS ’72), Mike Rielly, Ronald Balter (BA
’80), Mike Groh (BS ’78) and Gayle Terwilliger
Michalak (EdB ’62).
True Blue
setting for
Hall of Famers
Three former student athletes
and a longtime athletic
trainer were inducted
into the Dr. and Mrs.
Edmond J. Gicewicz
Family UB Athletics Hall of
Fame October 17 as part of
True Blue Weekend.
In his first varsity season
as a UB wrestler, Ron
Brandt, EdB ’72 & BS
’72, of Grayson, GA,
compiled an overall record
of 34-1-1 and was 20-0-1
in dual matches. A year
later, he posted a 20-2
mark overall, was 17-1 in
dual matches and finished
third in the NCAA Eastern
Regional Championships,
which earned him a berth
in the NCAA championships.
Baseball player Mike
Groh, BS ’78, of Buffalo,
primarily played second
base and batted .464
his senior year, finishing
among the top 10 in
batting average in NCAA
Division I play. Upon
graduation, he held nine
UB records: five career
marks and four singleseason
records. Groh was
inducted into the Western
New York Baseball Hall of
Fame in 2001.
Paula Listrani Starwald,
EdM ’03, BA ’01 &
BA ’01, of Hilton, NY, was
a three-time, first-team
all-MAC soccer player at
forward; in midfield she
was selected first-team
all–Northeast Region in
1999; and a second- and
third-teamer in other
years. She was team captain
in 1999 and 2000, and
first team all-MAC Academic
in 1998. Starwald is
the career leader in goals,
assists and points.
Mike Rielly of North
Tonawanda, NY, served as
UB’s head athletic trainer
for nearly 26 years. Rielly
served with distinction,
while putting his athletes’
health and welfare at the
forefront.
Also recognized were
Gayle Terwilliger
Michalak, EdB ’62, of
Gainesville, FL, who received
the Pioneer Award;
and Bill Bilowus, EdM
’69 & EdB ’65, of East
Aurora, NY, and Larry
Gergley, EdB ’64, of
Orlando, FL, who received
distinguished alumni
awards. The Russell J.
Gugino Award went to
Ronald Balter, BA ’80,
of Brooklyn, NY.
City Mattress was lead
sponsor of this event.
aired on seemingly every sports highlight show.
By earning 40 percent of a nationwide vote as
“play of the week,” Roosevelt’s grab earned UB
$5,000 for its general scholarship fund as the
Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Week.
As a result, the play will be among the 13 weekly
winners for the $100,000 award at season’s end.
men’s soccer
Zeroes make heroes
“Desperately seeking scoring” might have been
the tagline for a frustrated opposition during a
remarkable run by the men’s soccer team this fall.
For more than two weeks, junior goalkeeper
Bobby Shuttleworth and the UB Bulls men’s soccer
team shut out the opposition, beginning in the
84th minute of a 2-1 loss at Michigan on September
14. They rolled through six wins and a tie
until Niagara broke through in the first half of an
October 5 draw.
The defense was equally outstanding in the
streak. Senior defender Dan Gwyther’s superlative
play on the backline, for instance, proved a boon
for head coach John Astudillo and the entire team.
Capping a successful 12-4-4 season, six soccer
Bulls have been named to the All–Mid American
Conference (MAC) teams. Gwyther was named to
the MAC first team along with junior midfielder
Alex Marrello. Shuttleworth was named to the
All-MAC second team, as were senior midfielder
Dominic Oppong, junior forward Dan Bulley and
junior defender Steffen Thoresen.
t r a c k & f i e l d /
women’s basketball
Athletes under a (cold) spell
Long Beach, CA, is a place so balmy that waterskiing
and sailing are year-round options.
So when junior Jessica Cooper—a long- and
triple-jumper on the UB track and field squad—
first arrived in Buffalo from her Long Beach home,
she discovered a climate strikingly different from
her own, one that calls for new training methods.
Cooper says her training at UB usually takes
place indoors when the cold weather arrives,
“versus back home maybe two weeks out of our
training season we would go inside.”
Jessica Fortman of the women’s basketball
team also was accustomed to warmer weather. The
sophomore forward from Ashland, KY, says the
snow—more so than temperature—changed her
training methods. “When you’re coming inside,
trying to get warmed up [for practice] takes a lot
longer,” she says.
Compiled by Nick Mendola, BA ’05
Go to
www.buffalobulls.com
for updates
on all team
schedules and
news, and for
information
on purchasing
tickets.
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 11

12 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu

when
UB researchers probe
the complex causes
of childhood obesity,
developing treatments
that are pioneering
and family focused
isn’t
necessarily
better
That childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions
in America is a troubling, yet not particularly new,
fact. What’s far more complex and worrisome, however,
is the question: what can be done
about it? “The problem is real,”
says Suzanne Laychock, professor and senior associate
dean for research and biomedical education in the UB
School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Obesity
has become one of the most major health problems in
the world.” The numbers are startling. The Journal of
the American Medical Association reports that 16.3
percent of American children ages 2 to 19 are obese; an
additional 15.6 percent are considered overweight. If
that’s not sufficiently disturbing,
Illustration by Glynis Sweeny
a 2005 study found that today’s
children in the United States could be the first generation
in modern times to have shorter lives than their
parents because of obesity-related health issues.
Story by Susan M. LoTempio
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 13

James N. Roemmich (left) and Leonard
H. Epstein are part of a UB team examining
ties between high park access
and children’s physical activity.
should be eaten rarely, yellow denotes
moderate-calorie foods that can be eaten
occasionally and green is for low-calorie
foods that can be consumed freely.
It’s that practical approach that is
central to the work being done by UB
researchers as they dig deeply into the
habits of young people with weight issues.
Role of the family
A recent UB study showed that by using
a device that restricts video viewing time
on TVs and computers, parents could cut
the time spent on video games an average
of 17.5 hours a week. Also, the children’s
body mass index (BMI) was significantly
lower by the end of the two-year study.
(BMI is a calculation of one’s weight to
height.)
“Results show that watching television
and playing computer games can lead to
obesity by reducing the time that children
are physically active, or by increasing the
amount of food they consume as they
engaged in these sedentary behaviors,”
Epstein reports.
“Our treatments take a family
approach, and show strong relationships
between child and parent behavior and
weight change. When we compare child
and parent weight change, our data suggest
that it is easier for children to lose
[weight] and maintain weight loss than
their parents, as they have not had the
unhealthy behaviors as long as their parents,”
Epstein explains.
“Parents are extremely powerful role
models for the eating and exercise habits
of their children—not only ‘what’ and ‘how
much’ they eat, but also their relationship
to physical appearance, food, physical
activity and overall health,” says Salvy.
“Parents can set the occasions for physically
active activities with peers/friends
and family members.”
Still, there are roadblocks when trying
to motivate youth with weight issues to be
more physically active.
“The increase in obesity is likely due, in
part, to changes to our home and neighborhood
environments that have influenced
access to and choices to be active
or sedentary,” says James N. Roemmich,
associate professor of pediatrics and
exercise and nutrition sciences. “I have
become especially interested in how the
environment—such as the physical layout
of neighborhoods—affects children’s
weight-control choices.”
Eric frick
In general terms, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, “overweight” and “obesity”
“are both labels for ranges of weight that
are greater than what is generally considered
healthy for a given height. The terms
also identify ranges of weight that have
been shown to increase the likelihood of
certain diseases and other health problems.”
According to Laychock, “no one really
understands what’s driving obesity [in
both children and adults]—it is a multifactorial
problem.” Are the causes overeating,
genetics, learned behavior, the endocrine
system, too much stress or a combination
of some or all of these factors? UB
researchers are working to unravel this
complicated question.
And with a body of work that spans 20
years and a team that includes both medical
doctors and scientists with PhDs, “UB
researchers have had an impact on the
issue,” Laychock says.
Sarah-Jeanne Salvy, assistant professor
of pediatrics, Division of Behavioral
Medicine, agrees. “It will take a while
to tackle all the factors involved in this
epidemic—there is some work to do at
the level of the individual and their close
system [family, peers, friends], and also in
terms of public health policies. However, I
have no doubt that some of these solutions
will originate from the research of my colleagues,”
Salvy says.
“Our work continues to develop on
multiple levels,” explains Leonard H.
Epstein, chief, Division of Behavioral
Medicine, Department of Pediatrics in the
UB School of Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences.
“We are very interested in genetics of
food reinforcement and obesity; the role
of different behavioral, dietary and activity
approaches to treatment; and how habits
develop. Our work attempts to translate
the newest basic science into effective
clinical interventions,” adds Epstein, who
has been involved in childhood obesity
research for 30 years, 15 years at UB.
In the 1970s, Epstein developed the
Traffic Light Diet, which is used in his
current research and also by health-care
professionals around the country. The diet
links food to the three colors of a traffic
light: red indicates high-calorie foods that
14 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu

As principal investigator in a number
of studies (and collaborating with Epstein,
along with Samina Raja and Li Yin of the
School of Architecture and Planning faculty),
Roemmich found that “children and
adolescents who lived in neighborhoods
that provided greater access to parks were
more physically active.”
However, “that research didn’t answer
whether children were actually using the
parks to be physically active,” Roemmich
points out.
Further research showed that “adolescents
most frequently used their home lot,
their friend’s lots, parks and vacant lots
to get their physical activity.” Roemmich
and his team also are studying how park
design—such as the choice of play equipment
within parks—motivates children to
be physically active.
Adds Roemmich: “We are now studying
whether reducing access to television and
computer time by 50 percent within the
home encourages overweight adolescents
to go outside and be physically active, and
whether those who have access to neighborhood
parks find it easier to increase
their physical activity.”
At UB’s Childhood Weight Control
Program, which Epstein heads, one
research study combines healthier eating
behavior, innovative ways to increase
activity and behavior modification to help
overweight children between the ages of
8 and 12, and who have at least one overweight
parent, to lose weight and then
maintain a normal weight.
Breaking the cycle
In an especially innovative study, Teresa
Quattrin, UB professor of pediatrics and a
specialist in childhood endocrinology and
diabetes, is testing the effectiveness of a
treatment to be carried out at the pediatrician’s
office in collaboration with the
family and the child’s doctor. The aim is to
break the cycle of obesity in families.
Since children of overweight parents
are at risk to become overweight early in
life, and overweight children are at risk
of becoming obese adults, Quattrin has
shifted her focus to younger children. In
Western New York, she says, three out of
10 young children are close to being overweight
or are already overweight.
“In the summer of 2002, realizing that
the number of overweight children without
additional hormonal disorders was
increasing alarmingly, I decided to analyze
the data pertinent to the children referred
by Western New York pediatricians [to
the endocrinology clinic at the Women
and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo] over
the previous 10 years,” says Quattrin,
chief of service for pediatrics for Kaleida
Health. Serving also as interim chair of the
Department of Pediatrics, she points out
that the current project “would not be possible
without the critical mass of scientists
from the Department of Pediatrics, who
are invaluable collaborators.
“These data, among several things,
illustrated that there was a delay between
the time the child was becoming overweight
and the referral [by the pediatrician],”
Quattrin continues. “Growth data
provided by the pediatrician in about 251
children showed that more than 80 percent
of children who had been referred
to our endocrinology clinic had in fact
become overweight before school age.
“This was the point in my career when
I decided that our focus had to shift from
adolescence to early childhood. Also, it
became clear that we needed to involve the
family, and this was an ideal situation in a
young child who is still totally dependent
on his/her parents.”
Working with practices in the Buffalo
area that are affiliated with Women
and Children’s Hospital—Amherst
Pediatrics, Suburban Pediatrics and Hodge
Pediatrics—the researchers are investigating
whether the program can promote
weight maintenance or modest weight loss
in children ages 2 to 5 while the children
grow in height, and whether the child will
see a decreased percentage BMI over time.
Baby fat not ‘cute’
Changing eating and activity patterns also
are a part of the study. The preschool-age
children will be taught good eating habits
before they have to “unlearn” bad ones.
Parents will learn that a young child who
is rapidly gaining weight is at risk for
obesity, and that the problem needs to be
addressed—and not ignored or dismissed
because of cultural perceptions that “baby
fat is cute.”
“In this pioneer translational project,
pediatricians are playing a key role on the
team,” Quattrin explains. “They identify
young children when they are at risk for
[becoming] overweight, or are overweight,
and counsel the family that this is the
time they can benefit from the program.
“In cases when the child is at risk for
[becoming] overweight, maintaining the
weight will gradually make the child wellproportioned.
[But] if the child is already
overweight, weight loss is necessary while
the child grows in height.”
Another approach to the childhood
obesity problem explored at UB is how the
environment can influence food selection,
food intake and activity choices (physical
or sedentary) in both children and adolescents.
“More specifically, I am interested
in the effects of social influence on eating
and activities in overweight and non-overweight
youth,” Salvy explains.
“We’ve been conducting several studies
assessing how peer relationships, or
the lack thereof, impact youth’s eating and
physical activity. These studies indicate
that overweight youth (but not lean youth)
eat more when alone than when in the
presence of peers, and are also less physically
active when alone than when in company
of other youth,” Salvy says.
“In fact, we showed that the presence
of peer and friends can increase the value
of physical activity in overweight youth. In
other words, overweight youth are more
likely to engage in physically active leisure
activities when they have the opportunity
Global airing
for UB obesity
research
News outlets
from all over
the world
reported on
the study
conducted at UB by Leonard H. Epstein,
chief, Division of Behavioral Medicine,
Department of Pediatrics in the UB School
of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. It
revealed that watching TV and playing computer
games can lead to obesity in children
by reducing the amount of time they are
physically active.
The results of the study appeared in
the March 2008 issue of the Archives of
Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, and were
picked up by U.S. news outlets, including
USA Today, the New York Times, New
York Daily News, Fox News, Denver Post,
National Public Radio, Bloomberg News,
Reuters, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, U.S. News &
World Report, Seattle Post Intelligencer and
United Press International.
The research also gained international
attention through media reports in India,
Canada, England, Australia, Scotland, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, New Zealand, Malaysia
and Estonia.
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 15

to do the activities with peers and friends.”
According to Salvy, UB researchers
want to better understand “how social
isolation resulting from teasing and weight
criticism may decrease the motivation
to be physically active and involved with
peers, and increase the time spent eating
and doing sedentary activities.”
She adds: “We are now starting a new
series of studies on the effect of peer rejection
versus peer acceptance on eating in
overweight and non-overweight youth.
We are also interested in examining overweight
youth’s emotional responses to
social conflicts.”
Although it’s impossible to mention
every UB research study on childhood
obesity conducted over 20 years, there
is one other current study that deserves
particular note. This is Roemmich’s work
on “how psychological stress influences
weight status.”
“We have shown that children who
have greater increases in heart rate and
blood pressure when giving a speech about
themselves, increases their eating of comfort
food and reduces their willingness to
be physically active,” Roemmich explains.
“They would rather watch television when
stressed. From these results you would
expect that children who are the most
stress-reactive are more overweight, and
we have shown this association.”
The child obesity research at UB is
funded by the National Institutes of
Health, a grant from the Foundation for
Healthy Living (Blue Cross/Blue Shield)
and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
grant, among other funding sources.
Looking back on his years of research,
Epstein says that he and his treatment
team often hear what happened to some
children once a treatment study is over.
“We get feedback from parents about
children becoming more social and having
more friends; becoming active and joining
and starring on athletic teams,” Epstein
states.
“I am most pleased with the fact that
we had an impact on the quality of life of
these children and their families.”
Susan M. LoTempio has been an editor at
the Buffalo News for 22 years.
16 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu

opinion
inmy
Alumni share their thoughts
What new technologies do you use
to communicate—and why?*
John MacDonald, BA ’77
Poulsbo, WA
I’m a technology nut, though I’m not interested in blogging.
This is because I’ve never been good at keeping a
journal. I use the Internet for news and entertainment, but
what most impresses me is Web-based communication. I
stay in touch with friends more often than I ever did before
e-mail, and I’m amazed at the amount and variety of information
on the Web, both professionally and personally.
All my profession’s journals are accessible online, as well
as audio and PowerPoint presentations from conferences.
It requires new skills not to drown in it all. I would be very
interested in UB podcasts.
Mary Schmid, EdM ’07 & BA ’06
Buffalo, NY
I definitely use Facebook every day. However, in my position
as a UB graduate student and as a future instructor
for UB 101 [a one-credit seminar course that helps
first-year students transition to campus life], I am always
vigilant about what gets posted on my profile, especially
pictures. It can be tricky to find a balance between sharing
To learn more about opportunities
for UB alumni social networking,
go to www.alumni.buffalo.edu/
socialnetworks. Meanwhile, more
and more campus units are producing
podcasts, including WBFO, the School
of Social Work and the Division of
Athletics.
fun stories about yourself
and maintaining some level
of professionalism. It does
allow me to connect with
other students quickly and
easily, so I doubt that I will
stop using Facebook any
time soon.
Joseph Lombardo, BA’73 & BA’73
Reston, VA
I use technology extensively for work and professional purposes.
While I subscribe to a couple of the social network
groups (Facebook and LinkedIn, for example), I rarely
have time to check them or to keep them up to date, nor
do I intend to join additional social networking groups. I
do belong to Development Executive Group, and would
consider joining a UB or professional site. However, I
don’t find blogs in general—and especially those open to
the general public—all that useful or interesting. I don’t
particularly like podcasts, as they often have very superficial
information. What I do use quite a bit is SKYPE for
staying in touch with family, friends and colleagues when I
am traveling.
John Barnes, MA ’72
Harrisburg, PA
I use the Internet in many ways. I
have a Web site that I mainly use
to post photographs to share with
friends and relatives, though anyone
else is welcome to look at it. But I am
not interested in online communities
such as MySpace, though I can’t give
a good reason why this is so. Maybe
I could be convinced otherwise if I
found the right community. Podcasts, on the other hand,
are terrific. I subscribe to several, mostly professionally
produced programs related to science and technology, and
appreciate the ability to listen to them when it suits my
schedule. If UB produced podcasts, I would be interested
in seeing what was offered, but I would subscribe only if
the content interested me.
Carol Goodson, MLS ’72 & BA ’70
Carrollton, GA
I am an academic librarian and as part of my university
service, I chair a campus committee whose task is to investigate
ways to increase student retention. I’ve been using
Facebook to make contact with the transfer students at our
school; the goal is to find out what kinds of problems they
have making the transition to our campus and to find ways
to fix those problems. I also like Facebook and MySpace
because they give me some insight into how the younger
generation thinks (I’m 60). This helps me be a better librarian.
I love technology, and definitely would join UB’s
MySpace site!
Tamar Jacobson, PhD ’97,
EdM ’92 & BA ’89
Philadelphia, PA
I blog, Facebook, Twitter—love it all!
*Question posed in “In
My Opinion,” a feature
of the monthly electronic
newsletter @UB,
a portion of which also
appears regularly in
UB Today. To subscribe,
go to the UB Link
menu at www.alumni.
buffalo.edu.
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 17

a
Voice of
By Nicole Peradotto
Nancy Nielsen, MD ’76, steps in as president of the AMA
There are people for whom certain expressions seem tailor-made. In
Nancy Nielsen’s case, the fitting phrase would be “coming full circle.”
Some three decades after being admitted to the UB School
of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, she’s back at her alma mater,
serving as senior associate dean for medical education.
When she’s not working with third-year students, Nielsen is
often traveling the country to address the plight of the uninsured, in
whose ranks she once counted herself.
And in June 2008, the woman who once considered herself
too “counterculture” to join the American Medical Association
(AMA), became its president—only the second woman in the organization’s
history to be elected to its highest office.
18 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu
“It’s certainly a long, long way from Elkins, West
Virginia,” Nielsen says of her life’s journey. “It’s
amazing. But a lot of it is accident—of being in the
right place at the right time. I’m very fortunate.”
And yet, Nielsen is quick to point out that hers
is no Pollyanna story. En route to the present chapter,
she struggled to make ends meet, encountered
prejudice and endured numerous other hardships.
As she puts it: “There were bad moments—really
difficult times. But it all turned out well.”
Now or never
Nancy Nielsen was a “nontraditional student” years
before the phrase came into vogue. Indeed, her
circumstances were so anomalous that when she
started medical school in 1973, she made newspaper
headlines.
But, then again, a
29-year-old medical
student with five children
under the age of
seven would turn heads
even today. Asked how
she balanced the rigors
of medical school with
the demands of parenting,
Nielsen shrugs. “It
wasn’t so bad. I lived on
Winspear Avenue and
walked to school. I had a
full-time babysitter come
to the house. And I studied
after the kids went
to bed.”
Nielsen’s determination
to become a doctor
dates back to her own
childhood, as early as age eight. Curiously, though,
there was no defining incident that sparked her
interest in medicine at that impressionable age—no
charismatic doctor she longed to emulate as she was
growing up in the heart of West Virginia’s Mountain
Highlands and no major injury or illness that exposed
her to a hospital’s inner workings.
“I can’t point to a pivotal person or thing,” she
says. “And no one in my family had ever gone to
college, so it wasn’t role modeling. It was just that I
wanted to help; I was drawn to alleviating pain and
suffering.”
Graduating from West Virginia University, Nielsen
was accepted to medical school at the University
of Pittsburgh. Unable to afford the tuition, she
planned to work for a year and save her money. But
her plans changed. In that year, she worked at the
Douglas Levere, BA ’89

National Institutes of Health, married and
soon began graduate school at Catholic
University in Washington, DC. She earned
a doctorate in clinical microbiology and
when the family moved to Buffalo, she was
hired to chair D’Youville College’s biology
department.
Within a year, UB administrators were
courting Nielsen to begin a graduate program
in clinical microbiology. She agreed
on the condition that they would allow
her to complete a postdoctoral fellowship
in clinical microbiology at Erie County
Medical Center, one of only five such programs
in the country at that time.
“As I spent more time in the hospital, I
just knew what I really needed to be,” she
says. “I needed to be a physician.”
At the same time, a friend advised
Nielsen that if she deferred her dream any
longer she’d be forced to abandon it. “He
said, ‘If you don’t apply to medical school
now, the admissions committee will think
you’re too old.’ And he was right, because
the year I was accepted they accepted three
people who were 29—and I was 29.
“We’ve had older students since,” she
adds, “but there were a number of other
“There were a lot of prejudices, but I
was also helped because it was a time of
affirmative action. So there was a concern
about diversifying the class both racially
and gender-wise, and I profited from that.”
Still, she asserts, “If it were not for Dr.
Hare, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Fast track
In a class of 135 medical students, Nielsen
was one of 30 women. She was also one
of six members of her class on an accelerated
track, a pilot program that allowed
select students to graduate in three
years instead of four by attending school
during the summer. “That was wonderful,”
Nielsen says. “It saved me a year of
babysitting fees.”
It was nonetheless a lean period for the
family. “I remember how poor we were,”
says Nielsen, who is no longer married.
“We ate a lot of spaghetti and a lot of peanut
butter.”
There were times when she didn’t know
if she could stretch her dollars any further.
Once, when Nielsen’s dentist informed her
that her children needed extensive dental
work, she asked him if a payment system
“Nancy has a direct, no-nonsense style that cuts through the clutter, but a style that is
tempered by grace, good humor and truly caring for others.”
Cecil Wilson, past chair of the Board of Trustees of the AMA
things that were working against me. One
was that I already had a career, which was
not looked upon favorably. Two, I was a
woman. And three, I had a lot of kids.”
When she went for her admissions
interview, she recalls, one of the two interviewers
made it clear that he didn’t believe
a mother belonged in medical school.
“He said, ‘How can you possibly do
this? That’s not fair to the children.’”
(Years later, Nielsen says, the faculty
member acknowledged that he was wrong
to doubt her.)
Fortunately, her other interviewer,
the late Daphne Hare, was not put off by
Nielsen’s circumstances. On the contrary,
she championed the prospective student’s
cause in front of the admissions committee,
reminding her colleagues that it was
not their job to determine how Nielsen
would juggle her studies and parenthood,
but whether she was capable of succeeding
in medical school.
20 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu
could be arranged. He refused and recommended
that she take them to a clinic
instead.
“I was so upset,” she recalls. “I thought,
‘What am I going to do?’ So I talked to [the
late] Dr. [Harold] Brody, and he connected
me with faculty members at the dental
school clinic, and that made it affordable
for me. Everybody treated me very well in
medical school, but there were some people,
like Dr. Brody, who were particularly
good to me.”
It was through the accelerated program
that Nielsen first met John Wright, then
chair of the pathology department. “Nancy
was very bright and clearly had a worldview
of things even at that time,” recalls
Wright, who went on to hire Nielsen as
associate dean when he was the medical
school’s dean.
“She obviously had leadership skills.
She could be diplomatic and blunt, and
she did not suffer fools gladly.”
A case in point: During her third year
of medical school, while on an ob-gyn rotation
at Children’s Hospital, Nielsen discovered
that there was no changing room for
female physicians. She made up her mind
to do something about it.
“The male students changed in the ‘doctor’s
locker room’ and the females changed
in the ‘nurse’s locker room.’ So I decided I
would go in the doctor’s locker room with
the other medical students. The hospital
quickly worked out an accommodation.”
Nielsen never considered the sexism
that she encountered at the start of her
career an obstacle to her goals. Rather, she
looked at it as an opportunity to shatter
glass ceilings with a jab of humor.
“You can either get mad and outraged,
or you can
laugh and
call attention
to the
fact that
things are
changing—
that not all
doctors are
male anymore,”
she says. “It didn’t take a protest. It
didn’t take a fight. It just took me walking
into that locker room once.”
Advocating reform
Thirty years later, the causes have
changed, but Nielsen remains every bit
the activist. It’s just that her platform has
expanded well beyond the confines of a
hospital locker room.
As president of the AMA, she’s one
of three official spokespeople for the
organization’s “Voice for the Uninsured”
campaign. In that capacity she travels
the country, talking to everyone from
Rotarians to presidential candidates about
the need for health-care reform, particularly
for the 47 million uninsured Americans.
“Who could have predicted when I
started out in the AMA … that I would be
in this position? It’s amazing,” she says.
“But it’s a tremendous opportunity to
bring the voice of physicians to the table

and to try to craft a solution.”
Ironically, Nielsen wasn’t in the AMA
when she was a medical student or resident.
“That was the ’70s, and we weren’t
joiners,” she says. “I also had a concept of
the AMA as being concerned more about
pocketbook issues than a lot of the things I
was interested in—like public health, professionalism
and ethics. But, that was my
ignorance, I have to admit.”
Her first AMA meeting was an eyeopening
experience. “I was amazed by the
breadth of what they did,” she says. “It was
much bigger than the socioeconomic issues
that I associated with the AMA.”
That was during the mid-1980s, and
Nielsen was a board-certified internist
and president of the Erie County Medical
Society. From that point, she stepped
up her involvement with the state medical
society and with the country’s largest
doctors’ group, going on to serve four
consecutive terms as a speaker of the AMA
House of Delegates and two terms on the
AMA Council on Scientific Affairs, where
she helped formulate policy positions on
the diagnosis and treatment of depression,
alcoholism among women, Alzheimer’s
disease and other issues.
“The AMA House of Delegates has a
history of being led by strong, capable
speakers. Nancy’s years of service in the
House as vice speaker and then speaker
earned her a place in the top tier of AMA
Speakers,” observes Cecil Wilson, past
chair of the AMA Board of Trustees.
“Nancy has a direct, no-nonsense style
that cuts through the clutter, but a style
that is tempered by grace, good humor
and truly caring for others,” he adds. “She
is recognized by opinion leaders in health
care nationwide as a thoughtful, knowledgeable
spokesperson for America’s physicians
and the patients they serve.”
Michael E. Cain, dean of the School of
Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, says:
“The American Medical Association and
the constituents served by this key organization
are most fortunate to have someone
with Dr. Nielsen’s expertise in health policy,
passion for medical education, understanding
of the importance of biomedical
research and leadership qualities to drive
this organization’s efforts. The School of
Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is especially
proud of her accomplishments and
pleased she will also represent UB as president
of the AMA.”
Among the reasons Nielsen has
remained so involved with the AMA for
decades, she says, is that it allows her to
draw attention to issues that she cares
deeply about; namely, the quality of health
care and the need to improve it.
“I have been privileged to be part of the
National Quality Forum, the AQA (a quality
alliance) and the Physician Consortium
for Performance
Improvement,” she
says. “It has been
a privilege to work
with committed public
servants such as
[New York] Attorney
General Andrew
Cuomo in making
sure that patients
and physicians are
treated fairly.
“I’ve had many wonderful opportunities
to meet dedicated, ethical and hardworking
physicians around the country
and recently, around the world, as I’m now
part of the World Medical Association
delegation.”
In addition to Nielsen’s myriad achievements
with the AMA, she has been a
SUNY trustee and chief medical officer
for the New York State Department of
Health’s Western Region. She’s a member
of the board of directors of the New
York-based Medical Liability Mutual
Insurance Company, one of the country’s
largest medical liability carriers. For three
years she served as chief medical officer of
Independent Health, an HMO headquartered
in Buffalo.
It was only recently, and reluctantly,
that Nielsen closed her private practice.
She was a member of the Buffalo Medical
Group for 14 years, part of the time codirecting
the intensive care unit at Buffalo
General Hospital. She later formed a
small group with medical doctor Irwin
Friedman, in association with Buffalo
General, and then was in solo practice.
After falling and breaking a bone in her
right hand, she found it painfully difficult
to perform basic medical tasks, such as
drawing blood, taking blood pressure and
writing in patient charts.
“I enjoyed my patients so much. I still
miss them terribly,” she says. “I learned a
great deal about life from them, and I’m
much less judgmental than I used to be
because of them.”
Giving back
Nielsen’s lingering sadness about closing
her practice is tempered by her gratitude for
the doors that opened at UB. As senior associate
dean for medical education, one of her
duties is conducting monthly seminars for
third-year students that address topics not
covered in required courses, such as professionalism
and medical ethics.
“We’re all trained to deal with patients,
but there are so many other ways to make
an impact and change things as a doctor,”
she says. “I’m grateful that I’m able to do
that, and I’m very interested in educating
the students. It’s really exciting to raise
them up right. And I remember what it was
like, so I can identify readily with them.”
Nielsen’s appreciation for UB is also
evidenced by her generous support of her
alma mater. A firm believer in the philosophy
of giving back, she’s a member of the
University Founders, the recognition society
for donors who have made gifts of $50,000
or more. “I would be nowhere if it were not
for UB Medical School,” she stresses.
Irene Snow, MD ’80, who is medical
director of Buffalo Medical Group, has
known Nielsen since she was a fourth-year
medical student. She’s thrilled that the
physician who served as one of her chief
role models is inspiring the next generation
of doctors—including Snow’s daughter, a
third-year student.
“My daughter and I often talk about the
hardships of medicine. But when you think
about the things that Nancy endured in her
career, you realize you’re really whining,”
Snow says. “Those experiences certainly
shaped her to face the many challenges in
medicine today, but it also speaks to her
character as a strong, vibrant, professional
woman.
“You always know where you stand with
Nancy,” Snow adds, “and that’s a good
thing.”
A former reporter for the Buffalo News,
Nicole Peradotto is a Buffalo-based freelance
writer/editor.
This article was originally published in the
summer 2008 issue of Buffalo Physician.
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 21

a
c
c s
e“These are bright kids
who need the kind of
environment that says,
‘Hey, you can do it,
and we are here
to help.”
H. William Coles, PhD ’84, MA ’79 &
BA ’69, EOP associate director
22 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu

“The EOP played an important role in shaping who I am today.
My counselor kept me informed of scholarship opportunities and
programs that would help me pursue my passion for social justice.
Today, I am that lawyer and remain committed to the EOP.”
Lourdes Ventura, JD ’98, MSW ’98 & BA ’94, counsel to the
New York State Senate Minority Leader
of
avenues access
yStory By Jim Bisco
Helping students in need reach higher
photos by douglas levere, ba ’89
ou hear it in the voices of successful lawyers, doctors and other
professionals, grateful for the opportunities afforded them in their pursuit of a
college education. And you hear it in the voices of today’s students trying to carve
their own niche of the dream, despite backgrounds of limited financial resources
and poor academic preparation. >> Having established access to a college education
for those in need in its decades as a private institution, UB opened its doors
even wider after joining the SUNY system in the 1960s. In doing so, it made public
higher education possible for students with the potential and drive to succeed
despite financial and academic obstacles. A broad range of programs and services
has since paved the way to a UB education for thousands of those economically
disadvantaged and historically underrepresented.
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 23

From his inauguration as president in
2004 to his current advocacy of funding
reform, John B. Simpson has championed
further avenues of access, enrichment and
support.
The three main access programs are the
Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity
Program (EOP), the Academic Challenge
and Enrichment (ACE) individualized
admissions program and Student Support
Services (SSS), a federally funded TRIO
program that assists low-income, firstgeneration
students and students with
disabilities. They are part of the Center for
Academic Development Services (CADS),
a unique support network of ten programs
at UB that helps talented students from
disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds
and involves them in all aspects of
university life.
The EOP is the oldest access program
at UB, established in 1968, and the largest
EOP program in New York State. It
provides a vehicle for admission for state
residents and a range of academic and
advising support services.
“We think of ourselves as a family. We
provide extensive academic, personal,
social and financial assistance,” says EOP
associate director H. William Coles, PhD
’84, MA ’79 & BA ’69. “These are bright
kids who need the kind of environment
that says, ‘Hey, you can do it, and we are
here to help.’”
ACE is among the newest access programs,
initiated six years ago for first-time
freshmen who do not meet the regular
admissions requirement, but who do show
great potential for academic success. The
program enhances diversity at UB by welcoming
a broader range of academically
talented students.
Programs like the EOP have stringent
financial qualifications for those who are
accepted. “Financially, they have to be
very, very poor, [with] family incomes no
more than 150 percent of [the] poverty
[level],” says Henry Durand, senior associate
vice provost of undergraduate education
and executive director of CADS.
Program access extends to those high
school students who are evaluated as
being both educationally and financially
disadvantaged, but who demonstrate the
talent and ability to succeed in a college
curriculum.
Other CADS programs are in the
areas of academic enrichment and support,
including the Collegiate Science and
Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) that
provides minority and/or economically
disadvantaged students with the opportunity
to explore scientific, technical and
health-related professions; and the Public
Internship Program that gives students the
opportunity to gain direct exposure to and
practical experience from a diverse range
of public, private, government or community
service agencies and businesses.
To illustrate the significance of the
university’s access enrollment, the total
number of students in all of the CADS programs
is nearly 20 percent of UB’s undergraduate
population. CADS students are
members of deans’ lists and also honor
societies, and are recognized nationally
and statewide.
UB also provides windows of opportunity
to everyone from adult learners
through the preparatory programs for twoand
four-year collegiate experiences in the
Educational Opportunity Center (EOC), to
middle and high school students in area
school districts through various programs
of college-level study.
The recent pre-K–16 partnership with
the Buffalo Public Schools has broadened
this community effort by coordinating
diverse resources at UB to
increase the number of students interested
in and ready for college through
UB’s newly established Center for
Educational Collaboration to accelerate,
engage and prepare students for
success in college and beyond.
The university’s many avenues that
access higher education continue to flourish
in the experiences of a cross-section
of current UB students whose voices of
achievement follow.
“I think we’re seeing more alumni who live outside
Western New York sending their kids back to UB because
of their own positive experiences.”
Letitia Thomas, PhD ’06, MA ’00 & EdM ’93, assistant vice provost, director of the
Cora P. Maloney College and director of the UB Bridge to the Doctorate program
Jackee Montano
Psychology
Daniel Acker Scholars
Program
I’m from the Greater Los Angeles area, from a
Mexican-American family, the only one to go
to college. It was going to be a struggle for my
family to pay for college.
A mentorship in high school encouraged
me to seek a college anywhere because my
grades and test scores were good enough. I
typed in “most diverse schools in America” as
a search and UB came up as one of the top
schools. UB said we want you, we want this
diversity in our school. It felt more welcome.
I like the atmosphere here; there’s no status
separation. It’s exciting to see everyone grow
in their own way.
I’ve been interested in psychology since
eighth grade. I was around a lot of different
people who did a lot of things considered out
of the norm or even deviant. I guess it was my
inclination to always want to figure somebody
out, to justify them.
>>
Jahmil Campbell
Electrical Engineering
Bridge to the Doctorate
All the support services that I’ve gotten were
invaluable to me in obtaining my undergraduate
degree. My plan is to get my master’s by
June and continue on to the PhD program
here. The end ideal is that we get PhDs and
become professors, hopefully
at this institution.
I’ve had a couple of teachers
that have made me
want to become a teacher.
If I could teach science
that way, then maybe
we’d have a lot more kids
coming out of inner-city
schools who want to be
engineers. I want to be able to give back to
the educational system that gave me what I
have today.
This program was a godsend. UB is good at
disseminating information on co-ops and
internships. They’re giving us all the support
that we need to continue our education on
our own merit.
24 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu

Frank Acheampong
Pharmaceutical Sciences/Biomedical Science
Collegiate Science and Technology Entry
Program (CSTEP), Student Support Services
(SSS), Daniel Acker Scholars Program
I am originally from Ghana. I had a sevenyear-old
sister who mistakenly drank rat
poison. She had a kidney transplant but she
died a week later due to an underdose of the
medications.
It has always been my passion to become a
pharmacist to help improve the efficacy of
drugs and alleviate drug toxicity, thus achieving
a better health-care system to save many
lives. My only sister could be living if simple
medication errors could
have been eliminated. I
believe the future of medicine
should be individualization
of medications.
Thus, the doctor would
give you the right medication
due to a test, not a
medication due to “trial
and error.”
UB has everything to help a student succeed
but you have to be willing to go get it. CSTEP,
SSS and [the] Acker Scholars [Program] have
been my backbone since I came to UB in
2005. Faculty welcomes students, and whatever
you ask, your questions are answered.
They always pave the way for you to become
successful.
Jered Greishaw
Civil Engineering
Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)
My father was in construction. I was always a
hands-on type of guy and an A student in high
school. As I was growing up, he pushed me to go
into engineering; he said that I could always go
into construction on my own time. So that’s what
started my whole engineering
career.
UB caught my eye because
it is one of the top schools
in civil engineering. Then I
had the opportunity to go
into the EOP. Not only would
the EOP help me pay for
college, but it also would
provide me with full access
to tutors, counselors and computers.
During my freshman year in high school, my
father went for a walk one evening and never
returned. To this day, his disappearance is a
mystery. My mom was having a great deal of
financial problems earlier this year, and we
were about to lose our house. Dr. [H. William]
Coles intervened with the bank and the Veterans
Administration to get the loan modified. He also
encouraged my mom to get another job. We can
now afford the house. You get very personal help
through the EOP.
“The support that ACE offers
is such a helping hand to
achieving your goals.”
Jane Bassatt-Winchell, MSW ’08 & BA ’06,
social worker for a Buffalo child and adolescent
services agency
>>
Anne-Marsha Joseph
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
SUNY Louis J. Stokes Alliance for Minority
Participation, Daniel Acker Scholars Program
My mother is Haitian. She had to stop working
when I was 12. She’s a single mother and
would have never been able to pay for college.
I did really well in high school so I was
going for a scholarship. UB gave me a full
Daniel Acker scholarship, which paid for my
tuition, with grants for room and board.
The Louis Stokes Alliance exposed me to the
benefits and different scholarships of graduate
school. I never knew what a PhD could do
for you until I got into that program.
I love UB. Teachers are always willing to
help. After getting my PhD, I would like to do
electric propulsion. Hopefully, I will be able to
work for NASA. My ultimate goal is to become
an astronaut, to explore the moon and different
planets.
Programs of
Support
UB’s collection of support
programs responds to a variety
of student needs, from
financial and academic, to
undergrad to doctoral. Here
is a sample list with Web
links for complete details.
Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)
http://wings.buffalo.edu/eop
Academic Challenge and Enrichment (ACE) Program
http://ace.buffalo.edu
Student Support Services (SSS)
http://wings.buffalo.edu/vpaa/sss
Educational Opportunity Center (EOC)
http://wings.buffalo.edu/misc/eoc
Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP)
http://cpmc.buffalo.edu/cstep.html
Daniel Acker Scholars Program
http://cpmc.buffalo.edu/acker.html
SUNY Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation
http://cpmc.buffalo.edu/stokes.html
Graduate Educational Opportunity Program (GEOP)
www.grad.buffalo.edu/costs/geop.php
Ronald McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program
http://honors.buffalo.edu/honorablemention/mcnairscholars-program
Cora P. Maloney College
http://cpmc.buffalo.edu
Public Internship Program
http://cpmc.buffalo.edu/psip.html
CADS Tutorial Lab
www.eop.buffalo.edu/cads-lab
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 25

Each year, the band chooses a theme for its
field show, including music and costumes.
This year’s theme is “City Rhythms: The
Music of New York City.”
Between practice, performance and travel, each member
dedicates about 200 hours to the band in the fall
semester alone. For those who also play in the spring
pep band that time commitment doubles.
Band members range in age from 17 to 25.
In 1969, the band marched in Richard Nixon’s
Presidential Inaugural Parade.
The band acquired its first nickname, “Pride of the East,” in 1961, under the
direction of Frank J. Cipolla, UB professor emeritus of music.
‘Thunder of the East,’ in its tenth year,
is a growing ensemble intent on
building campus pride
Strike up the
band
When the Thunder of the East performed at halftime throughout the Bulls’ magical 2008 football
season, including the MAC Championship game and International Bowl, the rolling, percussive burst
of sound plus the pageantry—produced by nearly 150 musicians, dancers, flag bearers and baton
twirlers—excited the fans and urged the players to victory.
“Power, precision and passion” are the band’s defining principles and also serve as its motto,
says James Mauck, marching band director. “It [expresses] who we are and how we approach our
performances and rehearsals. It is the band’s motto for uniform cohesiveness, ensemble performance,
and it reflects the individual contribution of each member.”
But beyond the music there’s more than meets the eye (and ear) with this marching band.
Story by Kevin Fryling, MA ’06, with photography by Douglas Levere, BA ’89
26 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu

Among the band’s most crowd-pleasing numbers is
“Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
In addition to seven regular season football performances, including one
road game, the UB Marching Band played at eight other events this past fall,
including several special UB events, exhibition shows at local high schools
and the Electric Light Parade in Niagara Falls.
In 1968, the band was the first UB group to move to the new North Campus,
occupying Bissell Hall, known then simply as the “Band Building.”
This year’s ensemble includes only three music majors.
UB alumni who have played in the marching band include Jay Beckenstein, BA ’73,
of the 1970s jazz fusion group, Spyro Gyra.
Popular majors among band members include engineering, physics,
pharmacy, environmental science and sociology.
About 90 percent of the UB Pep Band’s
members are also in the marching band.
“We’re all very different, doing very different things, and yet
we all join together to march and play as a group. I feel like
I have a second family in the band.”
Kasey Schultz, senior chemical engineering major and
baritone horn player and section leader
To hear Thunder of the East, go to
http://marchingband.buffalo.edu/listen.php
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 27

28 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

Joe Freedy
Former Bulls quarterback models life
of service as Catholic priest
alumniprofile
As the starting quarterback through the Bulls’ first four years
in Division 1A, Joe Freedy had it all: accolades from the press,
one of the most recognizable faces on campus, and the kind
of close friendships you build through working and playing
hard together—and, certainly, partying together.
But despite his popularity, Freedy felt a “wound” in his
heart.
“Nothing satisfied,” he says. “And then, through prayer,
I was able to hear God very slowly and gently inviting me to
follow Him in a particular way.”
By fall 2001, the start of his fifth and final year at UB,
Freedy had made a decision: He would pursue his vocation
to serve as a Roman Catholic priest.
In 2004, Freedy completed a master’s in philosophy
for theological studies at Duquesne University and St.
Paul Seminary in his hometown of Pittsburgh. From there,
Freedy’s bishop sent him to complete the next phase of his
priestly formation program—three years of theology—at
Pontifical North American College in the Vatican, the site
where many U.S. bishops have trained. On June 21, 2008,
Freedy’s studies culminated in his ordination at Pittsburgh’s
St. Paul Cathedral.
“It’s a gift that I’m very much unworthy of and so grateful
for,” says Freedy, who has returned to Rome for more studies,
then will join St. Bernadette’s parish near Pittsburgh.
However unlikely Freedy’s story might seem, his friends
say that, in hindsight, the
priesthood fits him perfectly.
They talk of his toughness
on the field, devotion
to his community, strength
under pressure and genuine
altruism. They recall a
born leader who never lost
his humility.
Bill Barba, PhD ’80,
a clinical professor and
chair of the Department of
Freedy close-up
UB degree BA ’02, communication;
Favorite sport basketball.
“I just was never any
good at it,” he says humbly,
“so I had to play football”;
His nieces’ nickname for him
Frunkle Joe
Educational Leadership and Policy in UB’s Graduate School
of Education, was one of more than 20 of Freedy’s friends
from UB who attended the ordination. “Joe’s conversion has
had a powerful impact on a lot of us,” Barba says.
Now, Freedy leads in much more powerful—and often
more subtle—ways than he did in his years as #15. A few
years ago, Barba visited Freedy in Rome, and several times,
they passed through an underground parking lot that’s
known as a safe haven for beggars.
“Joe knew them all by name,” Barba recalls. “It’s all in
quiet moments like that. It’s what you do when the spectators
and cameras aren’t there.”
Story by Elaine Vitone, with photo by Mark Bolster
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY UBTODAY Winter Fall 2009 2008 29

30 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

alumniprofile
Louis Slovinsky
Enthusiasm to try it all motivates former
executive turned sculptor/painter/writer
Louis J. Slovinsky has spent his entire life creating art. His grandfather taught him to carve toys from wood;
the nuns in grammar school asked him to draw intricate maps. “I was always drawing or copying something,”
he recalls. Yet it wasn’t until he retired that Slovinsky took an art lesson.
Now 71, he is an accomplished sculptor and painter, with regular shows throughout New York State.
Every bit of space in his Bauhaus-style home in Cross River, NY, is filled with art—by himself, his wife, Joan,
and other artists—spilling into the garden and garage. “I’m doing really old-fashioned three-dimensional
pieces,” he says of his work, “but I like it—I have the luxury of saying the hell with you if you don’t.”
Good-humored and frank, Slovinsky describes his life with an enthusiasm that makes you want to go out and do something. It
is no surprise that he built a successful career in the art of communication. Starting off in the NBC mailroom, he worked his way
up to become Time Inc.’s chief spokesman; he was senior vice president of corporate communications at HBO when he retired.
Slovinsky has been drawn to words since his childhood in Shenandoah, PA. A coal miner’s son, he used to visit the town dump
for reading material: “I picked up magazines like the Saturday Evening Post and Life, shook out the crap, and brought them
home. They introduced me to a broader world.”
UB opened up that world even further. Slovinsky enrolled in 1957, working nights at Buffalo General Hospital and summers at
Bethlehem Steel. One of his favorite professors was Oscar Silverman (1903–1977) of English and the Libraries, “a man of sharp
wit and great grace.”
After college, Slovinsky settled in New York City and eventually landed a job at Time Inc.—where he stayed for 30 years. “I
was surrounded by great magazine writers,” Slovinsky says. “It was like being in perpetual graduate school.” He jumped at the
chance to retire early, however—“I had so many other things I wanted to do.” He has taught writing, learned how to fly a plane
and published a book, Alan Siegel: On Branding and Clear Communications (Jorge Pinto Books, 2007).
“There’s nothing I’m not afraid to try,” says Slovinsky. “I just have to live a long time.”
Story by Clare O’Shea, MA ’87 & BA ’84, with photo by John Emerson
Slovinsky close-up
UB degree BA ’61; Favorite
sculptors David Boyajian,
David Smith; Current project
a book on sculptor/
painter Ted Egri To see his
work slovinskysculpture.
blogspot.com
www.alumni.buffalo.edu www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY UBTODAY Spring|Summer Winter 2009 2008 31

32 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

Lisa Albrecht was a senior in high school when she participated
in her first protest, a march against the Vietnam War.
But it was her experience at UB that really set her on the
path to becoming the “scholar activist” she is today as an
associate professor and Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association
Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the University of
Minnesota’s School of Social Work.
“I found my way intellectually and politically by bringing
together English education and women’s studies at UB,” she
explains. “I began to define myself and all my work. My writing,
teaching and service have been connected to social justice
ever since.”
It wasn’t just the courses that transformed Albrecht. It was
the way they were taught. “Women’s studies professor Liz
Kennedy used [Brazilian educator] Paulo Freire’s ideas about
teaching in the classroom, which created a transformative
learning environment,” Albrecht
says. “My classes had always
Albrecht close-up
been lectures, but we sat in a circle,
did critical analysis and gave
UB degrees PhD ’84, MA ’75 &
each other feedback on our work.
BA ’72; Personal heroes Audre
It really made sense to me.”
Lorde and Gloria Anzaldúa; Books
So much sense, that for more
she has coedited Sing, Whisper,
Shout, Pray!: Feminist Visions for
than two decades Albrecht, who
a Just World and Bridges of Power: is currently on leave to work on
Women’s Multicultural Alliances; a book, has been using Freirean
Hobbies swimming, gardening teaching philosophy in her own
and playing percussion in the
courses. “His work is about being
Klezmer band, the Tsatkelahs
an educator that creates spaces
for students to discover critical
consciousness,” she says. “I try to
set up contexts where students can discover themselves, learn
to situate themselves historically and learn to change the
world.”
Albrecht isn’t using a figure of speech. She means literally
changing the world. After teaching writing, as well as women’s
studies, in the University of Minnesota’s General College for 19
years, she was asked in 2004 to join the School of Social Work
to launch a social justice minor. In addition to learning social
movement theories, students become activists as they provide
a minimum of 30 hours each semester with social justice organizations.
For Albrecht, a lifelong activist who continues to work
for racial and economic justice while addressing sexism,
homophobia and anti-Semitism, it is an incredible opportunity.
“I think my worldview is very much about the
notion of critical consciousness,” she says. “I run
a program about the theories and practices of
social justice activism. I see students reading
about social justice and beginning
to question their lives and histories.
It’s very inspiring.”
Story by Meleah Maynard,
with photo by Dawn Villella
alumniprofile
Lisa Albrecht
Longtime ‘scholar activist’
engages students in social
justice issues
www.alumni.buffalo.edu www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY UBTODAY Spring|Summer Winter 2009 2008 33

34 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

alumniprofile
Community leader draws on her
immigrant story to strengthen
Western New York
Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker
The New York Times in 1999 called her “an immaculately turned-out woman.”
The striking beauty, polished wardrobe and inspiring accomplishments of Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker invite comparisons
to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—a woman so frequently noted for her taste and poise that it sometimes eclipsed her equally
impressive intellectual acumen.
Dedecker, a warm and seemingly tireless Cuban exile, has paved a career path that has included leading the 193,000-
member Association of Junior Leagues International, service on national boards and the President’s Council on Service and
Civic Participation, and shepherding the U.S. Committee for the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer celebration
in 2000.
Today, as president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo (CFGB), Dedecker devotes herself to making
Western New York a stronger, more inclusive place to live. She also has found time to serve on key community boards and collaborated
to launch the Family Justice Center of Erie County for
victims of domestic violence.
Dedecker close-up
Dedecker says she owes much of her drive and passion to
UB degree EdM ’01; Favorite quote from a restaurant wall “Success is her parents. “‘Grow where you are planted.’ My parents very
the point in the road where preparation meets opportunity”; Memory of much have lived that philosophy,” she says.
leaving Cuba at age 8 Just before boarding the plane, she slung a favorite
doll over one shoulder—a signal to those secretly watching from States, the Perez-Bode family was ordered to leave Cuba two
Three years after seeking permission to come to the United
afar that no one in the family was to be detained; National service Vice days after Christmas 1967. On December 29, they boarded a
president of the National Conference for Community and Justice, and plane, each of them allowed to carry only a meager bag of personal
items.
board member of the National Association of Commissions for Women
From almost that moment on, the University at Buffalo
became a recurring theme in Dedecker’s life: first helping her
father revalidate his dentistry degree, next as the setting in which Dedecker received her 2001 master’s degree in education
and today as a key partner assisting the foundation she now runs.
CFGB hired Dedecker in 2005 as vice president to increase the impact of its $185 million in assets and more than 800
endowed and non-endowed charitable funds. She wants to make concrete changes to help Buffalo thrive once again as it
did in its heyday a century ago.
In 2007, Dedecker announced a five-year strategy to address some of the most serious challenges facing Western New
York, while simultaneously building on the area’s strengths as a center for arts, history, architecture and natural resources.
One year later, Read to Succeed Buffalo—a school-readiness program designed to help reverse the dismal reality that 50
percent of Buffalo’s preschoolers are at risk for academic failure—is one early initiative already showing promising results.
Story by Irene Liguori, with photo by Douglas Levere, BA ’89
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 35

“I’m joining because I want to be part of
alumninews
UB’s rise to the top, like other big schools
around the country.”
from the UB Alumni Association
Kevin Horrigan, Director of Public Affairs for People Inc.
The Main Event
Friends welcome!
To learn more about
the benefits and how
to join, visit www.
alumni.buffalo.edu/
membership.
Since its earliest days, the
university has cultivated and
counted on a group of faithful
friends for support and guidance.
Often these friends weren’t UB
graduates, yet their devotion to
the institution made them de facto alumni. Their
numbers have now grown dramatically, especially
through Facebook, MySpace and other forms of
social networking. By making these connections,
UB friends enlarge the role of graduates who are
members of the UB Alumni Association.
To formalize this growth and to recognize nonalumni
who have shown their affinity for UB, the
alumni association has launched a new membership
level, “Friend.” Previously open to graduates
only, membership in the alumni association is
available to those who wish to show their support
for UB. Whether student, parent, spouse, community
member or Bulls fan—anyone in
Western New York or around the world—
who is intent on making a difference to the
university is welcome to officially join our
network. Membership is $50 a year and
supports programming and events for students,
while helping with student recruitment,
Homecoming, legislative advocacy
and recognition of academic excellence.
“It’s all about pride—pride in UB, pride
in being affiliated with the alumni association
and pride in supporting programs
that make a stronger university, particularly
at this critical juncture of UB 2020,”
says Marc A. Adler, MA ’83, MBA ’82 & BA ’79.
In exchange for their support, Friends will
receive a number of valuable benefits, including
discounts for alumni events in Buffalo and around
the country; campus discounts, and privileges,
such as parking permits. In addition, members
will receive discounts at hundreds of retailers,
such as overstock.com, target.com, Sterling
Optical, Jos. A. Banks and Dunn Tire.
“I’m joining because I want to be part of UB’s
rise to the top, like other big schools around the
country,” says Kevin Horrigan, director of public
affairs for People Inc., a nonprofit human services
agency in Western New York. In fact, by implementing
a Friends membership, the UB Alumni
Association joins an elite group having such a
program, including the University of Connecticut,
the University of Florida, Penn State and the
University of Nebraska.
And in chapter
news…
In Denver, a crowd of 75
alumni, family and friends
met at Lodo’s Bar & Grill
on July 3 for a pregame
reception, and then
watched the Colorado
Rockies defeat the Florida
Marlins in extra innings
36 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu
across the street in Coors
Field. Following the game,
attendees enjoyed the
grand fireworks display.
On August 1,
the Albany
chapter kicked
off its first official
event as a
formal alumni
chapter with its second
annual Day at the Races
at the Saratoga Race
Course. Thirty alumni,
Hey, that’s me!
To see photos of other alumni friends
from recent chapter meetings, go to
www.alumni.buffalo.edu/chapters
Alfred Hollis (DDS ’99) and
Kelly Hollis (BS ’98).
friends and family members
from as far as
Pennsylvania attended
an afternoon filled with a
little luck, fun, excitement
and great conversation.
Guests dined under the
Paddock Tent and had the
chance to watch the race
from the Saratoga Race
Course Clubhouse.
Baseball—and meeting
fellow alumni—were the
attractions in Seattle on
August 4, as a crowd of

*
A blue asterisk denotes UB
Alumni Association members
updates from grads by the decade
classnotes
Member Spotlight
Mike Rielly, Friend
North Tonawanda, NY
Why am I a Friend of the
UB Alumni Association?
“Throughout my 26 years as UB’s head
athletics trainer, I fostered lifetime
relationships with faculty, staff, and
thousands of students and student
athletes. In many ways, my role with
athletes, coaches, physicians and parents
made us grow as one. I gained
tremendous respect for the efforts of
each student athlete I encountered.
Throughout my career, my primary
purpose has been to serve our student
athletes. The support I am now able
to provide the alumni association will
help ensure that our most valuable
assets—alumni and students—continue
to be served.”
Rielly close-up
Friend since January 2009; served as
UB’s head athletic trainer for 26 years,
also served as an assistant and adjunct
professor of physical therapy
and exercise science; was
instrumental in supporting
the development
of University Sports
Medicine Institute
35 met at the Pyramid
Brewing Company before
the Seattle Mariners
defeated the Minnesota
Twins, 11–6, in Safeco
Field.
The UB Employee chapter
comprised a large portion
of the 130 members
of the UB community
UB Alumni
A S S O C I A T I O N
who volunteered for the
annual United Way Day
of Caring August 20.
The following day, the
UB Employee chapter
joined members of the
UB Alumni Association
board of directors during
the annual New Student
Move-in Day event.
40
Edward C. Schwartz, BA
1944, was inducted into the
Niagara Frontier Aviation
and Space Hall of Fame in
May 2001. While at Cornell
Aeronautical Laboratory (later
Calspan), Schwartz contributed
to the development
of terrain-following control
systems for military aircraft
that enable their safe operation
at very low altitudes,
including flight over mountainous
terrain to avoid
radar detection. He also
designed automatic control
algorithms so aircraft can
conduct timely maneuvers
to achieve desired minimum
clearance and a horizontal
flight path over terrain
peaks. Schwartz resides in
Cheektowaga, NY.
50
Edwin M. Fava, BS 1952,
is principal of Sippican
Elementary School in
Marion, MA. He recently
served as principal of the
Pocasset Elementary School
in Tiverton, RI, and has
additional experience as
a teacher, middle school
principal and special education
director. He lives in Fall
River, MA.
60Frances
Kelly, PhD
1968 & BA
1953, has
been inducted
into the
International
Kelly
Adult and
Continuing Education Hall
of Fame, Class of 2008, at
ceremonies in Budapest,
Hungary. She is one of 20
international inductees,
six of whom are American.
Since her retirement as
director of U.S. Navy education
programs, Kelly has
been an e-learning technology
consultant and resides
in Altoona, PA.
Horn, PhD 1969, *James MA 1965
& BA 1963, was honored by
Universidad Internacional,
a private university in
Cuernavaca, Mexico, as
“Citizen of the World,” in
recognition of 35 years
spent leading student
and tourist
groups
in Mexico
and several
other countries.
He is
an associate
pro-
Horn
fessor of history at SUNY
College at Brockport in
Brockport, NY, and president
of Educational Travel
Service Inc. Horn resides
in Brockport. Edward
Ostrowski, BS 1969, is
chair of the American
Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME)
Committee on Ethical
Standards and Review.
He also represents ASME
on the executive board of
the National Institute of
Engineering Ethics, which
develops engineering ethics
training materials. Ostrowski
is a senior process/specialty
engineer for Fluor
Enterprises, and has more
than 38 years of experience
in the design, construction
and operation of power generating
technology. He lives
in Simpsonville, SC. Carol J.
Schrier-Polak, MSW 1969,
received the 2008 Family
Law Service Award presented
by the Virginia State Bar’s
family law section, which
recognizes people who have
improved family, domestic
relations or juvenile law in
Virginia. A partner with the
firm Bean, Kinney & Korman,
she is a member of the
Virginia Bar
Association’s
Joint
Coalition on
Family Law,
Virginia Trial
Lawyers
Schrier-Polak
Association
and Fairfax Law Foundation.
Schrier-Polak resides in Falls
Church, VA.
70
Paula Allen-Meares,
BS 1970, is chancellor of
the University of Illinois’
Chicago campus. Previously,
Allen-Meares served as
dean of the University of
Michigan’s School of Social
Work and
as professor
and
dean of the
University
of Illinois’
Urbanaallen-meares
Champaign
Campus School of Social
Work. She received a
Distinguished Alumnus
Award from the UB Alumni
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 37

alumninews
Association Billboard
UB by the numbers
Alumni Connections*
621
[Facebook
members]
919
[LinkedIn connections]
1,882
[MySpace profile views]
19,600
[UB Connect total
registrants to date]
36,216
[Alumni Web site visits]
Michael Balter with his parents, Ronald Balter (BA ’80) and
Nancy Balter.
And the
winners
are…
Mark Webb with his parents, Donna Webb (MBA ’90 & BS ’88)
and Kent Webb (MBA ’88).
The UB Alumni Association announced its first Legacy Scholarship recipients
during the pregame party at Homecoming, October 18. Michael Balter and
Mark Webb, both UB sophomores, each received $1,250 from the UB Alumni
Association board of directors. Balter, a Brooklyn native, is the student manager
for the UB Bulls football team, as was his father, Ronald Balter, BA ’80. Webb
is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars; both his parents,
Donna (MBA ’90 & BS ’88) and Kent (MBA ’88) are UB alumni.
The Legacy Scholarship program was established to assist currently enrolled
UB students who are children or grandchildren of UB alumni, and thereby demonstrate
appreciation for alumni who contribute to the growth and enrichment
of UB through their active membership and participation in the association.
* May 1 to August 31, 2008
You can access
UB alumni social
networks at http://
alumni.buffalo.edu/
socialnetworks
38 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu
Reunions in the works
Let’s get together
Haven’t seen your UB friends in a while and wondering
what they’ve been up to? Then think about bringing
them back together for a reunion. Whether by class
year, club or sport, any interest group is welcome to
reunite, and the alumni office is here to help. Several
reunions took place in 2008, including the Old School
Greeks, the Class of 1958 Pillars Society and the
University Student Alumni Board. For 2009, reunion
planning is under way for a number of groups such as
Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, former Spectrum staff, the
Black Student Union and Class of 1959, whose members
will be inducted into the Pillars Society as part of
Homecoming 2009.
It’s fun, nostalgic and it reconnects you with UB. For
more information on these reunions or to learn more
about planning one of your own, contact Patty Starr in
the Office of Alumni Relations at pstarr@buffalo.edu.
Old School Greeks reunion planning committee (from left):
Venton Monplaisir Jr. (BA ’87); Ken Jones (MA ’84); Patti Starr,
assistant director for student and reunion programs, UB Office
of Alumni Relations; Adair White-Johnson (PhD ’96 & EdM
’87); George Cleary (MA ’85 & BS ’84) and Henry J. Durand,
director, UB Center for Academic Development Services.

A blue asterisk denotes UB
Alumni Association members
updates from grads by the decade
classnotes
ManuEl Wong, EdM ’92
Achievement Awards
Save the Date!
The UB Alumni Association will hold its annual
awards ceremony on Friday, March 20, 2009, in
the Adam’s Mark Hotel in downtown Buffalo. All
alumni, friends and supporters of the university are
invited to attend the alumni association’s signature
event and pay tribute to a group of outstanding
individuals for their accomplishments in their field,
for bringing honor to UB and for their extraordinary
volunteer efforts. Single tickets are $100; tables of
10 are also available for $1,000.
For more information, contact
the UB Office of Alumni
Relations at 1-800-284-5382.
From left: Bethany McCrea Piatek
(EdM ’05 & BS ’01); her husband,
Damon Piatek; Kristin Dooley; and
Brian Foster (BS ’01) meet at Duff’s
for wings and to swap stories
about their USAB days during the
organization’s 25th anniversary
reunion, April 24–27, 2008.
From left: Kathleen
Heckman
(MBA ’95 & BA
’92) with Jessica
Juliano Schimert
(MBA ’01) at the
USAB reunion.
Association in 2004 and
lives in Chicago, IL. Stephen
C. Edberg, PhD 1971,
received the 2008 American
Society for Microbiology
BD Award for Research in
Clinical Microbiology, in
recognition of his contributions
to the advancement
of research in this field. He
is a professor in the department
of laboratory medicine
and internal medicine at
Yale University School of
Medicine and director of the
Yale-New Haven Hospital
Clinical Microbiology
Laboratory. Edberg resides
in Westbrook, CT. Paul A.
Battaglia, JD 1972, has
been named a Buffalo Law
Review honoree in recognition
of his outstanding
service to the University
at Buffalo Law School.
He resides in Orchard
Park, NY. D.
Jozwiak, BS
*Michael
1973, has
joined Gaines Kriner Elliott,
a public accounting firm in
Buffalo, NY. He has more
than 30 years of accounting
experience and lives in
Cheektowaga, NY. Sheryl
Gordon McCloud, BA 1976,
received the 2008 William
O. Douglas Award in recognition
of extraordinary
courage and dedication to
the practice of criminal law.
She is an adjunct professor
in the Seattle University
School of Law, cochair of
the Washington Association
of Criminal Defense Lawyers
(WACDL) amicus committee
and a member of WACDL’s
board of governors.
McCloud lives in Bainbridge
Island, WA. Loren Etengoff,
BA 1977, has been named
governor of the third congressional
district for the
Washington State Bar
Association. He is a personal
injury lawyer with memberships
in the American
Association for Justice
and the Clark County Bar
Association. Etengoff lives
in Vancouver, WA. Kenneth
A. Manning, JD 1977 & BS
1974, received the New
York State Bar Association’s
2008 President’s Pro Bono
Service Award for his outstanding
pro bono service,
with an emphasis on helping
to provide equal access
to the justice system for all
citizens of
New York,
irrespective
of their
80
financial
standing.
He received
manning the Dr. Philip
B. Wels Award from the UB
Alumni Association in 2005
and resides in Kenmore, NY.
Vikki L. Pryor, JD 1978 &
BA 1975, received the 2008
Bronx Community College
Presidential Medallion in
recognition of her leadership,
philanthropic efforts
and commitment to higher
education. She is president
and CEO of SBLI USA and
resides in New York, NY.
Nancy Carriuolo, PhD 1979,
is president of Rhode Island
College and chief academic
officer of the Rhode Island
Office of Higher Education.
Previously, Carriuolo worked
as dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences, School
of Hotel and Restaurant
Management and the
Dietetics Administration
of the University of New
Haven, where she was also
an English professor and
assistant provost. She lives
in Providence, RI. E.
Evanko, JD 1979 &*Ann MA 1973,
is president of Hurwitz and
Fine law firm, which she
joined in 1979. She resides
in Orchard
Park, NY.
William
E. Schutt,
BA 1979,
president
of William
schutt Schutt and
Associates, Engineering and mathios
Land Surveying, has been
elected president of the
New York State Society of
Professional Engineers. He
lives in East Aurora, NY.
David J. Lipman, MD 1980,
received the 2008 American
Society for Microbiology
Promega Biotechnology
Research Award in recognition
of his outstanding contributions
to the application
of biotechnology through
important microbiological
research and development.
His work has led to
the creation of PubMed
(which provides access
to biomedical literature)
and the maintenance of
GenBank (an annotated
collection of all publicly
available DNA sequences).
Lipman is a member of
the National Academy of
Sciences and the Institute of
Medicine and a fellow of the
American College of Medical
informatics. He resides in
Rockville, MD. Jeff Markin,
BS 1980, is CEO and president
of VirtualScopics Inc.
He previously served as
the company’s COO and
spent 26 years at Eastman
Kodak Company. Markin
lives in Rochester, NY. Alan
D. Mathios, BA 1980, has
been appointed Rebecca Q.
and James
C. Morgan
Dean of
Cornell
University’s
College
of Human
Ecology after
serving as interim dean
of the college since 2007.
He is a professor of policy
analysis, coeditor of the
Journal of Consumer Policy
Management and project
leader on the Consumers,
Pharmaceutical Policy and
Health program funded
by the Merck Company
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 39

alumninews
Ways to make a difference
UB Employees caring
enough to volunteer
UB is fortunate to be the beneficiary of the time, talent and generosity of
innumerable alumni and friends who volunteer throughout the university community.
There is another side to UB’s volunteer culture that is just as important, however.
This is the time and effort put forth by UB employees for the betterment of
not only the university, but also the greater Western New York community.
For example, more than 50 members of the UB Employee chapter participated
in the annual United Way Day of Caring on August 20, 2008. Joining
approximately 80 other UB faculty and staff, the team mobilized for various
projects, including putting a much-needed fresh coat of paint on several spaces
within the Buffalo Museum of Science, working with Buffalo ReUse to create
community gardens, and helping teachers at two local elementary schools prepare
for the start of the new academic year and also cleaning up an outdoor science
learning lab.
The following day, August 21, the Employee chapter was at it again, this time
volunteering to help new students move on campus. Approximately 20 alumni
set up shop in Wilkeson Quadrangle to hand out bottled water, tote boxes and
luggage, shuttle students and their families, provide directions, and most important,
to make the students and their families feel welcome at UB.
Douglas Levere, BA ’89
From left: UB employees Mechelle Lumpkin, Melissa Jernigan and Kathy Garcia take part in
Day of Caring activities at a local elementary school on August 20.
40 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

updates from grads by the decade
classnotes
Coming Up
Distinguished
Speakers Series
Donna Brazile
2.12.09
Center for the Arts, North
Campus
REALM
(Real Experience and
Leadership Mentoring)
2.26.09
North Campus
Distinguished
Speakers Series
Anna Quindlen
3.4.09
Center for the Arts,
North Campus
Alumni Association
Achievement Awards
3.20.09
Adam’s Mark Hotel,
Buffalo
Black Student Union
Reunion
4.24–4.26.09
North Campus
*
A blue asterisk denotes UB
Alumni Association members
Quindlen
Oozfest
Mud Volleyball
Tournament 25th
Anniversary
4.25.09
Oozfest Mud Pit, St. Rita’s
Lane, North Campus
UB Coast to Coast
Alumni Entertainment
& Media Symposium—
distinguished alumni
discuss trends and career
issues
6.27–6.28.09
Writers Boot Camp at
Bergamot Station, Santa
Monica, CA
All dates and times
subject to change.
Visit www.alumni.
buffalo.edu/events
for updates and
more information.
Foundation. Additionally,
Mathios serves on the editorial
boards of the Journal
of Consumer Affairs and
the Journal of Public Policy
and Marketing. He resides
in Ithaca, NY. Thomas
Stewart, PhD 1980,
received the 2008 Lifetime
Achievement Award from
the Scientific Committee
of the Third Congress of
the World Union of Wound
Healing Societies in recognition
of his research in
wound care and development
of pressure-relieving
solutions. Stewart is founder
of the National Pressure
Ulcer Advisory Panel, an
organization devoted to the
prevention and management
of pressure ulcers.
He is president and chief
clinical officer of Gaymar
Industries, where he focuses
on medical aspects of
the development of treatment
products. He resides
in Orchard Park, NY. James
B. Bronk, MD 1981, is a fellow
of the American College
of Radiology, a partner at
Solano Imaging Medical
Associates and chair of the
radiology department at
Northbay Medical Center.
He serves on the California
Medical Association board
of trustees and is a member
of both the American
Roentgen Ray Society and
the Radiological Society
of North America. Bronk
resides in Napa, CA. Tim
Forhan, MBA 1982, has
joined Sanctuary Wealth
Management as a principal
and senior vice president
of systems development.
He has previous experience
serving in various
executive positions at IBM.
Forhan resides in Pocatello,
ID. Bruce Lieberthal, DDS
1983, is vice president of
product management and
development at Henry
Schein Practice Solutions,
where he previously served
as director of product
management. He has also
developed, built, supported
and sold multiple software
platforms relevant to dentistry
and endodontistry. He
has 14 years’ experience as
a practicing dentist and lives
in Wrentham, MA. Richard
L. Michel, MBA 1983 & BS
1977, is vice chair and head
of the commercial banking
business unit of National
City Corporation, where
he is responsible for all
aspects of commercial banking.
He has more than 30
years of banking experience
with Citigroup and recently
served as group executive
of the Global Industrials
Group for Citigroup’s global
corporate bank. Michel lives
in Naperville, IL. Ellen R.
Pierino, MLS 1984 & BA
1972, is the 2008-2009 vice
president
of the UB
Women’s
Club. She is
coordinator
of documents
and risk management
for
pierino
Damon & Morey LLP and is
a member of multiple community
organizations. She
lives in Buffalo, NY.
M. Ciprich, JD 1985, *Paula is secretary
and general counsel for
National Fuel Gas Company,
where she has served in a
number of positions for 20
years. She is also treasurer
of the University at Buffalo
Law Alumni Association and
a recipient of the 40 under
Forty Award presented
by Buffalo Business First.
Ciprich resides in Amherst,
NY. David P. Chameli,
BA 1986, is a member of
the governing board for
Rainbows, an international
nonprofit organization dedicated
to helping children and
families cope with loss and
grief. He is associate general
counsel for Sears Holdings
Corporation and lives in
Hoffman Estates, IL. Lauren
J. Fix, BS 1986, is author
of Lauren Fix’s Guide to
Loving Your Car: Everything
You Need to Know to Take
Charge of Your Car and
Get On with Your Life (St.
Martin’s Griffin, 2008).
She is a car technician, a
former race car driver and
race driving instructor, and
current cohost of the DIY
Network’s television show
Talk 2 DIY Automotive. Fix
has worked for Ford, BMW,
Infiniti and the Be Car Care
Aware consumer campaign.
She lives in Williamsville,
NY. Ross P. Lanzafame, JD
1986, is chair of the health
law section of the New York
State Bar Association. He is
a partner at Harter Secrest
& Emery and
has served
on the
executive
committee
of the health
law section
lanzafame since 1999.
Lanzafame has additional
experience before earning
his law degree in the management
of hospital surgical
and neonatal intensive-care
units. He lives in Rochester,
NY. David Lazerson, PhD
1986 & BA 1973, is a 2008
inductee to the National
Teachers Hall of Fame and
recipient
of the
2007 “Arts
Teacher of
the Year
Award” for
Broward
lazerson County (FL)
Public Schools. He teaches
special education at the
Quest Center in Hollywood,
For a free e-mail forwarding
address, campus news and networking,
check out UB Connect at
www.alumni.buffalo.edu.
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 41

alumninews
Oozfest turns 25
Still muddy after
all these years
Mark your calendar for
Saturday, April 25, 2009,
and plan on coming out to
play or to watch the action
from the sidelines. Either
way, join in the celebration of
Oozfest’s 25th anniversary.
Team check-in is at 8 a.m.;
the tournament runs from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Team and
volunteer registration forms
are available at www.alumni.
buffalo.edu/usab.
Craig Caplan, BA ’92 (front row, third
from left) with his team in 2007.
During the last 25 years,
literally tons of mud have been
generated, competed in and
hosed off thousands of participants
in Oozfest, the mud volleyball
tournament sponsored
by the University Student Alumni Board (USAB).
Held in the Mud Pit on St. Rita’s Lane on the
North Campus, Oozfest attracts more than 100
teams with thousands of participants and volunteers
each year. From one-time adventurers to
teams with nearly 20 years of experience, Oozfest
has become one of the most beloved traditions
on campus. Each year, the tournament gets bigger
and better, the team names more clever, the
costumes increasingly elaborate. “It’s just so much
fun. You really have to see it to believe it,” says
Patty Starr, assistant director for student and
reunion programs and
USAB adviser. “Though
it is a tournament and
there’s definitely competition,
it’s always
friendly, and at the end
of the day it’s all about
the mud!”
Back in 1985, a small
but hardy group of
UB students decided
it needed an activity
that would help blow
off some steam during
exam time. The
idea came from the
University of Connecticut, which had launched its
own version of mud volleyball the year before.
Several teams have made return appearances.
In fact, Poached Trout in White Wine Sauce will
celebrate its 20th consecutive appearance in
2009. We asked original Poached Trout team
member Craig Caplan, BA ’92, about his favorite
Oozfest memories.
Where did your team name come from?
It’s taken from a Monty Python sketch.
Considering your team members are now established
alumni, where does everyone travel from
to play at Oozfest?
A few are still in the Western New York area,
but others come from Virginia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania and California. Overall, 21 people
have played on our team during our 20-year
history.
What’s your win-loss record?
We’ve never won the competition itself. Our best
finish has been tied for seventh place (in the
96-team format). However, we often won the
“best costume” contest. Our costumes have run
the gamut from 1970s leisure suits and Santa outfits
to astronauts, mad scientists and killer bees.
My own favorites include wet suits (which kept
us warm and dry), old-time golfers (the vintage
gear and clothes we found looked great) and chefs
(we brought an actual trout—amusing at first, but
unpleasant as the day wore on).
What keeps you coming back year after year?
For many years, the weekend of Oozfest served as
a mini-reunion of good friends from college. By
about our 10th year, participating started to take
on additional meaning—we’d been doing it for
so long, it had become a tradition. As students,
we joked about how we’d play until our children
could join in (or form their own team). Little did
we realize at the time that we’d still be playing 20
years later. The “junior team” of our kids is still
a few years out. In the meantime, it’s a pleasure
to get together each year with other long-running
teams, like the fabulous Sheepherders (who have
actually won the competition several times).
42 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

Oozfest competitors
luxuriate
in full mud
bath during the
1992 contest.
*
A blue asterisk denotes UB
Alumni Association members
updates from grads by the decade
classnotes
Costumes designed to provoke mirth amid the mud
are a big part of Oozfest. Santa celebrators in 1997
were followed by clown revelers a year later.
What’s your favorite Oozfest memory?
There are so many. In our 11th year, we dressed
as escaped convicts and one team member surprised
us by renting a limousine to bring us all
to the tournament. As we rolled in and parked
beside the fields, all eyes turned to see who was
going to get out of the car. We filed out, one by
one, to the applause of the crowd. That was the
same year we had our best finish.
FL, and has spent more than
30 years as an author, musician
and teacher, in addition
to working as a conflict resolution
specialist. Lazerson
received the Dr. Richard
T. Sarkin Award from the
UB Alumni Association in
2007 and resides in North
Miami Beach, FL. Karen
Maricle, MS 1988 & BA
1972, received the 2008
Distinguished Alumni Award
from the University at
Buffalo School of Nursing
in recognition of her outstanding
work and service.
She is an adjunct assistant
professor at UB and senior
vice president of operations
at the Erie County
Medical Center, where she
has worked in a number of
capacities since 1973. She
resides in West Seneca,
NY. Kevin M. O’Beirne, BS
1988, is an associate of the
national environmental engineering
and consulting firm
Malcolm Pirnie Inc., managing
a corporate system
of standard construction
projects nationwide. He has
more than 20 years’ experience
designing water supply
and wastewater treatment
facilities. Recently, he contributed
to the development
of new wastewater
sludge dewatering systems
and wastewater treatment
plants. O’Beirne resides
in Hamburg, NY. Michael
W. Wymer, BS 1988, is an
associate of Malcolm Pirnie
Inc., a national environmental
engineering and consulting
firm. He has worked
on a number of water
systems across the world,
assisting with operational,
design and sustainability
issues. Wymer has served
as municipal engineer for
the Village of Blasdell, NY,
for 15 years and lives in
East Aurora, NY. Kenya S.
Mann, JD 1989, received
the inaugural Juvenile Law
Center Pro Bono Award. She
is a partner in the litigation
department of Ballard Spahr
Andrews & Ingersoll LLP,
where she is a member of
the firm’s government relations
and regulatory affairs
group and the white-collar
litigation group. Before
joining the firm, she served
the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania as an assistant
U.S. attorney of the criminal
division. Mann lives in
Ambler, PA.
90
Elizabeth Bauman, MBA
1990, is senior vice president
of human resources
at First Niagara Financial
Group Inc. In this position,
she oversees learning
and development, recruitment,
employee relations,
compensation, benefits
and payroll. She resides
in Lancaster, NY. Kevin S.
Neumaier, MS 1992, is
president and chief executive
officer of Ecology and
Environment Inc., an international
environmental consulting
firm. He previously
served the company as
senior vice president of environmental
sustainability
and chief
information
officer.
Neumaier
also received
neumaier
the 2008
Executive of the Year Award
from InfoTech Niagara.
He resides in Lancaster,
NY. Bob Burger, BA 1993,
is an investment adviser
for Perspective Financial
Services LLC. Previously, he
worked for Keats, Connelly
& Associates, Miller/
Russell & Associates and
Charles Schwab, and owned
his own firm, Disciplined
Investments LLC. Burger
resides in Phoenix, AZ.
Lancelot Fitzgerald James,
PhD 1993 & BA 1989, was
named fellow of the Institute
of Mathematical Statistics
(IMS) for his dedicated service
to IMS, contributions
to Bayesian nonparametric
statistics, and the development
of Poisson partition
calculus for Lévy processes.
James is a visiting associate
professor of the Hong Kong
University of Science and
Technology. His permanent
residence is in Baltimore,
MD. Matthew J. Marko,
BS 1994, was appointed
to the board of trustees
for the SUNY College of
Environmental Science
and Forestry by New York
Governor David Paterson. In
this role, Marko will provide
Any advice for first-time players?
USAB does a great job these days with the
Oozfest prep tips we’ve been using for years
(for example, garbage-bags and duct tape). I’ll
offer this to new players: Dive into the mud at
least once for the experience, but don’t do it
first thing in the morning, or you’ll be in for a
long, cold day.
Keep us informed Send your news and
updates to ub-alumni@buffalo.edu or via UB Connect,
the online community, at www.alumni.buffalo.edu
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 43

alumninews
Alumni Roam Travel Program
Ukraine and Romania
June 23–July 6, 2009
Steeped in tradition but driven by a vibrant modern spirit,
Ukraine is rapidly forging a new identity within today’s
Europe. Cruise the Dnieper River through the heart of
Ukraine as you admire cultural cities and beautiful countryside.
Explore the magnificent capital of Kiev, visit the Caves Monastery and learn
about Cossack history in Zaporizhia. Journey to the Crimea and Yalta, whose
Livadia Palace is the former summer residence of the Romanovs and site of the
famous World War II conference. Admire elegant Odessa, the “Pearl of the Black
Sea,” before exploring Bucharest in neighboring Romania. Second in size of all
European countries only to Russia, Ukraine is located at the crossroads of Europe
and Asia. Discover the storied heritage of this fascinating land!
From approximately $2,495 per person, plus airfare and V.A.T. (value added
tax), based on double occupancy.
Greece: Athens & the Island of Poros
October 9–18, 2009
Steeped in mythology and legend, Greece has been a
muse to artists and writers for centuries. The magic
of this ancient land is yours to discover. Explore the
priceless treasures of Athens from the world-renowned
Acropolis to the fashionable Plaka district. On the idyllic
island of Poros, walk along charming, sea-scented streets
and admire a breathtaking panorama of sun-drenched
hills and sapphire waters. Examine the ruins of the palace
at Mycenae and visit a local winery. See dramatic
Nauplion, the former capital of Greece; marvel at the theater in Epidauros; and
enjoy the cosmopolitan island of Hydra. Witness the glory of Greece—both past
and present—on this exciting travel adventure.
Approximately $2,595 per person, plus airfare and V.A.T., based on double
occupancy.
Chianti in a Tuscan Villa
October 18–26, 2009
Imagine yourself amid the rolling hills of Tuscany, blanketed with verdant vineyards,
olive groves and cypress trees. From the idyllic village of Tavarnelle Val
di Pesa, travel to the hilltop Etruscan town of Volterra. Visit San Gimignano, a
medieval Manhattan; charming Castellina, dominated by its imposing fortress;
the market town of Greve; and Castello di Monsanto, where you’ll sip the region’s
distinctive wine. Walk inside the ancient walls of Lucca, and admire the spectacular
artistic and architectural wonders of Florence, the
“Cradle of the Renaissance.” In Siena, stroll along narrow
cobblestone streets lined with Gothic buildings and visit the
city’s magnificent Duomo.
Approximately $2,495 per person, plus airfare and V.A.T.,
based on double occupancy.
44 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

*
A blue asterisk denotes UB
Alumni Association members
updates from grads by the decade
classnotes
development,
support
and
oversight of
the college.
He resides
in Syracuse,
marko NY. Gregg
McDonald, BS 1994, is business
development director
of the automotive industry
division of
PolyOne
Corp.
Previously,
he held
various
positions
mcdonald with different
automotive industry
businesses, including
Carborundum, Ford Motor
Company and, most
recently, SABIC Innovative
Plastics. McDonald lives
in Plymouth, MI. Nancy
J. Sheehan, JD 1994, is
vice president of legal services
for the Catholic Health
System (CHS). In this position,
she is responsible for
the overall management
of legal services, including
risk management, provider
contracts, corporate compliance
and services provided
by outside legal counsel for
all CHS entities. Sheehan
lives in Buffalo, NY. William
Minnich, EdM 1996 & BA
1993, is center dean of the
Daly City, CA, location of
DeVry University. In this
position, he supervises
enrollment, academics,
marketing and operations.
He has worked with several
institutions of higher
education and recently
served as campus director
for InsideTrack Inc. Minnich
resides in San Francisco, CA.
Holly Beecher, JD 1997 &
MSW 1991, is a partner at
Phillips Lytle LLP. She works
primarily in
the areas
of estate
and trust
planning
and estate
and trust
beecher administra-
tion. Beecher is a member
of Women Lawyers
of Western New York and
Estate Analysts Western
New York, and serves as
treasurer of the Crisis
Services Foundation. She
lives in Buffalo, NY. Thomas
R. Elmer Jr., MD 1997,
is partner at Fichte, Endl
and Elmer Eyecare. He
has extensive experience
working for Mercy Ships,
a global charity involving
volunteers from around the
world in the operation of a
fleet of hospital ships. Elmer
resides in Grand Island, NY.
Michael J. Morris, BS 1997,
received the Professional
Excellence and Innovation
Award Corporate Fortune X
presented by the Network
Professional Association, an
association for professionals
in network computing. The
award is in honor of recent
work on network architecture
standards, templates
and MPLS design. Morris
lives in Cary, NC. Angela
Zwirecki Miller, JD 1998,
MBA 1990 & BA 1987, is a
partner at Phillips Lytle LLP,
specializing in bankruptcy
and creditors’ rights. She is
a member of the American,
New York and Erie County
bar associations and serves
on the Town of Orchard Park
ethics board. Miller resides
in Orchard Park, NY. Bob
Clerici, ME 1999, is a member
of the Hilbert College
board of trustees. He is vice
president and cofounder of
the Inergex Inc., a professional
information technology
services company. He
has previous
experience
serving
in various
positions
for such
companies
clerici as Inacom
Information Systems, AOP
Solutions and CH Heist
Corp. Clerici lives in Orchard
Park, NY.
00
Thomas J. Sheehan,
JD 2000, is a partner at
Phillips Lytle LLP, specializing
in pharmaceutical
and biologic products
liability litigation. He is a
member of the American
and New York bar associations
and resides in Buffalo,
NY. Mark Bevington, BFA
2001, serves on the board
of directors of Adoption
Rhode Island. He is also the
president
and executive
creative
director of
Ninedot, a
design agency.
Bevington
bevington lives in
Pawcatuck, CT. Sheri
Crosby, JD 2002, received
2008 Outstanding Young
Lawyer awards from the
Dallas Association of
Young Lawyers and the
Texas Young Lawyers
Association, in addition
to the 2007 Outstanding
Minority Attorney Award
from the Law in the Schools
Committee of the Dallas Bar
Association, a group she
cochairs. She is an associate
at Taber Estes Thorne
& Carr PLLC and resides
in Mesquite, TX. Jill M.
Schaefer, MBA 2002 & BS
2002, received the 2008
Member of the Year Award
from the Western New York
chapter of the Healthcare
Financial Management
Association in recognition
of her time and dedication
to the organization over the
past four years. She was
also named the 2008-2009
president of the organization.
An audit manager with
Lumsden & McCormick
LLP, Schaefer lives in
Cheektowaga, NY.
Eileen M. Connor-
Costilow,
*
MBA 2003,
received the 2007-2008
Recruiter of the Year Award
presented by the University
at Buffalo School of
Management. She is director
of human resources at
Lumsden & McCormick LLP
and lives in Williamsville,
NY. Ann-Marie Caruso, BA
2004, received the Buffalo
Drug Treatment Court’s
Outstanding Service Award
in recognition of her dedication
to
facilitating
recovery and
empowering
the patients
of Horizon
Village’s residential
drug
caruso
treatment program, where
she works as an admissions
counselor. She resides in
Eggertsville, NY. Douglas
Bishop, BS 2005, is a
senior accountant at Gross,
Mendelsohn & Associates
CPA, where he previously
served as a semi-senior
accountant. Bishop resides
in Baltimore, MD. Gregory
Witul, BA 2005, is a trustee
of the North Tonawanda
History Museum’s governance
committee. He is
chair of the economic development
committee for the
Town of Wheatfield and has
served on its planning board
for two years. Witul lives in
Niagara Falls, NY. Marlene
G. Potter, PMCRT 2006
& BA 2000, is the director
of marketing at Lipsitz &
Ponterio LLC. In this position,
she is responsible for
marketing and communications
strategies to support
the firm’s objectives,
while overseeing brand
management and public
and client relations. Potter
also supervises marketing
communications collateral
and Web site design. She
lives in Buffalo, NY. Steven
P. Smith, PhD 2006, EdM
2000 & BA 1997, is director
of undergraduate admissions
at D’Youville College,
where he
assists in
policy development
and planning,
and
oversees
smith recruitment
and all other operations
of the admissions office.
Previously, he served as
a career counselor for the
University of Rochester and
as senior admissions adviser
and assistant director of
the office of admissions at
the University at Buffalo.
Smith lives in Amherst,
NY. R. Ulbrich,
MBA
*Thomas
2006, is director of the
University at Buffalo School
of Management’s Center for
Entrepreneurial Leadership.
He is also president and
chief executive officer of
Ulbrich’s Garden Center
and Mow More Supplies.
Ulbrich resides in Alden, NY.
Leah Angelita Bouquard,
JD 2007 & MSW 2007, is
an associate attorney at
Watson,
Bennett,
Colligan,
Johnson and
Schechter
LLP. She
lives in
bouquard Buffalo, NY.
Jamey Richard, BS 2008,
has been drafted by the
Indianapolis Colts as an
offensive guard. He resides
in Indianapolis, IN.
Green alert! Remember, you
can always read us online at
www.buffalo.edu/ubt
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 45

alumninews
i n m e m o r y o f U B a l u m n i
20s
Joseph J. Marotta, CERT’28,
of Kensington, MD 04.26.07
30s
Marjorie B. Eckhert, BA ’31,
of Williamsville, NY 06.12.08
Norman H. Kayser, BS ’32, of
Shrewsbury, NJ 04.07.08
Walter W. Sielski, DDS ’35,
of Buffalo, NY 10.05.07
Robert H. Belden, BS ’37, of
San Ramon, CA 12.29.07
Ruth M. Hall, CERT ’37, of
Cape May Court House, NJ
06.24.07
Esther M. Hurley, CERT ’37,
of Dunkirk, NY 09.08.07
Ross W. Roberts, CERT ’38,
of Perry, NY 12.05.08
Robert L. Barr, CERT ’39, of
Cocoa Beach, FL 06.22.08
Margery M. Kench, CERT ’39,
of Penfield, NY 03.24.08
40s
Harlow M. Seaton, BA ’40,
of Lake Mary, FL 03.29.08
Lois B. Donatelli, EDB ’41, of
Hamburg, NY 05.21.08
Virgil T. Gianni, BS ’41, of
Buffalo, NY 04.27.08
Joyzelle P. Clark, EdM ’42 &
BA ’39, of Wernersville, PA
04.28.08
John W. Owen, DDS ’42, of
Youngstown, NY 05.16.08
William E. Hoctor, BA ’43, of
Ocala, FL 01.29.08
Joseph Wallack, BS ’43, of
Rochester, NY 09.25.07
John A. Barone, BA ’44, of
Fairfield, CT 06.01.07
Samuel Cassara, MD ’44, of
Pittsford, NY 05.23.08
Herman Edelberg, MD ’44, of
Northampton, MA 03.01.08
Walter E. Max, ’45, of
Coatesville, PA 06.13.07
Mary Louise P. Trudell,
BA ’45, of Los Altos, CA
05.01.08
L. Halliday Meisburger,
DDS ’46, of Fort Myers, FL
07.14.08
Wanda N. Swierczynska, BA
’46, of Buffalo, NY 12.22.07
Francis P. Bussman, BS ’47,
of Post Falls, ID 02.11.08
John B. Deavitt, DDS ’47, of
Rochester, NY 11.18.07
Edwin J. Lenahan, MD ’47, of
Buffalo, NY 12.02.07
Marvin M. Lillie, MBA ’47, of
Buffalo, NY 07.17.07
Hallie E. Mont, MD ’47, of
Burbank, CA 06.14.08
Anthony P. Prezyna, MD ’47,
of Seattle, WA 03.06.08
John B. Sheffer, MD ’47, of
Buffalo, NY 10.17.07
Jack Weinberg, DDS ’47, of
Boynton Beach, FL 05.04.08
Jesse L. Goldbaum, BA ’48,
of Trumbull, CT 10.28.07
Raphael S. Good, MD ’48, of
Miami, FL 03.28.08
James P. Marmion, JD ’48, of
Buffalo, NY 08.15.08
Joseph M. Rait, DDS ’48, of
Seattle, WA 07.10.08
Alfred C. Barmasse, BS ’49,
of Oceanside, CA 03.17.08
Angelo J. Bianchi, DDS ’49,
of Rochester, NY 01.22.08
Walter M. Lewicki, BS ’49, of
Clarence, NY 11.28.07
Ned Rogers, BS ’49, of
Clover, SC 04.14.08
Leon S. Rosen, BS ’49, of
Pittsford, NY 04.29.08
50s
Salvatore A. Cerri, BA ’50, of
Oakfield, NY 05.08.08
Frederick D. Cornelius,
BA ’50 & BA ’50, of
Fredericksburg, VA 08.25.07
Charles A. Daniel, BS ’50, of
Strykersville, NY 04.28.07
John T. Daniels, BS ’50,
of North Tonawanda, NY
04.30.08
Herbert A. Drexelius, BS ’50,
of Littleton, NH 05.25.07
Franklin H. Kaderbeck, BA
’50, of Buffalo, NY 05.13.08
Charles J. Levine, MSW ’50,
of Boca Raton, FL 10.25.07
Stanley F. Petko, BA ’50, of
Buffalo, NY 03.30.07
Frank A. Rizzo, EdM ’50 &
BA ’49, of Haymarket, VA
03.02.08
Nicholas A. Valvo, BS ’50, of
Mason, OH 07.10.08
Vincent A. Vizzi, BA ’50, of
Buffalo, NY 02.04.07
Robert R. Baxter, DDS ’51, of
Bradenton, FL 07.02.08
Boyd T. Conwell, BA ’51, of
Dexter, MI 12.18.07
Leroy B. Daniels, BS ’51, of
Kenmore, NY 10.06.07
Glenn J. Neumann, BS ’51, of
Buffalo, NY 07.13.07
Donald E. Lennon, DDS ’52,
of New Berlin, NY 06.09.08
David J. Mahoney, JD ’52, of
Buffalo, NY 07.05.08
Ruth B. Noller, EdD ’52, EdM
’44 & BA ’42, of Sarasota, FL
06.03.08
John B. Putnam, MSW ’52,
of Syracuse, NY 07.02.08
William C. Smith, BA ’52, of
Portland, ME 04.23.08
Raymond G. Tessmer, BS
’52, of Bedford, TX 12.17.07
William B. Castle, BS ’53, of
Williamsville, NY 04.17.08
Thomas E. Comerford, MD
’53, of Lewiston, NY 06.11.08
Emery J. Fisher, EdB ’53, of
Amherst, NY 04.26.08
Girard W. Levy, BA ’53, of
Bexley, OH 02.25.08
Jerry N. Linneman, BS ’53, of
South Shore, KY 11.24.07
Bryce D. McMichael, MA
’53, of North Tonawanda, NY
03.24.08
Robert C. Burchell, MD
’54, of Albuquerque, NM
08.08.07
Louis A. Cook, BS ’54, of
Cheektowaga, NY 01.14.08
Robert W. Crandall, BS ’54,
of Lakewood, NY 05.18.08
William H. Werschin, BS ’54,
of Rockton, IL 04.17.08
Raymond C. Whedon, CERT
’54, of Troy, MI 03.07.08
William R. Kneeland, JD ’55
& BA ’52, of East Aurora, NY
05.31.07
Gary J. Mastman, MD ’55, of
Saratoga, CA 12.22.07
Rudolf E. Mathias, PhD ’55
& MA ’49, of Middleton, WI
03.12.08
Donald E. Maynard, BS ’55,
of Florham Park, NJ 06.24.08
Dorothy B. Millard, EdB ’55,
of Buffalo, NY 06.24.08
Loraine T. Raczkiewicz,
BS ’55, of Lockport, NY
03.22.08
Gene H. Bidell, BA ’56,
of North Las Vegas, NV
04.02.08
Donald B. Curtis, ’56, of
Jacksonville, FL 03.06.08
Edgar P. Lea, BA ’56, of
Phillipsburg, NJ 12.08.07
Norma H. Zurowski, CERT
’56, of Port Richey, FL
07.22.08
Raymond E. Bailey, BA ’57,
of Manlius, NY 02.26.08
Eugene Kaza, MA ’57, of
Portland, OR 07.01.08
Herbert Pfoetsch, BS ’57, of
Buffalo, NY 05.03.08
Morton Haber, DDS ’58 &
BS ’49, of Boca Raton, FL
05.09.07
John F. Holcomb, MD ’58 &
BA ’54, of Laguna Woods,
CA 07.10.08
Norman L. Martin, BS ’58, of
St. Augustine, FL 05.07.08
Robert C. Rittenhouse,
MBA ’58 & BA ’43, of Grand
Island, NY 06.20.07
Laurel A. Guess, BA ’59, of
Buffalo, NY 02.04.08
Marlene L. Huston, BS
’59, of Grand Junction, CO
03.26.08
Martin W. Rauch, JD ’59, of
Venice, FL 07.29.08
46 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

60s
Donald W. Tredinnick, BA
’60, of Ansonia, CT 03.09.08
Harold Brody, MD ’61, of
Getzville, NY 06.13.08
Betsy G. Hurley, JD ’61 &
BS ’58, of Lockport, NY
06.21.08
Josephine C. Syracuse, EdM
’61, of Buffalo, NY 08.29.07
Ronald A. Chmiel, DDS ’62,
of Williamsville, NY 05.14.08
Robert Goldstein, MD ’62, of
Encinitas, CA 09.06.07
Raymond D. Sullivan, MBA
’62 & BS ’58, of Tonawanda,
NY 07.10.07
Erma L. Boyd, BA ’63, of
Rochester, NY 03.30.08
Frank V. DeLaus, MD ’63, of
Fairport, NY 07.23.08
William H. Knittel, BS ’63, of
East Amherst, NY 07.25.07
Caroline G. McCarthy,
BS ’63, of Clarence, NY
02.13.08
James R. Winkler, DDS ’63,
of Haymarket, VA 08.04.08
Ruth S. Brock, MSW ’64, of
Buffalo, NY 08.16.08
Bernard P. Brouder, BA ’64,
of Bedford, NY 09.28.07
Seamus E. Carmody, MD
’64, of Midland, TX 06.20.08
Norman A. Gerber, MD
’64, of Panorama City, CA
06.14.08
Ralph W. Lankton, MBA ’64,
of Hebron, CT 04.10.08
Leslie Merriwether, BS ’64,
of Phoenix, AZ 05.28.08
Eli Germanovich, MD ’65, of
San Francisco, CA 05.23.08
Robert C. Levy, EdM ’65, of
La Jolla, CA 06.19.08
Joseph C. Mancuso, EdM ’65
& BA ’59, of Williamsville, NY
12.06.07
Valerie T. Bryce, BS ’66, of
Newfane, NY 06.10.08
John T. O’Mara, JD ’66, of
Live Oak, FL 05.29.08
Robert C. Peterson, BS ’66,
of Youngstown, NY 06.19.08
Odie Freeman, MSW ’67, of
Greenville, NC 07.04.08
Arnold Z. Gold, MD ’67, of
Titusville, PA 03.18.08
Sandra G. Klein, BA ’67, of
Buffalo, NY 07.06.08
Steven J. Knezevich, MSW
’67, of Kenmore, NY 12.06.07
Joan T. Anderson, MS ’68, of
Buffalo, NY 04.08.08
Robert B. Moriarty, JD ’68, of
Buffalo, NY 07.03.08
70s
John H. Beals, MBA ’70, of
Olcott, NY 05.13.08
William A. Lops, BA ’70 & BA
’70, of Daytona Beach, FL
10.02.07
Harry P. McKeown, EdM ’70,
of Hamburg, NY 07.24.07
Joyce A. Mitzel, EdM ’70, of
Gulf Breeze, FL 07.01.08
John P. Pytlak, BS ’70, of
Penfield, NY 08.17.07
Wayne G. Rathke, MBA ’70,
of East Aurora, NY 04.11.08
William A. Bless, BA ’71, of
Niceville, FL 01.13.08
Carl H. Brownscheidle, BA
’71, of Skaneateles, NY
12.15.07
William B. Burnett, BA ’71,
of Santa Fe, NM 05.08.08
Robert A. Cooke, BA ’71, of
Ontonagon, MI 04.30.08
Mary C. Green, EdM ’71, of
Buffalo, NY 03.04.08
Charles B. Notess, PhD ’71,
of Loveland, CO 07.31.08
James R. Shenkel, PhD ’71,
of New Orleans, LA 01.25.08
Hunter M. Breland, PhD ’72,
of Pennington, NJ 06.06.07
Francis D. Conners, EdB ’72,
of Depew, NY 10.12.07
Vincent F. Link, MS ’72, of
Elmira, NY 07.12.08
Richard E. Magee, MBA ’72
& BS ’70, of Amherst, NY
06.28.08
Richard L. Sylvan, MD ’72,
of Duluth, GA 04.06.08
Patrick T. McNulty, MS ’73,
of Lady Lake, FL 04.30.07
Joan E. Metz, EdM ’73, of
Williamsville, NY 04.19.08
Eileen A. Meyer, BA ’73, of
Berryville, VA 11.13.07
Joseph E. Thompson, EdD
’73, of Spanish Fork, UT
11.27.07
Ronald J. Christen, BA ’74,
of Hamburg, NY 01.08.08
Deborah J. Curtin, BA ’74, of
Miami, FL 08.11.08
Mitchell Draina, BS ’74, of
Ballston Lake, NY 05.05.08
Howard R. Goldstein,
MD ’74, of Cherry Hill, NJ
03.18.08
William J. Frawley, BA ’75, of
West Seneca, NY 07.04.08
Robert A. Hohti, BS ’75, of
Fort Mill, SC 11.23.07
Allan L. Korn, EdD ’75, of
Williamsville, NY 02.14.08
Anthony Pacella, BA ’75, of
Orchard Park, NY 05.13.08
John F. Riordan, MBA ’75, of
Oak Brook, IL 08.07.08
Harish R. Patel, BS ’76, of
Winfield, IL 09.08.07
Robert A. Schneid, BA ’76,
of Oceanside, NY 05.03.08
Joseph B. Testa, BS ’77, of
Pflugerville, TX 03.21.08
Marie S. Good, PhD ’78 , MA
’72 & JD ’50, of Buffalo, NY
06.20.08
George S. Vouros, BA ’78, of
Williamsville, NY 08.16.07
Charles J. Banks, MA ’79, of
Mumford, NY 06.22.08
William J. Lyons, MS ’79, of
Orchard Park, NY 05.21.08
80s
Patricia H. Hughes, EdM ’80,
of Holley, NY 04.22.07
Naushad M. Khimji, DDS
’80, of Akron, OH 06.19.07
David E. Clune, BS ’83, of
Califon, NJ 02.26.08
Ann C. Sist, MA ’84 & BA
’82, of Lake Jackson, TX
06.25.08
Joel K. Shugar, MD ’85, of
Perry, FL 05.26.08
J. Gregory Hoelscher, JD ’86,
of East Aurora, NY 04.16.08
Margaret E. Stratton, MS ’86
& BS ’70, of Hamburg, NY
07.22.08
Paul J. Kokoszka, BS ’87, of
Buffalo, NY 05.14.08
Beverly A. Parker, MS ’88, of
Lewiston, NY 06.20.07
90s
Richard L. Wing, PhD ’90, of
Portageville, NY 06.23.08
David H. Manka, BA ’92 &
MS ’82, of Tallmadge, OH
06.29.08
Lois A. Tipton, MLS ’92, of
Rochester, NY 03.19.07
Martha I. Bennett, MD
’94, of Silver Spring, MD
03.03.08
John W. Stevenson, MLS ’94,
of Astoria, NY 06.24.07
Trevor C. Poole, ME ’96 & BS
’82, of Snyder, NY 06.22.08
00s
Trevor J Houlahan, BA ’01, of
Snyder, NY 04.11.08
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 47

finalword
Food for Thought
By Samina Raja, Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning
Douglas Levere, BA ’89
Samina Raja is principal
or co-investigator
on several studies that
test the effects of the
built and food environments
on health. She
has written extensively
on food security and
health, and community
food systems and
urban planning.
Food sustains our bodies and accompanies
our celebrations. Eating and sharing food adds flavor
to life’s ordinary and extraordinary occasions.
Yet despite its central role in individual and community
life, the food system in the United States—
or the intricate web of actors, institutions and
resources that facilitate the production, manufacture,
distribution, consumption and disposal of
food—has been neglected by policymakers for far
too long. The consequences are serious, especially
for people with limited means.
An important factor is that consumers of food
are literally and metaphorically removed from
their sources of food. On average, food travels
about 1,500 miles from farm to fork, resulting in
greater transportation costs and energy usage.
Agribusinesses, which rely on hyper-industrial
models of food production, have replaced family
farmers as the dominant player in the American
food system.
Meanwhile, higher-calorie, processed and
low-nutrition foods are cheaper and more readily
available compared to higher-nutrition, low-calorie
alternatives. All this has grave consequences
for public health. Research shows that to derive
1 unit of energy (measured in megajoules) from
cookies we would have to pay about 20 cents on
average, whereas to obtain that same amount of
energy from carrots we would have to pay more
than four times this price.
Also troubling is the spatial dimension that
has emerged in U.S. food retail. In some neighborhoods,
the number of supermarkets and grocery
stores has declined precipitously. Those food
stores that do remain offer few healthful, affordable
foods, contrasted with the often more plentiful
snacks and cigarettes. Living in such neighborhoods—or
food deserts, as they are sometimes
called—impedes individuals’ ability to purchase
healthful foods, especially for those who lack access
to personal automobiles.
One way to improve the food system is through
a more thoughtful practice of urban planning,
given the profession’s role: Farmland preservation
impacts where and how much land for food
production is protected from development, zoning
codes regulate the location of food retail venues,
design of mass transit routes impacts whether
neighborhoods with low auto-ownerships rates are
able to access grocery stores, and so forth.
Yet urban planners in recent history have overlooked
this connection, as our profession has
focused on other issues. Fortunately, though, a
growing movement of community residents, urbanplanning
practitioners, policymakers and researchers
is beginning to recognize the urgent need to
repair and strengthen a community’s food system.
Documenting spatial disparities in the food
environment, its consequences on health and
how urban planners can facilitate the creation of
an improved community food system are a primary
focus of my research. For example, our
research team at UB mapped the spatial disparities
in the food environment in Erie County using
geographic information systems (GIS). We found
that predominantly African American neighborhoods
have about half the number of supermarkets
within walking distance as do predominantly white
neighborhoods.
On the other hand, we found an extensive network
of small independent food stores in these
neighborhoods that currently carry few healthy
options. We see these stores as an opportunity,
however. If networked with local farms, they could
be a venue for healthful produce in underserved
neighborhoods. They also can serve as a market for
struggling family farmers, who face considerable
challenges in keeping their businesses viable.
Rather than chasing after large supermarkets
for underserved neighborhoods, it is time to reinvest
in the existing food retail infrastructure there,
while recognizing the global implications of our
present-day food system, a fact that was recently
brought home by the rise in worldwide food prices.
48 UBTODAY Winter 2009 www.alumni.buffalo.edu

Reaching others
January 2009
Dear UB Today readers,
Here at the University at Buffalo, we’re working every day to improve how we serve our
students, our alumni and the many communities we reach in New York State and around
the world.
Our efforts include taking a careful look at what, how and when we communicate. We
want to provide relevant, interesting and timely information to our more than 200,000
alumni in 130 countries around the world. And we want to do it in ways that meet your
needs, while making wise use of resources.
The time is right for a fresh look at how we communicate. There are more ways than
ever to reach others. And the economic and environmental realities of our world require
us to be good stewards.
For these reasons, we have decided to not print a spring-summer 2009 issue of this
magazine. We intend to publish again in the fall.
We are proud of UB Today, and we know you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy
bringing it to you.
We very much want to stay connected with our loyal alumni and friends. We plan to
keep publishing our monthly alumni e-mail newsletter—@ UB—and providing you with
frequently updated news and information on the alumni Web site at www.alumni.buffalo.
edu.
Please visit us online—and be sure to give us your e-mail address if you have not
already done so at www.alumni.buffalo.edu/contact.
As part of UB’s ongoing efforts to improve all that we do, we are working with our volunteer
alumni leadership and colleagues from across the university to develop innovative,
effective ways to keep our alumni informed.
Watch for some exciting new developments in the months to come.
Thank you for your continued interest in, and support for, the University at Buffalo.
Sincerely,
Jay Friedman, EdM ’00 & BA ’86
Senior Associate Director
Office of Alumni Relations
Joseph Brennan, PhD ’96 & MA ’88
Associate Vice President
Office of University Communications

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