UB Alumni Association honors six for wide-ranging contributions

A former member of the SUNY Board of Trustees, the speaker of the Canadian House of Commons and an Emmy Award-winning director were among those honored at the Alumni Association's annual awards dinner May 1.

The Samuel P. Capen Award
Awarded in recognition of notable and meritorious contributions to the university; the association's most prestigious award.

Nancy H. Nielsen, M.D. '76, is a former member of the SUNY Board of Trustees and the first woman to be elected president of the Buffalo General Hospital medical staff. Past president of the Erie County Medical Society, she currently serves as regional medical director for the Board of Professional Medical Conduct, New York State Department of Health. A specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases, she was influential in providing guidance to the future of SUNY's teaching hospitals and UB's nine-hospital teaching consortium.

The Walter P. Cooke Award
Awarded in recognition of notable and meritorious contributions to UB by a non-alumnus.

James P. Nolan, distinguished service professor of medicine, is an internationally recognized researcher and physician in the field of liver disease. A major investigator of bacterial endo- toxins and their interaction with liver cells, Nolan has published more than 100 scientific papers related to liver research and issues of medical workforce planning and national health policy. He is a former councilor and president of the Association of Professors of Medicine and a leader in the American College of Physicians. He holds bachelor and medical degrees from Yale University.

Clifford C. Furnas Memorial Award
Awarded to a graduate of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences or the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics who has distinguished himself or herself in the field of science.

Erich Bloch, B.S. '52, the former director of the National Science Foundation, serves as Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Competi tiveness, a nonprofit, private organization whose goal is to improve the country's competitiveness in the global marketplace. In 1985, Bloch received the National Medal of Technology from former President Ronald Reagan, and has also received 11 honorary degrees, including one from UB. He currently chairs the Dean's Advisory Council of the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Distinguished Alumni Awards
Given in recognition of exceptional career accomplishments, university or community service, or research and scholarly activities.

The Hon. Gilbert Parent, Ed.M. '72, speaker of the Canadian House of Commons since 1994, has been a member of Parliament since 1974. A member of the Liberal Party, he represents Welland, St. Catherines and Thorold. An Ontario native and resident of Ottawa, he has represented Canada at the United Nations and several congresses of the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

John Patterson, B.A. '67, won an Emmy in 1987 for the television movie "A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story." Patterson has also directed episodes of "Cagney & Lacey," "Hill Street Blues," "Hart to Hart," "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and "Magnum P.I." He earned the Nancy Susan Reynolds Award in 1985 for an episode of "Hill Street Blues," and the Cowboy and Rodeo Association Best Western for Television Award in 1987 for the television series pilot "Independence." The late Jack Webb, of "Dragnet" fame, gave him his first break in television.

Jane Flanigen Griffin, Ph.D. '74, is associate research director at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute in Buffalo, where she heads the department of molecular biophysics. An expert in the field of X-ray crystallography, Griffin is a member of the U.S. National Committee for Crystallography. She is author or coauthor of more than 160 scientific papers, abstracts and book chapters.