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from the UBAA President
Alumni can help maintain UB’s momentum amid fiscal challenges
Last 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 record-setting 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.
Marc A. Adler, MA ’83, MBA ’82 & BA ’79
President, UB Alumni Association
marc@flynnandfriends.com; 716-523-1957
UB in the News
USA Today interviews UB accounting professor on Eastman Kodak's bankruptcy filing
An article in USA Today on Eastman Kodak?s bankruptcy filing, which has caused huge cuts to pay, benefits and insurance coverage for retirees and employees, quotes Martha Salzman, assistant professor of accounting and law in the UBSchool of Management.
NPR interviews UB professor on Pres. Obama?s plan to reduce gun violence
Steven Dubovsky, chair of the Department of Psychiatry in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, was interviewed live on NPR?s ?Here & Now,? which airs on 170 NPR affiliates nationwide, about President Barack Obama?s $500 million plan to reduce gun violence.
Buffalo News front-page story features UB study on use of stem cells in MS
A front-page story in the Buffalo News reports on a new study soon to be underway at UB and two other upstate medical centers to test a procedure that infuses stem cells into the brains of patients with multiple sclerosis to repair damage to their central nervous systems. The article quotes Bianca Guttman-Weinstock, co-principal investigator on the study. ?Expectations have to be kept under control,? she said. ?You?re not going to implant stem cells in people and suddenly see them running around.?