Award Presentations
Vital Partner Award
The Vital Partner Award honors outstanding companies whose strong leadership and positive relationships with the University at Buffalo extend beyond the campus, resulting in a partnership that benefits the region’s economy and improves the quality of life for residents in Upstate New York. These partners provide financial and advisory support to the university in addition to hiring graduates, mentoring interns, sponsoring entrepreneurial activities, and collaborating on research.
Past Vital Partner Award Winners
- Moog Inc.
- Delphi Corp.
- IBM
- Lockheed Martin
- Niagara Mohawk, a National Grid Co.
- Praxair Inc.
- Dorothy Gracz Price, B.S. ’49 in Industrial Engineering
2009 Recipient
Local industry innovator Greatbatch, Inc. is receiving the 2009 Vital Partner Company Award. This multimillion dollar company began with a single patent, developed by Wilson Greatbatch when he was an assistant professor of engineering at the University at Buffalo, and has become a leader in the implantable medical industry. Greatbatch exemplifies how industry/university partnerships benefit the Western New York economy.
Greatbatch’s relationship with the university has grown even stronger over the years. The company employs UB graduates and interns while its executives and professionals mentor students, collaborate on research projects and serve on various volunteer and advisory committees. The company and its leaders have supported the university, advocated on its behalf, and even more recently encouraged a top inventor, scientist and Greatbatch executive to return to campus as professor, researcher and scholar. Company President and CEO Tom Hook says his company is committed to investing in technology through direct research and development efforts as well as through partnering with leading educational institutions such as UB.
Greatbatch , Inc., located in Clarence, is a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacture of critical components for implantable medical devices. Additionally Greatbatch supplies commercial power sources for other technically demanding applications.
Reaching Others Award
The Reaching Others Award (formerly known as the Igniting Ideas Award) is given to a person(s) who has helped the university work with various external partners on behalf of the broader community. This award recognizes the winners persistence, energy and enthusiasm in developing partnerships that boost our region’s economy whether through more jobs, increased entrepreneurial activity or expanded resources. It honors the awardee’s vision, planning and support of UB as a key factor in future success of Western New York.
Past Reaching Others Award Winners
- Sherwood Boehlert, U.S. Representative
- Michael D. Capellas, Chair and CEO, Compaq
- Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Senator
- David Langstaff, President and CEO, Veridian
- George E. Pataki, New York State Governor
- Crystal D. Peoples, New York State Assembly Member
- Mary Lou Rath, New York State Senator
- Thomas Reynolds, U.S. Representative
- Robin Schimminger, New York State Assemblyman
- Charles E. “Chuck” Schumer, U.S. Senator
- Paul A. Tokasz, New York State Assembly Majority Leader
- Dale M. Volker, New York State Senator
2009 Recipient
To be announced.
UB Faculty Entrepreneur Award
This award honors someone who goes beyond vision to transform an idea, invention, or discovery into a product or service that improves the quality of life and benefits the region’s economy. In addition, the entrepreneur will have demonstrated the ability to work effectively with community partners in solving a significant problem of individuals or of society.
Past UB Faculty Entrepreneur Award Winners
- Edmund Egan, UB Professor and cofounder ONY Inc.
- Bruce Holm, UB Professor and cofounder ONY Inc.
2009 Recipient
Dr. John Eisner, D.D.S., Ph.D., founder of Academic Management Systems (AMS) and associate professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatric and Community Dentistry, UB School of Dental Medicine, is the winner of the 2009 UB Faculty Entrepreneur Award.
A software company first developed to support the UB Health Science Center, AMS now boasts nearly 600 institutional customers in five countries. Eisner noted that “the key to our success has been our willingness to work closely with our customers to constantly improve our products and our support services.”