Welcome
UB Believers recognize the positive impact
of UB on its communities
President of the University at Buffalo, with a Spring Semester welcome to the UB community worldwide.
I’m here today in the latest addition to UB’s growing Downtown presence. This past semester UB purchased the former M. Wile building on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, and we are now in the process of transforming it into the UB Downtown Gateway, a literal and figurative doorway connecting the University and the city.
With the recent opening of the Ross Eye Institute and our announced plans for a new Educational Opportunity Center right next door to the Gateway, UB soon will have six buildings in the Downtown core.
“When you visit campus in the coming years, you will see a school well on its way to becoming a model university for the 21st century.” President
And that’s only the beginning. Last month we held a forum where over 600 community members gathered to share ideas about the big changes that will be taking place across all three of our campuses.
This is the first time in 30 years that UB has taken such an ambitious approach to creating campus spaces that are warm, inviting, and conducive to education, research, and service.
When you visit campus in the coming years, you will see a school well on its way to becoming a model university for the 21st century.
What’s guiding this burst of excitement and change is UB 2020, our plan for becoming one of the very top public research universities in the country.
This year we launched a four-year Honors College and are implementing “learning academies” and research experiences that will offer our undergraduates one of the most unique and transformative educations anywhere.
Everywhere you turn you’ll see evidence of UB 2020 in action. From our comprehensive campus planning, to our 100 net new faculty hired in the last three years, our most distinguished incoming class ever, even our success on the playing field.
I’m happy to say that this year our football team won a share of the Mid-American Conference Eastern Division championship. Nice going Bulls!
Much of what we need to continue implementing UB2020 is in our own hands. But some of it is not.
To reach UB 2020s potential we need help.
- We need strong and consistent state support.
- We need policy changes that will allow UB and all of the SUNY system to flourish.
- We need the continued generosity and vision of our donors.
And above all, we need members of the UB family like you to lend your voice and make sure that what we’re doing here at UB does not remain a secret.
This is the motivation behind “UB Believers,” a group of individuals who recognize the positive impact of UB on its communities, and who are dedicated to raising awareness of its value among elected officials and other policy makers.
This group represents the full spectrum of the extended UB community, including faculty, staff, and students, as well as growing numbers of alumni, university friends, community members, parents, and others who believe in UB’s vision and are committed to helping to bring it to fruition.
As we head into a new year, nearly 4,000 individuals just like you have become UB Believers. I hope you will take a couple minutes to join as well and lend your voice to our university’s collective future.
You can find out more and sign up at Buffalo.edu/YourUB .
Working together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.
Sincerely,
John B. Simpson
President
