UB to hold commencement ceremonies

Some 5,680 students are candidates to receive degrees and certifications during UB’s 2018 commencement ceremonies being held May 4 through May 23.

UB no longer holds a traditional University Commencement, instead splitting the large ceremony honoring College of Arts and Sciences’ baccalaureate recipients into two separate ceremonies differentiated by departments.

UB’s 2018 commencement seasons begins on May 4 with the ceremony for students graduating from the MD program in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. Delivering remarks will be Hannah A. Valantine, chief officer for scientific workforce diversity at the National Institutes of Health and senior investigator in the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. President Satish K. Tripathi will confer degrees.

Michael Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School, and Laura Hubbard, vice president for finance and administration, will receive the UB President’s Medal in recognition of their extraordinary service to the university.

UB alumnus Robert Peter Gale, an internationally renowned hematologist, immunologist, molecular biologist and cancer researcher, will receive a SUNY honorary doctorate of science at the ceremony.

The remainder of the commencement schedule:

• School of Dental Medicine: 6 p.m. May 4, Center for the Arts. New York State Sen. Catharine M. Young will speak. Tripathi will confer degrees.
• Graduate School of Education: 9 a.m. May 18, Center for the Arts. No speaker is planned. Tripathi will confer degrees.
• School of Nursing: 9 a.m. May 18, Alumni Arena, North Campus. Speaking will be Mary Alice Hall, vice president of clinical education and professional practice, Kaleida Health System. Provost Charles F. Zukoski will confer degrees.
• College of Arts and Sciences (graduate): 1 p.m. May 18, Center for the Arts. No speaker is planned. Tripathi will confer degrees. The UB President’s Medal will be awarded to Cristanne Miller, SUNY Distinguished Professor and the Edward H. Butler Professor of Literature in the Department of English.
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (graduate): 1 p.m. May 18, Alumni Arena. The speaker will be Victor Bahl, Distinguished Scientist and director of mobile and networking research, Microsoft. Zukoski will confer degrees.
• School of Architecture and Planning: 5 p.m. May 18, Center for the Arts. The speaker will be Daniel B. Hess, professor and chair of the UB Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Tripathi will confer degrees.
• School of Management (graduate): 5 p.m. May 18, Alumni Arena. No speaker is planned. Zukoski will confer degrees.
• School of Social Work: 9 a.m. May 19, Center for the Arts. Rahwa Ghirmatzion, director of programs at PUSH Buffalo, will speak. Tripathi will confer degrees.
• School of Management (undergraduate): 9 a.m. May 19, Alumni Arena. No speaker is planned. Zukoski will confer degrees.
• School of Public Health and Health Professions: 1 p.m. May 19, Center for the Arts. The speaker will be Nancy Nielsen, senior associate dean for health policy, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. Zukoski will confer degrees.
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (undergraduate): 2:30 p.m. May 19, Alumni Arena. Gina Lee-Glauser, chief research and scholarship officer at Clarkson University, will speak. Tripathi will confer degrees.
• School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences: 5 p.m. May 19, Center for the Arts. No speaker is planned. Tripathi will confer degrees. Alumnus Gordon L. Amidon, Charles R. Walgreen Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan, will receive a SUNY honorary doctorate of science.
• Biomedical Sciences (undergraduate and graduate, including Roswell Park Graduate Division): 9:30 a.m. May 20, Center for the Arts. The speaker will be Lauren Bakaletz, professor of pediatrics and otolaryngology and director of the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. Zukoski will confer degrees.
• College of Arts and Sciences (undergraduate arts, natural sciences and mathematics, and interdisciplinary programs): 9:30 a.m. May 20, Alumni Arena. Troy D. Wood, associate professor of chemistry, will speak. Tripathi will confer degrees. Students and families are encouraged to share photos, memories and best wishes to social media using the hashtag #UBClassOf2018; those messages will stream live in the arena.
  
• College of Arts and Sciences (undergraduate humanities and social sciences): 3 p.m. May 20, Alumni Arena. Wendy Quinton, clinical associate professor of psychology, will speak. Zukoski will confer degrees. Students and families can use the hashtag #UBClassOf2018; those messages will stream live in the arena.
  
• School of Law: 3 p.m. May 20, Center for the Arts. The speaker will be alumnus Terrance Connors, partner, Connors LLP.  Tripathi will confer degrees. Alumna Margaret Wong, an international leader in the area of immigration law, will receive a SUNY honorary doctorate of law.
• Educational Opportunity Center: 7 p.m. May 23, Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus. The speaker will be Kevin Smith, deputy commissioner, adult career and continuing education services (ACCES), New York State Education Department.