Global Reunion Conference

Internationally recognized as an accomplished researcher and transformative higher education leader, Tripathi was appointed the 15th president of the University at Buffalo in 2011. He was one of the principal creators of the UB 2020 long-range academic plan, and has led the university to achieve significant growth in research and scholarly activity, enhanced student quality and diversity, and an expanded international presence. Building on this strong foundation, Tripathi’s vision for UB’s future focuses on moving the university into the highest ranks of the nation’s leading research universities through expanding its reach and impact locally as well as globally. Tripathi serves on the College Football Playoff Board of Managers and has served as chair of the Mid-American Conference Council of Presidents as well as on the boards of the NCAA Division I and NCAA Board of Governors. In addition, he has served on the boards of the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and as a member of the Reimagine NY Commission. Among his numerous community leadership roles, Tripathi was appointed the inaugural co-chair of the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council in 2011, a position he held until 2017. The first international-born president in UB’s history, Tripathi received his doctorate in computer science from the University of Toronto.

Bowker’s research program focuses on the roles that close interpersonal relationships (e.g., friendships, parent-child relationships) play in social and emotional development and psychopathology during late childhood and early adolescence. She is especially interested in how peer relationships function as risk and protective factors in the lives of children and adolescents who are considered at risk for such internalizing and externalizing difficulties as anxiety, depression and aggression. Her work includes longitudinal analyses of peer nomination and self-report data, along with laboratory observations of adolescents and their best friends. Other current research projects examine the importance of time and place in understanding friendship and victimization experiences (the TRIP study, funded by a National Science Foundation grant), the developmental significance and internalizing consequences of temporal changes in peer relationships (e.g., losses of friendships), the emergence and impact of romantic experiences, such as other-sex crushes, and the peer and psychological correlates of social behaviors across cultures. She is the author of numerous publications on these topics.

Chew’s PhD dissertation research was in performance of international business mergers & acquisition performance. Her interests include effective management of global business management, sustainable environment and urban air mobility (she was business development consultant for Volocopter GmbH air taxi project in Singapore).             

Dillon’s research interests lie in the areas of violent extremism, cybercrime and how these two areas have the potential to overlap. Coming from a behavioral sciences angle, she has presented at many seminars, briefed the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Home Team Division officers and published governmental reports. She is a contributor to the book “Combating Violent Extremism and Radicalization in the Digital Era.” After graduating from UB, Leevia earned a master’s degree and doctoral degree in criminal justice from John Jay College and a master’s degree in criminal justice from the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Frank’s area of expertise includes facial expressions, emotion, interpersonal deception and violence in extremist groups. He has received funding from The National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, and has consulted with or trained virtually all U.S. federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as local/state and select allied foreign countries. He is one of the original members and senior fellow of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit’s Terrorism Research and Analysis Project, has presented briefings on deception and counter-terrorism to the U.S. Congress as well as the National Academies of Sciences, and is the co-developer of a patented automated computer system to read facial expressions. He was a featured expert on the Curiosity Stream series "Inside the Mind of a Con Artist" and is a frequent contributor to national and international media outlets. Frank received his PhD in social psychology from Cornell University. He is a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities.    

Hong graduated from Xiamen University (Fujian, China) in 1982 and was one of a few hundred Chinese students chosen for further graduate training in the United States via the CUSBEA program. He received his PhD from the University at Buffalo and was a postdoctoral fellow there before he joined IMCB in Singapore as a principal investigator in 1989. He was the recipient of National Science Award in 1999 in Singapore. He is a professor and executive director of IMCB. He serves as the editor-in-chief of Bioscience Reports and is on the editorial board of TRAFFIC.

Since being named dean of the University at Buffalo School of Management in August 2022, Iyer has championed key initiatives for the school, including the business of climate change; business analytics; the social impact of management; and innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership. A highly accomplished scholar in operations and supply chain management, Iyer has published five books and more than 50 journal articles and book chapters. His work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Coast Guard, Indiana Department of Transportation and others.

Iyer has served as president of the Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society of INFORMS and as an editor or editorial board member for numerous journals. Iyer was an American Council of Education Fellow, a visiting professor at the Wharton School and MIT Operations Research Center, and a Purdue University Faculty Scholar. In industry, he has consulted and provided executive education for such companies as General Electric, Daymon Associates, Dade Behring, Larsen & Toubro, Quint Wellington and Chromcraft Revington.

With over 25 years’ experience in sales, global account management and team leadership, Jayamohan has helped tech companies establish a strong growth trajectory in the Asia Pacific region (?) by delivering double-digit growth and opening up new markets. His ability to straddle both the business and technological ends of the digital landscape has enabled him to work on complex projects in the public sector, oil and gas, utilities, high technology, automotive, logistics and transportation sectors. He is passionate about the use of big data, temporal and geospatial technologies to build scalable platforms, applications and solutions. With new concepts like machine learning, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (all of which are powered by high-level data analytics) gaining momentum, Jayamohan is excited to be part of the generation witnessing—and harnessing—the power of disruptive technology.

Kwak’s research centers on the role of communication media – social media, mobile telephony, and other digital platforms—in civic and political engagement. His work has appeared in leading publications in the field, including Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Political Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, New Media and Society, Political Research Quarterly, and Asian Journal of Communication and received numerous top paper awards at major conferences. His recent studies analyze the patterns of social media use and their influence on community involvement, deliberative openness, political persuasion, and political participation. Previously, Dr. Kwak served as professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Media and director of the Nam center for Korean studies at the University of Michigan.

Lee studies gender, family and the life course in a comparative perspective. Her research leverages variation in social context (e.g., changes in policy or government, differences across time, differences between countries, differences among states) to better understand how social context shapes individual beliefs, behaviors, emotional well-being and family outcomes. In other research, she investigates education and inequality among children and adolescents. Her research has been supported by the Japan Foundation, the Spencer Foundation and the Fulbright Foundation.

Lewis is a is a global leader in engineering design, system optimization and advanced manufacturing. Prior to being named dean, Lewis served as chair of UB's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, where he was also the Moog Professor of Innovation. He is also the director of UB’s Community of Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART), an initiative that harnesses the strengths of faculty across the university to develop advanced manufacturing and design processes including autonomy, intelligence and materials technologies.

He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and has served on the National Academies Panel on Benchmarking the Research Competitiveness of the United States in Mechanical Engineering. He has published over 200 refereed journal articles and conference proceedings and has been principal or co-principal investigator on grants totaling more than $33 million.

Active in the profession, Lewis chaired ASME’s Mechanical Engineering Department Head Executive Committee. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his teaching and research excellence from several professional societies, including ASME, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

At National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum, Lim is responsible for the Innovation and Technology (I&T) group, which aims to develop better ways for visitors and staff to experience the gallery, through design thinking, optimized business processes and cutting-edge technology. Lim is responsible for leading numerous teams, including YLab.sg (Startup Accelerator), CoLabX (In-house Innovation), Dev/Ops (Software Development), Data/Ops (Business Optimization) and Infra/Ops (Sustainability at Scale). With an academic background in communication theory, his research has ranged from public deliberation in internet-regulated China to social capital among online non-profit organizations. His practice includes conducting social media strategy workshops for academic, commercial and non-profit organizations.

Ngoh applies data analytics and AI to measure and optimize efficiency and effectiveness, as well as extract business intelligence to guide management decision making. At SIM Global Education, he was a member of the core team that initiated the business analytics program, creating value across departments. Adopting visualization tools, data analytics and AI to derive recommendations for management that result in actionable insights.

Ophir studies political and science communication (media effects, persuasion, misinformation, conspiracy theories and extremism) using mixed-method approaches including computational text mining, network analysis, experiments and surveys. Ophir’s work has been published in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Communication, and Communication Methods and Measures . His coauthored book, “Democracy amid Crises: Polarization, Pandemic, Protests, & Persuasion” was published in 2022 by Oxford University Press. His sole-authored book “Misinformation & Society” is expected to be published in 2025. Head of the Media Effects, Misinformation, and Extremism (MEME) lab, Ophir is a member of UB’s Center for Information Integrity and is a distinguished fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2023, he received the Exceptional Scholar: Young Investigator Award from UB.

As leader of UB’s largest and most diverse academic unit, Schulze has increased research expenditure in the college by 20% and has secured major investments to enhance its disciplinary excellence, including funds to support the college’s first two female SUNY Empire Innovation Professors. While championing disciplinary excellence, she has also invested in programs that approach critical present problems from a variety of disciplinary vantage points. The college’s new Department of Environment and Sustainability is a testament to that approach. Schulze has been part of an ongoing deans’ initiative to raise PhD TA stipends across the university and improve PhD completion rates and time to degree. An advocate for the value of experiential learning, she has raised funds to provide students access to important career building, learn-by-doing opportunities. She is co-principal investigator on UB’s first ever Mellon Foundation grant ($3.1 million) to develop a department of Indigenous Studies at UB that honors the university’s long-standing commitment to training generations of Indigenous scholars, both undergraduate and graduate.

Selvaraju is a master’s student at the National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University.

Suresh’s work is primarily in the field of manufacturing and operations management. He has published widely in academic and professional journals and has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences. Suresh has served in industry as a systems analyst specializing in manufacturing information systems applications and continues to act as consultant to several manufacturing organizations.

With a PhD in economic geography, Tan’s research interests are global finance and their implications for retail investing, financial inclusion, and finance platforms and technologies (fintech).

Yang studies how communication behaviors and decision-making processes are influenced by the way people perceive risk. She has conducted research in numerous environmental and health contexts, including climate change, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution, vaccination and COVID-19.  She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and received numerous top paper awards at professional meetings. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, among others. She was awarded the 2020 Hillier Krieghbaum Under 40 Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication  and the 2021 Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award by the Society for Risk Analysis . In 2024, she received the KCHC Lewis Donohew Outstanding Scholar in Health Communication Award. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

With a PhD in mechanical engineering, followed by MBA from UB, Yeo’s interests have gravitated toward protection of intellectual property in global businesses. He is currently a leading IP consultant involved in technology innovation, IP valuation and IP commercialization. He has more than 20 years of experience and has consulted with over 100 companies in Asia. 

Yuan specializes in aging and life course theory, or the study of the path or journey people take through life as defined by major life stages. Yuan is also interested in medical sociology and cross-national studies. After completing her doctorate in sociology at the University at Buffalo, she was a visiting assistant professor of sociology at Wake Forest University. Her research focuses on comprehending public opinion regarding health care systems in the United States and globally, employing a life course perspective and utilizing mixed methods. Her work has appeared in Health Policy, Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, and the International Journal of Comparative Sociology, among others. She is currently researching the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults in Singapore and the United States.