Longtime UBNow editor ‘pivots with grace’ one more time

For UBNow’s longtime editor Sue Wuetcher, the word that keeps popping up when describing her decades of editing and writing for UB’s Division of University Communications is “standards.” It was in her administrative biography when she won her SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service last June. Her close colleagues use it when asked to pinpoint her true value. It was prominent in her retirement announcement. Even her husband says those professional journalistic “standards” are what she is most proud of.

Wuetcher — writer/editor/problem-solver/role model/innovator in University Communications for nearly 40 years — steps down this month from directing the university’s primary internal communications platform. She has shaped and guided, as well as hammered out every detail for the Reporter and its successor, UBNow, since 1999.

Those standards are essential to understanding what is so special about Wuetcher — and why her pending retirement is such a big deal. Wuetcher’s defense of those standards has been relentless. Those standards remained firm and unblinking when working with writers, UB faculty and staff, and administrators. These standards were why her colleagues — maybe without meaningful exception — respect Wuetcher. It’s why people want to be featured in UBNow. It’s why she won that SUNY Chancellor’s Award last year. Why the celebration of her transition comes with a sincere sense of loss. It’s like watching a superstar call it quits when she is still at the top of her game.

“Sue’s editorship of UBNow — and previously the UB Reporter — has been distinguished by the exceptionally high standards she set for accuracy, integrity and quality,” says John Della Contrada, vice president for university communications, who has worked with Wuetcher for 30 years.

“In a constantly evolving environment, Sue brought remarkable care, precision and professionalism to complex editorial demands, skillfully managing shifting deadlines, breaking news and in-depth storytelling about UB’s people and priorities.

“Sue has made a lasting impact on UB — helping to inform, connect and strengthen our university community through her thoughtful leadership of our most important internal communications platforms,” Della Contrada adds.

There were many lasting moments. Wuetcher covered the Dala Lama’s visit to campus in 2006. He smiled at her when they encountered each other in a hallway in O’Brian Hall (so she has that going for her). She remembers her first UB story placement in The New York Times while serving as an editor in the News Bureau (now Media Relations), a story about a UB anthropologist who did groundbreaking research on fingerprints. Wuetcher is particularly proud of the work she and her staff did during COVID. “Folks looked to us to keep them informed,” she says. “And we delivered.”

University-wide accolades were institutional and personal.

“Wuetcher’s responsiveness, judgment and flexibility have become hallmarks of her leadership,” the university wrote when she won her Chancellor’s Award last June. “She adeptly manages shifting schedules and urgent deadlines, accommodating breaking news and complicated feature articles for UBNow with what her co-workers describe as unwavering understanding, accuracy and integrity.”

Kristen Kowalski, designer for UBNow who has worked with Wuetcher for almost 27 years, praised her ability to “pivot as needed” to changes in UB administrations and priorities. “Sue handled this with grace,” says Kowalski. “Whether the change was technological or ideological, Sue made the shift seamlessly. Sue made it happen while preserving her journalistic standards.”

Wuetcher stepping away means Kowalski will miss things.

“I will miss Sue’s vast institutional knowledge,” Kowalski says. “Not only does Sue know virtually everyone who works at UB — past and present — she knows when they came here, who they’ve worked with and for a long time, whose children attended the UB day care center!

“I will miss Sue’s sense of humor and, particularly, her wicked laugh! Sue being more of a steady and sensible person, it was always gratifying to prompt that booming laugh from her.”

More than anything, Kowalski says she will miss “‘sharing a brain,’ as Sue always put it.”

“Often, Sue and I would be thinking of the same approach to a story, so when she suggested a particular image, I would have already selected it. Or if I thought to suggest a piece of content, I’d find it was already in the budget. I don’t know how many others can claim this type of symbiosis in their work relationships, but it is something I truly appreciate about ours.”

Wuetcher’s final day at UB is Friday, May 22.  Today’s issue of UBNow is among the last she will edit.

Wuetcher’s professional honors include the Public Relations Society of America Buffalo Niagara Bronze Excalibur Award and SUNY Council for University Advancement Professionals Award for Excellence. She has served as a Professional Staff Senate (PSS) senator, a member of the PSS Executive Committee and a board member for the UB Child Care Center. 

After May 22, David Hill, current director of media relations, will assume the full-time role of editor of UBNow, a position in which he has frequently served as Wuetcher’s trusted backup. Grace Gerass, internal communications manager who currently edits UBNow’s monthly student edition in addition to her other responsibilities, will become UBNow’s associate editor, serving as Hill’s backup.

Wuetcher was a reporter and assistant city editor at the Binghamton Sun-Bulletin before moving to Buffalo with her husband, Phil Fairbanks, former Buffalo News reporter who was also known for his professional standards. They have two daughters, Leah, who received a BS and DPT from UB, and Laura, who earned a BS and MPH from Tulane University. They also have rescued Cosmo, who has become the family dog and companion to all.

Wuetcher and her husband plan to travel soon. Worthy of note, she will become “assistant camp counselor” at her North Buffalo home (aka “Camp Bow Wow,” Wuetcher says), where her husband now looks after Cos and his cousin, Maizy.