Brashear Among Four to Receive UB President’s Medal

She joines UB Provost A. Scott Weber, PhD; faculty member Andrew Whittaker, PhD; and Gregory M. Bauer, chairman of the UB Foundation Board of Trustees; in receiving the honor.

As previously announced, President Satish K. Tripathi, PhD, will receive the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal, UB’s highest honor.

Also this commencement season, SUNY honorary doctorates will be presented to National Football League executive Jonathan S. Beane, Washington University epidemiologist Graham A. Colditz, UB alumnus and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Marcus Yam and philanthropist Mary McLean Wilson.

The UB President’s Medal, first presented in 1990, recognizes “outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts, contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership or any other major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and the quality of life in the UB community.”

The President’s Medal will be presented to Brashear during the commencement ceremony for the Jacobs School on May 1.

Whittaker, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, will receive the President’s Medal at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ graduate commencement ceremony on May 16.

Weber, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, and a professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, will receive the President’s Medal at the engineering school’s undergraduate ceremony on May 16.

Bauer will receive the medal at the School of Management’s undergraduate ceremony on May 15.

Allison Brashear is an internationally distinguished neurologist and academic leader who is ushering in a new era for UB’s health sciences enterprise, marked by research expansion and rising national recognition.

Since joining UB in 2021, she has strengthened the Jacobs School by recruiting research-focused faculty, expanding multidisciplinary collaborations and advancing clinical and translational science across Western New York. Under her leadership, the school has achieved sustained growth in NIH and other external funding, elevating its competitiveness and visibility among research‑intensive academic medical centers.

Elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2025, Brashear is widely regarded for her scientific contributions and values-driven leadership shaping medical science, health care delivery and public health.

Recognized worldwide as an authority on ATP1A3-related disorders, she leads an NIH-funded, multi‑institutional program on rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism, advancing recognition of this rare disease and improving diagnosis and care. Her career includes leadership of NIH- and industry-sponsored clinical trials. She was lead author of a pivotal study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on botulinum toxin for post‑stroke spasticity. She edited the first book on spasticity and has completed 56 clinical trials that contributed to three FDA-approved medications — work that has improved outcomes for millions.

Beyond her research, Brashear is a national leader in academic medicine, serving on the boards of the Association of American Medical Colleges and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation, with prior service on the NIH Scientific Management Review Board and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Committed to championing women in medicine through mentorship and leadership development, she serves on the WNY Women’s Foundation board.

A highly collaborative leader, excellent UB citizen and ambassador, A. Scott Weber is provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. He previously served as vice president for student life, senior vice provost for academic affairs and dean of undergraduate education. A UB faculty member since 1983, he is a former chair of the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering.

Weber is dedicated to fostering student, faculty and staff success. To this end, he has emphasized curricular innovation, timely degree progression, postgraduation outcomes and excellence in interdisciplinary research grounded in disciplinary accomplishment.

As provost, Weber focuses on empowering academic units and faculty to achieve President Satish K. Tripathi’s vision for academic excellence. Through institutional investments, he has diversified and grown UB’s faculty in key areas and prioritized faculty excellence and honors, leading to an impressive increase in prestigious faculty awards.

Weber was critical in driving UB’s recent enrollment growth, introducing innovations to help students thrive at UB and beyond. He led Finish in 4, UB’s nationally acclaimed program to encourage timely undergraduate degree progression, and revision of the general education curriculum. He also enhanced financial and career planning, increased advising and tutoring, and reorganized programs to improve student persistence.

As part of the Heart of the Campus plan, Weber moved to upgrade facilities critical to the student experience, including libraries, and was critical to UB realizing One World Café, a destination for dining, studying and socializing. A champion of UB’s distinctive programs, he grew the Honors College, served as co-principal investigator on the grant for the Startup & Innovation Collaboratory powered by Blackstone LaunchPad (CoLab) and established the Center for Writing Excellence and the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships. 

An elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, Andrew Whittaker is internationally renowned for advancing performance-based earthquake engineering, seismic isolation and damping systems for buildings, bridges and other structures, and for blast and impact engineering. He serves as director of UB’s Institute for Bridge Engineering and interim director of the Stephen Still Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics.

Whittaker’s work has significantly advanced the safety of infrastructure around the world. He has developed seismic protective devices and systems, characterizing seismic hazard, performance-based seismic design and other mission-critical systems and technologies.

Whittaker has conducted extensive research on the seismic resilience of nuclear power plants and is considered a leading expert on the structural design of next-generation nuclear reactors. He chaired the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Nuclear Standards Committee (2015-25) and co-chairs the ASCE 92 committee. He was also a member of the 2024 White House working group on Nuclear Power Project Management and Delivery, and has prepared contractor reports and a topical report on seismic isolation for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Whittaker is a fellow of ASCE, its Structural Engineering Institute and the American Concrete Institute. He has received ASCE’s Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. Award, Walter P. Moore Jr. Award, Nathan Newmark Medal and Ernest Howard Award, and was the inaugural recipient of the Untermyer & Cisler Reactor Technology Medal from the American Nuclear Society. In 2025, he was one of 11 individuals recognized as distinguished members of ASCE, the highest honor the society bestows upon civil engineers. The same year, he received an honorary doctorate in engineering from the University of Melbourne.

Gregory M. Bauer, BS ’82, chairs the board of trustees for the UB Foundation, the private, not-for-profit educational corporation that supports and promotes the activities and programs of the university. An alumnus of the School of Management and a former UB varsity hockey player, Bauer is dedicated to giving back to his alma mater. Appointed to the UBF board in 2009 and serving as its chair since 2017, he is a member of UBF’s executive and finance committees. He also served on the steering committee for Boldly Buffalo, the largest and most ambitious fundraising campaign in the university’s history.

In 2024, Bauer and his wife, Joanne, BS ’82 — whom he met at UB — received the Samuel P. Capen Award from the UB Alumni Association in recognition of meritorious contributions that influence the growth and improvement of UB and inspire others to support the university. In 2014, the couple served as co-chairs of the annual UB Scholarship Gala.

Bauer is president, CEO and co-founder of Employer Services Corp., a human resources and employment administration outsourcing firm headquartered in Amherst. Under his leadership, ESC has grown into the premier professional employer organization in the Northeast, serving hundreds of businesses in more than 40 states. In 2018, he added a sister company, Meliora Partners, which provides people-centered, data-driven continuous improvement solutions.

Bauer is also a founding trustee of the Charles D. and Mary A. Bauer Foundation, which provides support to a variety of organizations and institutions focused on education in Western New York and across the country. He served on the board of the nonprofit philanthropic organization until 2023, when he stepped down as part of the succession plan for the next generation of trustees.

The Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal is presented annually in public recognition of a person who has, in Norton’s words, “performed some great thing which is identified with Buffalo … a great civic or political act, a great book, a great work of art, a great scientific achievement or any other thing which, in itself, is truly great and ennobling, and which dignifies the performer and Buffalo in the eyes of the world.”

Satish K. Tripathi will receive the medal at the College of Arts and Sciences’ ceremony for undergraduates in the arts, natural sciences and mathematics on May 17.

The longest-serving president in UB’s modern era, Tripathi has led the university through a transformative period of productivity and impact marked by impressive growth in its research portfolio, a dramatically enhanced educational experience and extensive engagement with the region and world.

Together, these achievements have significantly elevated UB’s institutional standing. During Tripathi’s presidency, UB has risen 22 spots in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of U.S. public universities and 44 spots among public and private universities. In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul designated UB a New York State flagship.

Sponsored research expenditures increased 65% during Tripathi’s tenure, and the university secured numerous selective grants in frontier disciplines. In 2024, UB was named the home of Empire AI, a public-private consortium placing the state at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution. In building up UB’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, Tripathi also helped the university generate robust economic development in the region and state.

Through the master plan Tripathi implemented, UB is revitalizing the South Campus as the locus of professional education and creating a sense of community in the heart of the North Campus. The 2017 move of the Jacobs School to the Downtown Campus catalyzed Buffalo’s life sciences economy and contributed to the city’s renaissance.

As UB’s first internationally born president, Tripathi has burnished the university’s global reputation. He formalized partnerships with 45 international institutions, bringing the total number of such alliances to 120. Throughout his presidency, UB has ranked among the top 30 U.S. universities for hosting international students.

Tripathi has overseen unprecedented fundraising at UB. The Boldly Buffalo campaign, concluded in 2024, raised a record $1.1 billion, supporting student scholarships, faculty research and infrastructure enhancements.

Jonathan S. Beane, MBA ’98, JD ’98, is the National Football League’s senior vice president for league leadership and inclusion. Regarded as a visionary leader, he has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to social justice and made a profound impact on corporate culture.

Beane will receive a SUNY honorary degree in laws at the School of Law’s commencement ceremony on May 17.

He assumed his role with the NFL in 2020, spearheading the league’s overarching diversity and inclusion strategy and implementation. His initiatives include enhancing the Rooney Rule, which mandates interviewing diverse candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs, and establishing the NFL’s first-ever diversity and inclusion report, which tracks and shares the league’s progress on its DEI goals. In 2025, Beane began overseeing talent development efforts at the league as well.

Under Beane’s leadership, the NFL has launched several programs aimed at promoting inclusion, access and opportunity. Among them, NFL Source increases opportunities for small, local and/or underrepresented vendors to work with the NFL at its tentpole events and league offices. In awarding significant contracts to vendors, this initiative has helped spearhead economic growth in club markets.

Beane’s additional work experience includes positions in international taxation, strategic planning, corporate responsibility, and diversity and inclusion at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Johnson Controls, Novartis and Time Warner. Before joining the NFL, he was senior vice president of global diversity and inclusion for 21st Century Fox.

Beane serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the School of Law and is a member of the UB Foundation’s Stewardship Committee. He previously served on the board of GLAAD, the non-profit focused on LGBTQ advocacy and cultural change.

In addition to MBA and JD degrees from UB, Beane earned a BA in American history from Dartmouth College and a Master of Laws degree in taxation from Georgetown University.

Graham A. Colditz is the Niess-Gain Professor of Surgery and chief of the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, he is a renowned public health expert on the causes and prevention of chronic diseases. He also serves as the associate director of prevention and control at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center.

Colditz will receive a SUNY honorary degree in science at the School of Public Health and Health Professions’ commencement ceremony on May 14.

Prior to joining Washington University in 2006, Colditz spent 25 years at Harvard University. Among other roles, he was principal investigator on the longitudinal Nurses’ Health Study, established in 1976 to investigate risk factors for major chronic diseases in women. He also established and was founding PI on a study relating the diet and lifestyle of nearly 17,000 adolescents to growth and health outcomes. One of his field’s most highly cited researchers, he is an expert on tobacco and obesity in relation to cancer, and has developed statistical models to more accurately classify levels of risk for several cancers. Moreover, he has been dedicated to applying scientific advances in cancer prevention to broader population programs.

At UB, Colditz served as an external adviser to the National Cancer Institute-funded Cancer Epidemiology training program. From 2007-23, he mentored doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, provided curriculum feedback and supported grant-writing efforts.

A fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Colditz has served on the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils. He has been awarded his field’s most prestigious honors from, among others, the American Cancer Society, the American Association for Cancer Research and AAAS.

Mary Wilson is a philanthropist, civic champion and former internationally ranked tennis player. She is board chair and a life trustee of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, established by her late husband, the founder of the Buffalo Bills, which she owned with him.

Through the foundation, Wilson works to improve quality of life in southeast Michigan, where her husband grew up, and in Western New York. The foundation has distributed more than 1,500 grants to both communities, including $100 million to create Buffalo’s Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park and connect the region’s trail system.

Wilson will receive a SUNY honorary degree in humane letters at the Jacobs School commencement ceremony on May 1.

She is a dedicated supporter of the Jacobs School, where she serves on the Dean’s Council. In 2015, the foundation’s gift to the school established the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Center of Excellence in Sports Medicine, which trains medical students, residents and fellows in arthroscopy. The Wilson family’s 2011 gift supported concussion and biomechanics research, and specialized equipment, and established the Ralph and Mary Wilson Visiting Professor Lecture Series.

Passionate about participation in athletics, Wilson in 2006 founded WNY Girls in Sports, which twice yearly invites 250 local girls to sample different sports. In 2024, she was inducted into the Western New York Business Hall of Fame and named “Philanthropist of the Year” by the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County for her community impact. She is also a recipient of UB’s highest honor, the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal.

Wilson competed in the Wimbledon Championships, the world’s oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament, in 1976 and was later ranked first in the world among women 60 and over. A former board member of the USTA Foundation, she holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Trintiy University.

Marcus Yam, BS ’06, is an international visual correspondent for The Globe and Mail whose work explores resilience, loss and survival in some of the world’s most volatile regions. Throughout his career, his commitment to bearing witness at pivotal moments in history has earned him three Pulitzer Prizes.

Yam will receive a SUNY honorary degree in fine arts at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 16.

Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Yam came to the United States to study aerospace engineering at UB. As an undergraduate, he worked as a photographer for the student newspaper, The Spectrum, where he discovered his calling in photojournalism. That early experience set him on a path toward international reporting grounded in rigor, empathy and depth. After graduating, he worked at the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Seattle Times before serving as a foreign correspondent and staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times.

In 2022, Yam won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for documenting the U.S. departure from Afghanistan. He was part of the 2016 and 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning breaking news teams for the LA Times’ coverage of the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attacks and The Seattle Times’ reporting on a mudslide that killed dozens of people in rural Washington state.

Yam is a two-time recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award. His previous work has also earned an Emmy Award for News and Documentary and the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in digital journalism in the public service, among other national and international accolades. In 2023, he received UB’s highest honor, the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal.