24 UB faculty, staff receive SUNY Chancellor’s Awards

This year, 24 UB faculty and staff members have received SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence.

The Chancellor’s Awards acknowledge and provide system-wide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement and the ongoing pursuit of excellence in six categories: Faculty Service, Librarianship, Professional Service, Scholarship and Creative Activities, Teaching, and Adjunct Teaching.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service recognizes the consistently superior service contributions of full-time teaching faculty.

Recipients are:

• Ryan Krzyzanowicz, program director for athletic training and clinical professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions.
• William Prescott, chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
• Shambhu Upadhyaya, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship recognizes “skill in librarianship; service to the campus, the university and to the field; scholarship and professional growth; and major professional achievements.” This year's recipient is Brian Detweiler, associate director of the Charles B. Sears Law Library.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service honors professional staff performance excellence “both within and beyond the position.” This year's recipients are:

• Erika Bagnoli, unit business officer, School of Management.
• Jennifer Chazen, director of student and academic services in The Graduate School.
• Tamara Dixon, department administartor, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Nicole Hayden, human resources officer for staff affairs, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Amy Hothow, department administrator, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Tooba Khilji, director of administration, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
• Douglas Levere, photo/video manager, Division of University Communications.
• Peter Logiudice, HR assistant director for community relations, Division of Finance and Administration.
• Kathryn Tudini, assistant vice provost and director, International Student Services.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities recognizes the work of those who engage actively in scholarly and creative pursuits beyond their teaching responsibilities. Recipients are:

• Jason Briner, associate chair and professor, Department of Earth Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Chong Cheng, professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
• Jamie Ostrov, professor, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences.
• John Panepinto, professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
• Ashu Sharma, professor, Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine.
• Kris Tjaden, associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics and professor, Department of Communicative Disorders, College of Arts and Sciences.

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching honors those who consistently demonstrate superb teaching at the undergraduate, graduate or professional level. Recipients are:

• Cari Casteel, director of undergraduate studies and clinical associate professor, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah, chair, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Architecture and Planning.
• Tamara Kofke, associate professor of teaching, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
• Cecilia Martínez León, associate professor of teaching, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
• Andrew Murkin, director of undergraduate studies and associate professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences.

Ryan Krzyzanowicz “does not simply engage himself in many things; he does all these things well and while he is teaching a full load of courses. He is an excellent colleague and very devoted to his students and his profession,” says Dave Hostler, chair of the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions.

Krzyzanowicz is the program director of the athletic training program in SPHHP, a position he has held since 2017, in addition to being a clinical professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, where he is also director of graduate studies.

He led the initial accreditation site visit to UB by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE), making UB’s the first athletic training program in the nation to be accredited using the 2020 CAATE standards. The program received a perfect score and accreditation for the maximum interval as part of the subsequent accreditation period.

He is a member of the Interprofessional Education (IPE) committee at UB, providing leadership on a program to help students across the health professions understand how to work together in a professional capacity. He has co-authored multiple publications in this area. The IPE committee was recognized with the National Academies of Practice Interprofessional Group Recognition Award in March 2022.

Krzyzanowicz blends his role as a clinician and educator beyond the classroom by mentoring unique clinical opportunities for UB athletic training students and providing high visibility service to the community through such major events as the NHL Officials Combine, an Interprofessional Free School Physical Day at the Seneca Babcock Community Center, the NHL Player Scouting Combine, the 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Championships, and the Buffalo Marathon finish line medical tent.

William Prescott is a pharmacist with expertise in pediatrics, pulmonary disease and immunizations who has demonstrated extraordinary service to the university and the pharmacy profession.

This marks the second time Prescott has received a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. In 2017, he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He also has received the Pharmacy Achievement Award from the Western New York Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the pharmacy school’s Educational Innovation of the Year and UB’s Teaching Innovation Award, among others.

“Dr. Prescott truly exemplifies the servant-leader model of academic administration,” says Dean Gary Pollack. “He has provided exemplary leadership in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, consistently coupling administrative skill with unwavering support for the faculty he leads.”

Prescott has published papers on best practices for educating pharmacy students and has presented nationally on helping faculty forge successful careers through professional development, team-building and work-life balance.

Prescott also has embarked on research to help the public good, including authoring more than 100 research papers and abstracts centering on pediatrics, pulmonary therapeutics, immunization, misinformation and pharmacy education.

“He has been a consistent advocate for public health in Western New York, with special emphasis on vaccination initiatives,” Pollack says. “At a time when vaccine antagonism threatens to undermine decades of public health progress, his leadership and engagement in this area have been invaluable.”

Prescott is also an ardent contributor to the pharmacy field. An engaged member of several professional organizations, he has held leadership positions in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and the New York State Council of Health System Pharmacists.

In March 2025, Prescott was appointed associate editor of the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education (AJPE), the highest impact pharmacy education journal in the world.

Shambhu Upadhyaya has expertise in cybersecurity, behavioral biometrics authentication and fault tolerant computing. Current research projects involve insider threat assessment, continuous authentication and deception to deal with advanced persistent threats.

His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Rome Laboratory, the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the National Security Agency, IBM, Intel Corporation and the Harris Corporation.

“Dr. Upadhyaya’s research deeply informs and strengthens his service contributions,” says Dean Kemper Lewis. “His research outcomes have shaped curriculum development, student research training, and industry partnerships, ensuring that UB’s educational programs remain aligned with cutting-edge advances in cybersecurity.”

Under his leadership as director of the UB Center of Excellence in Information Systems Assurance Research and Education (CEISARE), the center has achieved and continuously maintained dual designation by the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and Research, Lewis notes.

In the community, Upadhyaya has conducted extensive outreach, including developing summer cybersecurity programs for high school students and forging collaborations with community colleges and local industries to expand access to cybersecurity education.

This marks the second time that Upadhyaya has received a SUNY Chancellor’s Award. In 2019, he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities.

Other accolades include being named an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow in 2021 and receiving the IEEE Region 1 Technological Innovation in Academic Award, and the Sustained Achievement Award — UB Exceptional Scholars Award.

Colleagues say that Brian Detweiler’s signature phrase — “I am your librarian” — captures the approachable, student-first philosophy he employs in his role as associate director and associate librarian in the Charles B. Sears Law Library, the “home away from home” for School of Law students.

Detweiler was hired in 2014 as the Law Library’s first Student Services Librarian, where he quickly became the “welcoming face” of the library for UB law students. In order to ensure the Law Library was meeting students’ needs, Detweiler held regular student focus groups and conducted surveys. As such, he was involved in planning for the implementation of 24/7 access to the Law Library, as well as the designation of areas of the library for group study, where quiet discussion is permitted.

He was appointed to his current position in 2021, supervising a staff of four and playing a critical role in the overall management of the library. He oversees the selection, organization and disposition of materials in the Law Library’s collection.

“He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the many sources and methods available to research the law and related disciplines and stays abreast of new developments,” writes Beth Adelman, director of the Charles B. Sears Law Library and a SUNY Distinguished Librarian.

“Through his effective management, exemplary teaching, and commitment to student success, he has strengthened the library’s role as an integral partner in legal education and scholarship,” she adds.

In her letter of support, Kim Diana Connolly, professor of law and director of the Environmental Advocacy Clinic, writes that “Brian exemplifies what it means to serve the mission of the university with distinction. He brings both deep expertise and genuine kindness to every interaction.”

As unit business officer in the School of Management, Erika Bagnoli brings clarity and strategic insight to budgeting and fiscal management, providing clear guidance so that the school can better plan and implement initiatives.

In her role, she has excelled at recognizing areas for improvement, wrote Dean Ananth Iyer, which has contributed to greater fiscal stability and efficiency.

“Her execution of this role has been excellent,” Iyer wrote, “and I now have a clear idea of the current and future health of the school.”

Bagnoli majored in accounting at Hilbert College and received her master’s in business administration from St. Bonaventure University. After a number of years working in the private sector, she joined UB in 2016.

Before her current role in the School of Management, Bagnoli served as director of resource management in University Advancement, then as unit business officer in the Graduate School of Education, where she earned the same high praise for navigating the fiscal landscape with meticulous detail and integrity.

“From the outset, it was clear that Erika would be essential to GSE’s administrative turnaround,” wrote GSE Dean Suzanne Rosenblith. “Her technical expertise was complemented by a commitment to teamwork, humanity and a sense of humor, all qualities that were vital to our transformation.”

Jennifer Chazen oversees the comprehensive academic support services for the more than 300 graduate degree programs across the university.

She began her 26-year career at UB as an advisor in International Student Services. Promoted to assistant director, Chazen was known for grasping intricate federal regulation and managing complex visa problems with care and poise.

Chazen brought those same attributes to the Graduate School in 2006 when she was named assistant director of the Office of Student Services. She was appointed director in 2010, earning a reputation for her integrity, technical expertise and ability to deftly manage the complexities of graduate education.

Over the years, Chazen became an expert in the subtleties surrounding dissertation embargoes and digital publishing rights. She has managed the Graduate School’s critical portfolio of scholarship programs, disseminating more than $2.7 million in annual funding. And she led the transformation of the Graduate Academic Advisement Reports, streamlining the tracking of academic progress for graduate students and faculty.

“The SUNY Chancellor’s Award is designed to honor those whose professional service has become inseparable from the success of their institution,” wrote Katharine Darling, associate dean for academic services in the Graduate School.

“Jennifer Chazen is the rare professional who serves as a strategic transformer of our systems, an institutional safeguard of our integrity and a mentor to our community – all with a quiet and unassuming rigor.”

Chazen earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Buffalo State University and her master’s in education from UB.

As a senior staff assistant in the College of Arts and Sciences, Tamara Dixon serves as department administrator for not one but two departments – Anthropology and Linguistics.

In her role, Dixon is responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly for both departments. She’s been called the lynchpin, the “chief cook and bottlewasher” and the first point of contact on all matters — financial, course scheduling, travel, human resources, facilities, communications and student and faculty affairs.

“It’s hard to overstate how essential Tamara is to the Linguistics Department,” wrote Chair Rui Chaves. “Whatever the challenge, she approaches it with professionalism, diligence, kindness and — somehow — good humor.”

A 2006 graduate of St. John Fisher University, Dixon earned her master’s degree in American Studies from UB in 2008. She worked in various administrative roles at D’Youville University for nearly four years before joining UB in her current role in 2014.

Anthropology Chair Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel is glad she did. Dixon’s professionalism and excellence contribute to faculty and student success in the departments she supports.

“I dread to contemplate how the Anthropology Department would function without Tamara’s support,” wrote von Cramon-Taubadel. “She juggles a hundred essential tasks with efficiency and good grace and can still calmly troubleshoot any and all problems as they arise.” 

Nicole Hayden has earned the reputation among colleagues as the “ideal HR professional.”

Hayden is adept at explaining complex contractual issues, onboarding new employees seamlessly and working incredibly well with faculty, staff and students at all levels. While technologically savvy and the ability to manage large volumes of work, Hayden’s greatest asset may very well be her calm professionalism in most any situation.

Sean Bennett, associate dean for the Social Sciences, summed up Hayden this way:

“With her deep knowledge, outstanding people skills, and excellent intuition, Nicole has been instrumental in ensuring that services within the Social Sciences sector have been, and will continue to be, delivered with the highest quality possible.

“These sentiments have consistently been echoed to me by chairs, directors, and faculty members in the 11 departments and programs in my portfolio,” Bennett wrote. “Nicole displays all the characteristics of ‘excellence in public service’ and in doing so, she makes my job easier.”

Hayden earned both her bachelor’s and master’s in business administration at UB, where she began working in the central human resources office as a health benefits administrator in 2002.

She has held various HR roles over the years, before joining the College of Arts and Sciences in 2017, where she now serves as human resources officer for staff affairs for the more than 350 staff and 600 faculty across UB’s largest academic unit.

Amy Hothow is highly regarded by colleagues for “excellence in her current role, and her remarkable track record of service at the University at Buffalo.”

Her department chair, Derek Daniels, writes that “she is on top of things in a way that seems impossible.”

Hothow’s long-standing service to UB has included positions in research teams, the Law Library and the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office before joining the Department of Biological Sciences. To further develop her skillset, she earned an MBA and is a lifetime member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business honor society.

She has exceptional institutional knowledge and vast expertise in complex financial management. “She provides exceptional service for the faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students,” Daniels wrote in his nomination packet for Hothow. “She is dedicated, has great work ethic, is cordial, and has strong communication skills. She is efficient and possesses superb leadership skills.”

Hothow maintains and reconciles complex multi-fund accounts with precision and timeliness. She also oversees departmental scheduling, contracts and facilities. Other faculty have noted that she is quick to respond to questions and requests, and she does not make mistakes.

Daniels even credits Hothow with providing mentorship to him in his role as department chair. “Amy has served as an important role model for me,” he writes, adding that “learning from Amy has been a critical ingredient in my development as a supervisor. What stands out to me as a particular area of excellence is the perfect balance Amy achieves in setting expectations and demanding performance, all while providing support and guidance.”

Tooba Khilji has proven to be an indispensable staff member for the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and its more than 55 faculty and 2,400 students. Department chair David Doermann wrote of Khilji in his letter of support: “Her record of achievement exemplifies the highest standards of service, both within her position and far beyond it.”

This includes the tremendous job Khilji did in stabilizing the department upon assuming the role of director of administration in 2021. At that time, the department faced several challenges, chronic staff turnover being one of them.

“Within twelve months,” Doermann writes, “she stabilized operations by recruiting and retaining a high-performing team of seven administrative professionals, redesigning workflows, and implementing governance practices that restored transparency and efficiency.”

He credits Khilji for creating “a foundation for long-term success” for the department.

Khilji introduced a new instructional budget monitoring system that improved forecasting and accountability and streamlined approval processes. “She is not only a problem-solver but a visionary leader who anticipates challenges and crafts innovative solutions,” according to Doermann.

Khilji also serves as a strategic partner in departmental planning, often bringing data-driven insights to decisions about staffing, budgeting and space use, and is a member of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In 2023, she received the school’s Outstanding Leadership Award in recognition of her impact across the school.

In his letter of support, SUNY Distinguished Professor Siwei Lyu wrote that Khilji’s adoption of digital tools has “greatly improved our department’s productivity and allowed us to focus more on our core academic and research objectives.”

Khilji previously held administrative roles in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Department of Media Study in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Always committed to the craft, Douglas Levere “is someone who has always gone above and beyond to ‘get the shot’ no matter what time of the day or night, whether it’s the moon over Hayes Hall clock tower in the middle of the night or snow photos when the campus was closed.”

So writes Rebecca Farnham, the now-retired creative director in the Division of University Communications who collaborated with Levere closely for many years. “In my 37 years working at UB, I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of this award as an employee who embodies the spirit of ‘service,’” she continues.

Levere’s work can be seen across campus, including on the giant scrolling photo screen in One World Café, as well as numerous UB websites and print materials. His work has also received national accolades, with the University Photographers Association of America (UPAA) naming him one of the top 10 university photographers in the U.S. in 2022.

“As a senior photographer and visual storyteller for UB, Doug brings exceptional artistry, technical expertise, and unwavering professionalism to every project,” Vice President for University Communications John Della Contrada wrote in his nomination letter for Levere.

“Each day over a 20-year career at UB, he has delivered consistently excellent work in support of key university priorities, including student recruitment and engagement, internal communications, community relations, and strengthening the university’s brand identity by elevating the work of faculty, researchers, students, staff, and alumni.”

Among Levere’s major contributions is the annual campus-wide Art of Research exhibit and competition, which he conceived to showcase visually striking images created through faculty and student research.

Levere is known for his distinctive portrait techniques using Omni filters and optical overlays, first-person view drone footage of campus, and 360-degree imagery.

Della Contrada writes that Levere’s works “constitutes a visual archive of immense historical significance. His work preserves the character and evolution of the university for future generations.”

Widely regarded as a “walking encyclopedia” of all things UB, Peter “Pete” Logiudice is a longtime staff member whose “passion for the University at Buffalo runs deep and speaks loudly.”

Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Christopher Connor, in his letter of support for Logiudice, recalls the first time he met him at an alumni reception. Connor was so impressed with Logiudice’s infectious enthusiasm and thoughtful perspective that he invited him to join the Campus Tour Revitalization Plan committee.

“He connects the past to the present with clarity and purpose, speaking with an authoritative voice marked by candor, authenticity, and passion,” Connor writes. “Quite simply, Pete bleeds UB blue.”

Logiudice, who frequently gives UB history tours for staff and alumni, played a pivotal role in ensuring that campus tours more effectively highlight retention-focused services, student life and UB’s academic and experiential learning opportunities. He was also instrumental in integrating storytelling elements into the tour experience.

“His storytelling transformed tours into compelling journeys that resonate emotionally and leave a lasting impression,” according to Connor.

Logiudice was a sales manager in the Division of Athletics from 2006-11 before joining UB Human Resources in 2011. He co-created HR’s employee recognition programs, Pillars of Pride and Cheers for Peers, both of which have really taken off.

He also convened a task force of 20 HR leaders from across the university to design a new on-boarding experience for new staff members.

In 2024, Logiudice was featured in UB’s True Blue video series.

Says Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement Kristen Murphy: “He is one in a million — a resolute professional whose contributions and impact extend far beyond his job description.”

Kathryn Tudini has been at UB since 2018, where she leads an office — International Student Services — that provides support services for UB’s 5,000 international students. Her colleagues describe her as “a great university citizen” and laud Tudini for her mastery of the federal regulatory requirements pertaining to international students on F-1 and J-1 visas.

At UB, Tudini implemented a comprehensive immigration compliance training program for ISS staff to ensure that all international student advisors are on the same page and prepared to advise students effectively in accordance with current federal regulations.

Tudini’s regulatory and programmatic expertise is a vital resource for her colleagues throughout SUNY, notes Tricia Tierney, International Student and Scholar Services manager in the SUNY Office of Global Affairs.

“Katie has created systems, policies, and programs that provide exemplary support for international students. Other ISS offices within the SUNY system reference the UB ISS webpages to ensure that they are following best practices for their students,” Tierney says, adding that “UB regularly leads the way in developing new ways of serving students with programs like pre-arrival orientation.”

Tudini has prioritized helping international students feel more at home on campus, including by restructuring the orientation program for incoming international undergraduate students.

“These individuals are now included within the new student welcome programming delivered by Student Life’s Office of Orientation and Transition along with their domestic student peers,” writes Nojin Kwak, UB’s vice provost for international education. “And while Katie is an immigration compliance officer at her core, she has also helped reintroduce an international student success mission to her office that allows ISS to play a key role in fostering the success and retention of UB students.”

Colleagues say Jason Briner has worked “relentlessly” to uncover the glacial history of the Arctic, providing critical insights into how the region will respond to human-induced climate change.

His work often involves collecting rocks and sediment from beneath ice or the bottoms of glacial lakes, and then analyzing when they were last exposed to sunlight.

Briner is co-lead of GreenDrill, a project that collects and analyzes bedrock samples from beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet. Using luminescence dating, the team determined that Greenland's Prudhoe Dome ice cap was completely gone about 7,000 years ago — much more recently than previously thought.

GreenDrill is a multimillion-dollar project funded by the National Science Foundation. Overall, Briner has secured more than $14 million in external funding across 37 grants, including awards as large as $3.5 million.

Since joining UB in 2005, Briner has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications. His work has been cited more than 10,600 times, including more than 4,000 citations in the past four years alone, demonstrating a sustained record of scholarly impact.

Briner has also served various academic leadership roles. He was previously director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Earth Sciences and was recently named associate dean for research in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He led efforts to ensure the department's undergraduate curriculum met New York State requirements for professional geologist licensure, enabling graduating geological sciences majors to sit for the state's professional geologist licensing exam.

One colleague wrote that Briner “exemplifies the type of research scientist and educator our community sorely needs.”

Chong Cheng is a polymer scientist and professor of chemical and biological engineering who researches the design, synthesis and applications of novel polymer materials for therapeutic delivery. The goal is to develop biodegradable and safe polymeric scaffolds to deliver drugs and genes for the treatment of cancers and other diseases.

“Dr. Cheng’s transformational research has yielded well-defined polymers and polymer-based nanomaterials,” Dean Kemper Lewis wrote in his nominating letter. “This has significantly changed how scientists conceptualize structure-property relationships in macromolecular systems.”

Lewis adds that Cheng’s integrative scholarship reaches across chemistry, engineering and medicine.

“This has yielded new functional systems addressing global challenges in health and sustainability,” he says. “Dr. Cheng also has an excellent publication record.”

Cheng has published more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles, with which he has achieved an h-index of 47, and more than 5,900 citations. He was awarded SEAS Senior Researcher of the Year in 2020.

Outside of the classroom, Cheng has made many contributions to UB, including serving on the SEAS Promotion Committee and as the graduate internship coordinator for the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He also serves on the departmental staff of SeaChina, which provides graduate recruitment enhancement activities for SEAS.

In the field, Cheng is nationally recognized for his competence and achievement in biomaterials research. Currently, he serves as a standing member of the Biomaterials and Biointerfaces study section of the National Institutes of Health’s Center for Scientific Review.

Jamie Ostrov is a developmental psychologist and psychopathologist who is recognized as a leading expert on aggression, bullying and peer victimization in young children. His research focuses on the unique roles of individual and interpersonal factors, including child temperament, self-regulation, peer relationships, and family relationships, that can contribute to aggressive behaviors.

His innovative work has explored how aggression in early childhood may contribute to later life outcomes such as school readiness, academic functioning, and mental health. These findings have been applied to prevention and intervention efforts, with the development of an early childhood friendship intervention that is designed to reduce aggressive behavior in young children.

Ostrov has published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters in outlets that include Child Development, Clinical Psychological Science, and Development & Psychopathology. He is currently testing a teacher implemented study of his social skills program for reducing aggression and bullying behaviors among young children.

His research, totaling more than $10 million in funding, has been supported by the National Science Foundation; National Institute on Drug Abuse; and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.  

Ostrov is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Education & Human Development of the University of Minnesota. 

John C. Panepinto conducts pioneering work that has redefined the understanding of how fungal pathogens adapt to host environments. His research focuses on how certain fungi have evolved mechanisms to thrive at mammalian core body temperature while most cannot, a question with profound implications regarding the future threat of fungal diseases in a warming world.

His work has not only advanced the understanding of fungal virulence, but also has identified new therapeutic targets for antifungal drug development, an area of urgent global need given the increasing prevalence of fungal infections in immunocompromised populations.

With continuous National Institutes of Health funding for more than 17 years, and more than 50 publications in leading journals, his work has uncovered new paradigms of gene regulation in fungal pathogens. His group’s findings, which defined a new molecular basis for fungal thermotolerance, have become foundational references for understanding post-transcriptional gene regulation in eukaryotic pathogens.

As senior associate dean for biomedical education, he led the creation of infrastructure to support innovation and scholarship in the biomedical sciences undergraduate, master’s and PhD programs, which has increased enrollment and programmatic expansion.   

In the graduate education space, he served on the steering committee for the AAMC Group on Research Education and Training and was recently appointed to the steering committee of the AAMC Biomedical Research Advancement, Training, and Oversight Group as member-at-large, and inaugural chair-liaison to the Research Education and Training Standing Committee.

The work of this group emphasizes advancing research excellence, promoting education and career development for biomedical research trainees across the continuum of training, as well as federal research funding and oversight and conflicts-of-interest in academic medicine.

He was recognized with the 2024 UB Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring and the Faculty Award for Excellence in Promoting Inclusion and Cultural Diversity. A colleague calls Panepinto, “that rare individual who can simultaneously function extraordinarily effectively in the research, administration and teaching/mentoring arenas.”

Ashu Sharma is an internationally recognized researcher in oral microbiology, immunology and glycobiology who has delved into the pathogens responsible for periodontitis, a chronic inflammation of the teeth-supporting tissue that leads to tooth loss.

Sharma, who joined the dental school faculty in 1999, has maintained continuous federal funding from the National Institutes of Health through multiple research grants. He also has served on numerous national and international grant‑funding agency panels and recently completed a four‑year term as a standing member of an NIH study section panel.

“Dr. Sharma’s career exemplifies the highest ideals of scholarly achievement and creative innovation that this prestigious award seeks to recognize,” says School of Dental Medicine Dean Marcelo Araujo.

“Since joining our faculty, Sharma has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication to advancing the frontiers of oral biology. Among his most notable contributions is his groundbreaking work on the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia, which has significantly enhanced our understanding of pathogenesis of periodontitis and its systemic implications, including established links to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”

Sharma’s scholarly output is both prolific and impactful. He has authored 89 peer-reviewed publications and six book chapters, amassing more than 4,900 citations and achieving an h-index of 38.

“These metrics reflect not only the breadth and depth of his contributions, but also the esteem in which his work is held by colleagues across disciplines,” Arajuo says. “And he has maintained active collaborations with leading scientists worldwide.”

Sharma also has taken on leadership roles in the dental school, including serving as interim chair of the Department of Oral Biology from 2023 to 2024 and co-director of the Oral Biology Graduate Program for more than a decade.

He previously received three UB awards: the Exceptional Scholar/Teaching Innovation Award, Advancement for Dental Research Award and Principle Investigator Award.

Kris Tjaden is a prolific scholar who is among the pioneers in the field of motor speech disorders.

As an area of study, communicative disorders and sciences is a relatively young discipline that has its beginnings in the 1950s. To this day, there are fewer researchers working in this area than in other established scientific fields. Tjaden’s area of study is even smaller by comparison, a reality that is among the factors that demonstrate her scholarly impact.

She is the recipient of the annual Speech Editor’s Award for a paper in the Journal of Speech, the field’s flagship peer-reviewed publication, and is as fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Tjaden has been continually funded since 1997, with nearly $7 million in external grant support. Her early research focused on the relationship between speech production, particularly articulation, and neurodegenerative diseases. This work built the foundation for our understanding of neurologically based speech disorders (dysarthria) in adults and changed how clinicians treated articulation and speech intelligibility in these patients. The tools and methods Tjaden developed set the scientific standard in perceptual research in dysarthria.

In addition to her research, Tjaden has mentored 17 graduate students and five post-doctoral scholars. She is also a highly respected teacher at the undergraduate and graduate levels, who deeply engages students, many of whom credit her mentorship for their early career success.

Cari Casteel is a highly respected teacher whose innovative methods have gained the respect of students and colleagues alike. Casteel strives to deliver individualized learning experiences regardless of class size, and both her general-education and upper-level history courses are student favorites.

She has also been active in bringing her research expertise into public view, most notably being featured in “The Atlantic” and “Smithsonian Magazine,” and contributing to the blog of the Hagley Library, America’s premier manuscript library in Business History.

Casteel has developed specialized upper-level courses on the History of American Business and Technology; the Great Depression and New Deal; and Crime and Punishment in America, in addition to the department’s writing-intensive course on Historical Writing.

Her lecturing style is more accurately described as an engaging form of storytelling, as rigorous as it is compelling. Her craft is narrative-driven and helps all of her students, both within and outside the history department, understand and appreciate history as they prepare for careers.

All told, an average of over 500 UB students take her classes each year, with Casteel’s unique style and mastery of material inspiring animated classroom interaction.

Beyond the demands of her creative, diligent and passionate teaching style, Casteel finds the energy to make herself available to students for a range of extra-curricular purposes.

Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah is beloved by students and colleagues alike for the enthusiasm, empathy and inclusiveness he brings to the classroom.

An internationally recognized researcher, policy analyst and data scientist, Boamah investigates the planning processes and institutional structures that impede and “weaponize” planning interventions against historically marginalized communities.

Since joining UB in 2017, he has held leadership roles including director of graduate studies and interim chair (2022) in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He was appointed as chair of the program in 2025. He served as co-director of UB’s transdisciplinary Community for Global Health Equity (CGHE) from 2022-2025 and is an affiliated faculty member of the UB Food Lab.

A prolific and frequently cited scholar, he has published in some of the world’s leading planning and cross-disciplinary journals and serves as associate editor for the Journal of Planning Education and Research, an editorial board member of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and an international corresponding editor for the Journal of Architecture. In 2021, he received UB’s Exceptional Scholar Award in the Young Investigator category.

In addition to his global networks, Boamah’s engagement across Western New York cultivates practice-based learning for students and supports equitable, resilient regional planning and development. He serves on the boards of the Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, UB Community Health Equity Research Institute, Providence Farm Collective, and the Center for Regional Strategies.

Trained in urban and regional planning and institutional economics, he earned a PhD in urban and public affairs from the University of Louisville. Before joining UB, he was a visiting assistant professor at Minnesota State University’s Urban and Regional Studies Institute.

Since Tamara Kofke joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in 2003, she has made a significant impact on the student community.

“Dr. Kofke’s teaching instills rigor in students, while providing them with full support to improve learning outcomes,” Dean Kemper Lewis wrote in his nominating letter. “She personally grades every report, typically spending 30 minutes per submission, and allows for revision and resubmission so that students learn through iteration.”

Along with her role of associate professor of teaching, where she teaches laboratory courses at the junior and senior levels, Kofke currently serves on the department’s Undergraduate Committee. In this role, she led the development of the department’s four-semester undergraduate laboratory course sequence.

“This is a program that is both rigorous and transformative, preparing students for professional practice, graduate school and lifelong success,” Lewis says. “Dr. Kofke exemplifies SUNY’s expectations for teaching and student mentorship.”

He notes that Kofke is also a dedicated scholar of education. For example, she studied LabView programming, created new exercises for students, and integrated process safety instructions after participating in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers/Center for Chemical Process Safety Faculty Workshop.

Outside the classroom Kofke serves on the department’s Pre College Outreach Committee, in which she’s helped organize and lead hands-on activities at local high schools. She also has represented the department at the annual Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) conference to raise awareness of chemical engineering among science teachers. 

She was awarded the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ Teaching Faculty of the Year in 2019 and was named Teacher of the Year four times by the student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering/

Prior to her academic career, Kofke worked as a senior research engineer for the Occidental Chemical Corp. Technology Center in Grand Island, where she conducted pilot plant studies in the development of new ethane-based processes. She also designed lab-scale experiments investigating by-product minimization, catalyst selection and product separation. 

Cecilia Martínez León is known for her individualized mentorship and care with students — in preparing future engineers to lead process improvement and organizational change.

“Dr. Martínez León’s personalized coaching, iterative feedback and structured peer reflection work to create a sense of belonging and accountability with students,” Dean Kemper Lewis wrote in his nominating letter. “This is especially important within the online learning environment.”

In her research, Martínez León studies managerial and technical aspects of new product development, as well as methodologies for sustaining and improving existent processes to achieve performance excellence.

Prior to working in academia, she worked for the automotive and electronics industries. During this time, Martínez León became a master black belt in Lean Six Sigma, a powerful methodology that aids in optimizing processes, reducing waste, and enhancing efficiency by providing a comprehensive approach to process improvement. She identified how continuous improvement tools could be articulated for promoting team learning, collaboration, solution ownership, overall solution quality and sustainability.

She tapped into this expertise to develop courses at UB, including Six Sigma Quality, Principles of Engineering Management, and Capstone Project Guidance, which all received consistently strong course evaluations and student comments.

Beyond the classroom, Martínez León serves as chair of the UB Faculty Senate Teaching and Learning Committee and directs the SEAS Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE). She previously served as interim faculty director of Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE), where she supported initiatives that foster student success and belonging across STEM disciplines.

Her teaching has been recognized through numerous honors, including the 2026 UB Teaching Innovation Award, the 2026 IISE Operational Excellence (OPEX) Division Teaching Award, the 2025 SEAS Best Teaching Faculty of the Year Award, and the 2024 Society of Engineering Management Teaching Award.

Since joining UB in 2009, Andrew Murkin has supported students at all levels in myriad ways.

He has mentored 18 undergraduate research students and 20 graduate research students, including 11 PhD graduates, many of whom have won noteworthy awards and advanced into careers in industry and academia. In addition to directly advising students in his own research group, he has served on the PhD committees of 45 graduate students.

Colleagues note that Murkin has taught a remarkably broad range of courses, from introductory undergraduate organic chemistry with an enrollment of several hundred students to special-topic graduate courses with as few as a half-dozen students. 

Student evaluations highlight Murkin’s enthusiasm for teaching, passion for the subject matter and ability to explain complex concepts in terms that they can understand.

Murkin is also a prolific contributor and mentor on the UBChemClub’s Discord server, where he chimes in daily and nightly to answer student questions — about any and all courses in the department. This engagement, which far exceeds his job expectations, is greatly appreciated by students, with one commenting that Murkin “is SUPER thorough and helpful.”

“Andrew is exceptionally accessible and approachable to students from his courses and beyond,” says Javid Rzayev, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry. “He cares deeply about students’ intellectual development, and he is a dedicated mentor of research students, consistently emphasizing students’ intellectual growth and maturation as independent researchers.”

Murkin's research at UB focuses on understanding how enzymes contribute to disease and developing enzyme inhibitors that could help create new drugs. This work, supported primarily by the National Science Foundation, has resulted in over 20 research publications.

One colleague notes that it's an especially important time for universities to attract and retain students, and that Murkin is the kind of outstanding educator they need to do so.