Daniel Kelly

I have worked at UB since 2011. 

I love the campus atmosphere. There is certain buzz, year-round, that makes a place like UB special. Taking a stroll down The Spine, once the sun has set, and seeing the lights on in the libraries, offices, and labs is an amazing experience for me. So I guess, simply stated, the campus atmosphere is in some way indicative of a unique sense of belonging and purpose that working in any sort of job here can afford.

For all kinds of reasons, things often tend to move slower here than I’d like. This is certainly not a phenomenon unique to my job. Getting used to having an idea, and then planning and navigating a course of action that takes months or even years to see through, takes a lot of patience. 

There are rewarding job successes that stand out, such as coordinating the University’s Campaign for the Community for four years. However, earning a PhD in Philosophy, while working full-time, is the hardest thing I’ve done here at UB. Completing this graduate course of study, and ultimately being capable of offering an historical defense of the Kantian philosophy took years of discipline and hard work in order to complete. It took countless nights and weekends reading and writing at cafés in order to reach this goal. Needless to say, graduation weekend this past spring was an unbelievably rewarding experience!   

CATT has a blog (shameless plug) where we try to provide information and insights into teaching, learning, and assessment in unique ways. If you are interested, please visit our blog.

Consider ways in which you can make UB and working in higher ed. more of a lifestyle and less of a job. One can be an employee here, while also wearing many other related hats. From our respective roles in our individual offices and departments, to broader committees and volunteer groups, athletics/UB Bulls, university-wide events, and scholarship and research, this world is vast, enriching, and rewarding on many different levels.  

I love the outdoors and have been climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, canoeing, etc. since high school. My wife and I try to train at the climbing gym at least three days a week and we climb outside when we can. We love to travel and combine hiking and/or climbing with our trips. I also love reading—especially history, philosophy, interesting or provocative fiction, and classic literature. Additionally, music is a passion of mine—particularly metal, punk, and hardcore—and I enjoy playing guitar and drums and seeing live music. 

Yes, ice cream, and it’s very easy to prepare! I go to the ice cream stand, get money out of my wallet, give it to the cashier, and then it gets prepared!

I would really love to go to Japan to explore and eat lots of fish and sushi. My wife and I have also wanted to travel extensively throughout eastern Europe, but have not been able to do so due to our prioritizing of other trips and then the more recent pandemic travel restrictions.

I once completed 2 one-thousand piece puzzles in a day!