Friedman named SUNY Research Foundation presidential fellow

Kathryn Bryk Friedman, director of international research at the UB Regional Institute, has been appointed to a prominent SUNY fellowship program to foster research collaborations across the state campus system.

As a 2014-15 SUNY Research Foundation presidential fellow, Friedman will work with SUNY leadership, campus leadership and faculty throughout the system to draft a strategy for strengthening SUNY international research collaborations and assist in operationalizing research collaborations currently under way.

A research associate professor of law and policy, Friedman is a highly regarded expert on Canada-U.S. cross-border policy, including trade, border security and water governance. She is a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a recent Fulbright Fellow and a member of the Foreign Policy Association. She serves as U.S. lead on several international research and engagement networks concerning border policy and the Great Lakes.

The SUNY fellowship program enlists the expertise and assistance of faculty in system-wide research collaboration. Presidential fellows lead and foster multidisciplinary research collaboration among campus researchers and other partners in support of SUNY’s research agenda.

Friedman joins three other SUNY faculty members appointed as fellows for the 2014-15 academic year: Paul Hirsch of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Kathryn Richdale, director of SUNY Optometry’s Clinical Vision Research Center; and Richard Burke, dean of the School of Engineering at SUNY Maritime.

The fellowship program is part of the SUNY Networks of Excellence initiative launched in 2013 to foster core research strengths across the SUNY system. Since its formation, the “NoE” effort has established five networks across 26 SUNY campuses, engaging more than 500 faculty and students and generating nearly $4 million in funding awards.