College Stories

The College of Arts and Sciences is a place filled with students and faculty who are ambitious and determined. They are incredible teachers, learners and doers. No story or path is the same - that's what makes UB so unique.  Explore the places and people that make the College so special.   

Our Students, Faculty and Alumni

Mark Frank pictured with a goldfish masquerading as a shark.

UB expert Mark Frank explains how to detect deception — and yes, the eyes can lie.

NASA interns.

The connection to nature is “its own science,” says UB physics major and NASA intern Alyssa Warrior.

The Morris Janowitz award recognizes senior scholars whose careers have demonstrated excellence in the field of military sociology.

Faculty member Nichol Castro is being recognized for her work focusing on word retrieval in aging adults and adults with language impairments.

Luis R. De Jesús Báez is UB’s first recipient of the Non-Tenure Faculty Award that aims to encourage the pursuit of new ideas among tenure-track faculty.

The program brings together MSW, MBA and CAS graduate students to devise solutions to challenges facing WNY community organizations.

UB’s annual program helps local middle and high school teachers bring new tools and techniques to their classrooms.

Zoom image: From left: James Hanna, Jonathan Hoag and Carlton E. Brett examine rocks at Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve in May. Photo courtesy of HNHS/Penn Dixie

UB geology student James Hanna's discovery extends the fossil record of an extinct ancestor of starfish by 25 million years.

Students from the Department of Environment and Sustainability spent several nights hunting for salamanders in the North Campus woods.

UB faculty member Jonathan Golove talks about his new role and plans for the festival as he takes the reins from longtime leader David Felder.

Esmedelin Sippel pictured at Baird Point.

After leaving UB in 1999 just shy of getting her degree, Esmedelin Sippel re-enrolled in 2022 and will graduate with pride this weekend. 

A member of the UB faculty since 2010, Rao is the recipient of an honor that is considered the Nobel Prize for the field of statistics.

Laibah Mir.

The Phi Beta Kappa program will provide UB recipient Laibah Mir with a scholarship and assistance in pursuing a public sector career.

Lea Kyle (left) and Sydney Swedick.

Lea Kyle and Sydney Swedick are recipients of the most prestigious research scholarship offered for undergrad STEM students.

UB student Kara Skrubis pictured in the Center for the Arts.

UB senior Kara Skrubis, who lost her leg to pediatric bone cancer, works with a nonprofit dedicated to "making it better" for those affected by the disease. 

Oxford Pennant co-founders Dave Horesh and Brett Mikoll set out to change the industry—and the Western New York Community.

Mariana Carvajan Torres, junior Honors Scholar, came to UB from Colombia to play Division I tennis.
Biotechnology pioneer Marjorie Winkler creates opportunities for others studying and teaching chemistry at UB.
Zoom image: From left: Julia Miskines, an arts management graduate assistant; Jamie Enser,  executive director, Center for the Arts; and Aidan Clarke, a senior in graphic design, work together at the CFA through UB’s Here to Career program. Photo: Douglas Levere

The Center for the Arts is providing student workers with valuable career experience through the Here to Career program. 

Jack Hamer, pictured in a library.

After struggling his first semester, the UB senior has become a university success story.

SUNY Distinguished Professors from left, Diana Aga, Jochen Autschbach, Paul Vanouse, Igor Zutic.

Diana S. Aga, Jochen Autschbach, Paul Vanouse and Igor Žutić were appointed to SUNY's highest rank by the Board of Trustees. 

Zoom image: Taylor Robers explores the Letchworth teaching forest, stopping to examine fungi growth on a fallen tree. Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

MFA student and UB Arts Collaboratory artist-in-residence Taylor Robers channels inspiration from ecosystems into art.

Alexis Harrell will explore how various forms of narrative shape Black experiences at the University of Edinburgh.

Nicholas Cucciniello will use the award to do thesis-related work at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Zoom image: Students head into the Letchworth Teaching Forest for a wilderness first aid course led by Russ Crispell. The class was held after nightfall, which provides a more realistic scenario for practicing these skills. Photo: Douglas Levere

UB students taking EVS 301 and EVS 302 receive hands-on training in the skills needed to survive in the remote outdoors.

Brand hack winning team, from left, Mia Mahar, a psychology student from Hilbert College; Jack Qu, a graphic design student from UB; and Katie Steckstor, from the Buffalo marketing agency FARM.

A UB student was on the team that developed the winning approach to help a local nonprofit refresh its brand.

A. J. Franklin standing with one foot on a boombox while students pass by.

A.J. Franklin, aka Boombox Guy, has become somewhat of a celebrity around UB.

Melissa White talks with UBNow about what sparked her interest in the violin, how her teachers contine to inspire her and her impressions of UB as a new faculty member.

In a Q&A with UBNow, the new director of the Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program talks with UBNow about his new position at the university.

The UB theoretical chemist is a leading expert in computational materials chemistry.

As college life returned to normal last year, nine undergraduate students worked in Buffalo over the summer as part of the Hilllel Summer Internship.
Zoom image: Shep Gordon (second from left) and Alice Cooper (second from right) trade stories in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts. The two have been friends and colleagues for 50 years. Photos: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

UB alumnus Shep Gordon returned to campus with rocker Alice Cooper to talk about their 50 years of friendship, partnership and adventures.

Stephen Guerra.

Performers for the Department of Music concerts include new UB faculty member Stephen Guerra and the Slee Sinfonietta.

A never-ending fascination for the slow loris, a nocturnal primate native to Southeast Asia, drives Stephanie Poindexter’s research into conservation of the endangered species.
Senior chemistry major and Goldwater Scholar Meghan Sullivan began conducting research at UB as a freshman. Her innovative approach received national recognition when her research was published in 2021.
A mountain road through a tunnel.

Dejan Stojkovic says a wormhole is like a tunnel between two distant points in our universe that cuts the travel time from one point to the other.

The biological sciences faculty member is being recognized by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.

The director of the UB RENEW Institute is a globally recognized leader in environmental and analytical chemistry.

They can understand the concept of repetition and apply it to new situations, a new UB study has found.

Nalia Sahar pictured teaching a class.

UB PhD alumna and Fulbright scholar Naila Sahar returns to teach and conduct research at UB as an AAUW Postdoctoral International Fellow.

Student participants in an international student science fair.

High school students from around the world traveled to Western New York for the event, which was hosted by the Lewiston-Porter Central School District.

The naming of the Nowicki Foreland honors Sophie Nowicki’s years of work in bringing global scientists together to model future sea level rise.

Naiima Khahaifa.

UB geography doctoral student Naiima Khahaifa is one of 36 students in the U.S. to win the Ford Dissertation Fellowship.

Samiha Islam is among 20 recipients from 900 applicants for the Phi Beta Kappa scholarship program that guides winners toward public service jobs.

The College of Arts and Sciences' Distinguished Visiting Scholar will use the award for a project on the U.S. Postal Service.

Zoom image: Harumo Sato's “Megumu Megumi (Gift, Gifted)” hangs from the first-floor ceiling of One World Café. Photo: Douglas Levere

New pieces on display in One World Café are part of a broader initiative to exhibit more public art on campus.

Mark Frank is among three experts offering their perspectives on the psyches of convicted con artists on the Curiosity Stream docuseries.

Henry Adler in his lab.

UB faculty member Henry Adler's children are real-life CODAs — children of deaf adults.

The recently retired dance professor reflects on a nearly 50-year career at UB.

Art professor Millie Chen's SRS project weaves new songs of dissent into the land, broadcasting distinct, unruly voices on an ancient Eurasian migration route.  

SUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Janet Morrow talks about her journey to become co-founder and chief science officer of Ferric Contrast Inc.

Part of a UB research project, the combat veterans' photos explore their return to civilian life and search for meaningful social connections after war.  

UB-led research describes how a gene called Kdm6b helps motor neurons diversify into crucial subtypes.

Edreys Wajed’s impressive artwork can be seen and admired throughout Buffalo, and his experience as an MFA student at UB has helped him expand his network.

UB researchers focus on breaking down PFAS, a family of highly persistent pollutants that can accumulate in people’s bodies, and in wildlife.

A study by anthropologist Nicholas Holowka has found that heavily cushioned shoes does not impact running style.

Perched on the sliding seat, with her feet secured in shoes attached to the boat, Katie Barnum, web developer for the College of Arts and Sciences, pushes the 27-foot scull away from the dock.
Holly Jean Buck discusses the milestones in the accelerating pace of global heating.

In a new study, genetically engineered E. coli eat glucose, then help turn it into molecules found in gasoline.

Student pianist Marcus Lolo gives new meaning to community-minded undergraduates.

Mame-Fatou Niang, a visiting scholar studying Blackness in contemporary France, is teaching a seminar this semester as the Melodia E. Jones Endowed Chair.

This is a story about taking a chance. It is a story about the power of education and mentorship.
Professor Howard Lasker is one of the world’s foremost experts on coral reefs
Delivering a biology course consisting of lectures and in-person labs to over 1,000 students has always been a challenge. Throw in a pandemic, quarantine and a mid-semester mandate to move the course entirely online in 10 days and you’ve got the potential for an educational disaster.
Joan Linder from the Department of Art helps to improve upon the best laid plans while teaching a hybrid class.

Dalanda Jalloh, UB’s latest recipient of a Boren Scholarship, fights food insecurity as she spends part of her senior year studying in Senegal.

Although she had never written for the mainstream, UB English professor Carine Mardorossian was determined to help a hospice physician write his book.

Timothy Cook moonlights as an artist, with projects binding his two passions: science and drawing.

The study led by UB psychologist Jamie Ostrov will measure the nervous system to better understand the role of family and peer adversity.

As a live content correspondent, sophomore Michael Hunter films crucial plays for the Buffalo Bills and opposing teams’ social media accounts.

UB alumnus George Kelley has entrusted his extensive pulp fiction collection to the UB Libraries.

Fern Mallis, BFA ’69, was responsible for making Fashion Week—the extravaganza of designers, models and social influencers that descend on the city twice a year—the global event it is today.
Biology student Alex Dombrowski has turned her passion for bees into a physical, lasting legacy on campus.

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