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

Two students who received critical Language scholarships pose together.

The prestigious award will allow both Anna Givens and Fiona Serrano to travel to Latvia to study Russian.

UB chemist David Heppner published the first 3D model of lazertinib, a chemo-free drug the FDA has approved to be used in a combo therapy.

Two dancers performing on stage.

The Cathleen Wendel Lista Dance Showcase also celebrates the life of the beloved UB alumna and dance instructor.

Goldwater Awardees - Nicholas Reilly is a junior majoring in Chemical Engineering (left) and Nicholas Pratt is a junior majoring in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. (right).

Nicholas Pratt and Nicholas Reilly are UB’s latest recipients of the country’s most respected scholarship for undergraduate STEM students.

Alexandra Sesenton pictured against a brick wall.

Alexandra Sesenton has assumed the role of concert manager in the Department of Music, with a goal of expanding the reach of UB's music programming.

Jeffrey Scott, holding his grammy award.

The Grammy-winning composition from music professor Jeffrey Scott, the latest guest on the Driven to Discover podcast, will come alive on April 25.

The Buffalo International Guitar Festival returns to UB from March 28–30, offering concerts, competitions, workshops, and ensemble performances that celebrate guitar artistry and education for all skill levels.

The space is designed to increase Indigenous faculty and student retention and success, and foster community-building at UB and beyond.

Sandy Geffner leads a class through the Everglades National Park.

UB photographer Meredith Forrest Kulwicki joined a class on a recent trip to the Everglades to document what was for many students a memorable and "otherworldly" trip.

This milestone CFA season includes Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, The Princess Bride's Cary Elwes and more.

Once thought to be from a bear, a 3,000-year-old bone fragment shares a genetic connection with modern Alaskan Natives.

UB Seminar EVS 199 class tours the North Campus doing research for a North Campus Field Guide.

The guide includes chapters on edible and medicinal plants, critters, mental health and zero waste on campus.

Laibah Mir.

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

Q&A with Sungmin Shin from the UB Department of Music.
The four co-authors from left, Sarah Handley-Cousins, Averill Earls, Elizabeth Garner Masarik, Marissa Rhodes.

The first event in the Gender Institute's book launch series explores the history of the world’s largest center for spiritualism. 

Three Social Impact Fellows student pose together in front of the Rural Outreach Center where they are working this summer.

The hands-on program brings students from a variety of disciplines together to address pressing social issues in the community — and do something to help.

Q&A with Rinaldo Walcott from the department of Africana and American Studies.

Holly E. Hughes, MA ’02, helps manage one of the world’s premier collections of 20th century modern art at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

SUNY Chancellor's medal.

Twenty-two employees have been recognized for consistently superior professional achievement and the ongoing pursuit of excellence.

Thomas Brachmann, Kevin Cullinan and Gary Nottingham, the team in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Instrument Machine Shop.

The team works with faculty to plan, design, fabricate and repair the precision devices needed to conduct their work.

Jessica Fisher pictured with the characters from her film.

A film class sparked biology major Jessica Fisher's new journey that includes recognition at last year's Buffalo International Film Festival.

Ndubueze Mbah pictured in Davis Hall atrium.

As commissioner of education in Enugu State, the UB history professor aims to reform the schools through experiential learning models.

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.

The new chair of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies says her field studies topics that impact us every day.

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.

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. 

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.

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