The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Buffalo State campus community is invited to officially commence the 2007–2008 academic year during the annual Academic Convocation ceremony at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, September 20, in Rockwell Hall Auditorium. Convocation is an important tradition on our campus, a time when we celebrate learning and excellence. Please join us in recognizing the accomplishments of our faculty and staff colleagues receiving President's and Chancellor's awards.

This year's Bonnie and Vern L. Bullough Academic Convocation Address will be delivered byKenneth Huff, two-time Buffalo State alumnus who received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from President George W. Bush in 2006. A sixth-grade science teacher at Mill Middle School in Williamsville, Huff was the only science teacher in New York State so recognized, and one of 93 recognized nationally.

Huff, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Buffalo State, has received numerous awards and has served as chair of the National Science Teachers Association Aerospace Program Advisory Board and as teacher liaison for the Space Foundation. He was chosen by NASA as a field test teacher in 2001, and he continues to serve the agency in the development of its Engineering Design Challenges Program, SpaceSim Orbiter Docking Simulation, and Distance Learning Network.

President’s Awards for Excellence

President’s Awards for Excellence will be presented at Convocation to the following faculty and staff members for their outstanding contributions to Buffalo State.

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

R. Bruce Baum
Professor, Exceptional Education
Bruce Baum is admired by colleagues and students alike for his willingness to give generously of his time and his knowledge. His aptitude for humor and magic tricks has endeared him to decades of students, but it is his ability to use these tools to enhance learning and to model effective ways of teaching that has earned him respect and admiration. Well regarded for his scholarship, Baum has taught more than 20 departmental courses since coming to Buffalo State in 1972, and he has published and presented extensively. He has also served on departmental committees, on college committees, on the Senate Intellectual Foundations Oversight Committee, and in many community organizations.

James F. Hamm
Professor, Art Conservation
James Hamm believes strongly that students learn best by doing. His students now work as conservators in major art museums in North America, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Hamm provides professional services to entities such as the University of Rochester, Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, and the Roycroft Revitalization Corporation. He is also active in service to his department, the college, and community partners such as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, and the Burchfield-Penney Art Center.

EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP, AND CREATIVITY

Gerard J. Puccio
Professor and Chair, Creative Studies
Gerard Puccio has made valuable contributions to the discipline of creativity studies. His scholarly accomplishments include more than 40 published works, many in refereed scholarly journals. He has presented his research at both national and international conferences, and he has provided training for nonprofit and business-related organizations. He is also lead author of the book Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change. Under Puccio's leadership, the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State has become one of the most active producers of scholarly research on individual creativity and its enhancement.

Zhang Jie
Professor, Sociology, and Director, Center for China Studies
Zhang Jie is an internationally renowned scholar on the subject of suicide. Zhang has published extensively, with more than 20 articles appearing in refereed journals. He has also coauthored four books and contributed chapters to numerous others. The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded him grants totaling more than $1.1 million. The Center for China Studies at Buffalo State has facilitated study and research in China for both faculty members and students, and has provided scholars from China with the opportunity to visit Buffalo State.

EXCELLENCE IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF EQUITY AND CAMPUS DIVERSITY

Wanda M. Davis
Associate Professor, Student Personnel Administration
Wanda Davis served as project director for the 10-part lecture series What Price Freedom? The Centennial Celebration of the Niagara Movement in Buffalo,which honored the 100th anniversary of the Niagara Movement and examined Buffalo's pivotal role in the founding of the civil rights movement. The initiative, funded by a major grant from the New York Council for the Humanities, was organized in collaboration with the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the Langston Hughes Institute, the Organization of American Historians, and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Davis has a lengthy career in higher education in which she has consistently demonstrated commitment to the principles of social justice while developing new courses and serving as both administrator and faculty member.

EXCELLENCE AS AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH MENTOR

Howard M. Reid
Professor, Psychology
Howard Reid has served as a research mentor to undergraduates since coming to Buffalo State in 1977. Over the years, he has taken the time to work closely with students to get them excited about scholarship, to help them refine their ideas, to guide and direct them in the methods and conduct of research, and to support them in the presentation of their scholarship. As a thoughtful, selfless, patient, committed, and effective mentor, Reid has inspired not only students but also his colleagues. Working with students on independent projects, independent studies, and honors theses, Reid has helped each student to identify an area of interest and develop an appropriate scientific approach.

Karen Sands-O'Connor
Associate Professor, English
Karen Sands-O'Connor has demonstrated a commitment to helping students develop as scholars beyond the walls of the classroom. Thanks to her efforts, undergraduate students in the English Department have conducted meaningful academic research and presented their findings at prestigious national and international conferences including the Modern Critical Approaches to Children's Literature Conference, the Children's Literature Association Conference, and others held across the United States; at Cambridge and Newcastle in the United Kingdom; and in Paris, France.

Jill K. Singer
Professor, Earth Sciences and Science Education, and Director, Undergraduate Research Office
Jill Singer, has led the campus in promoting, fostering, and mentoring undergraduate research at Buffalo State since 1986. Although the Undergraduate Research Office was formally established on campus in 2003, Singer was providing the services it offers for many years prior. Thanks to her tenacious effort, the office establishes undergraduate research as integral to, and a hallmark of, the Buffalo State college experience. Singer has also served as a program director with the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education in Washington, D.C.; as president and executive board member of the Council on Undergraduate Research; and as a member of the Board of Governors of the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research. While performing these roles, she has continued to mentor undergraduate students through research projects, presentations, and publication.

EXCELLENCE IN ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT

Dwight A. Hennessy
Associate Professor, Psychology
Dwight Hennessy has committed himself to becoming an advisement champion and leader. Due largely to his efforts, in 2002 the Psychology Department created a departmental Advisement Committee to coordinate and orchestrate the department's advisement activities. As a result, advisement plays an enhanced role in the lives of psychology majors. In addition to helping students interpret the college's requirements and monitoring their progress toward their degrees, advisement also encompasses mentoring by both faculty members and peers. In addition, trained undergraduate psychology majors serve as peer advisers to their fellow students. Hennessy also presents a mandatory student orientation meeting each semester to help students track their academic progress, and he supervises the annual revision and publication of the Psychology Major Student Guide. 

EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE TO THE COLLEGE

Debra B. Howard
Secretary I, Sociology
Debra Howard has worked in many departments since becoming part of the Buffalo State community in 1972. In the Sociology Department, she works behind the scenes to ensure that the department chair and faculty members have up-to-date and accurate records of the progress that majors are making toward their degrees, greatly simplifying the task of advisement for faculty members. She is dependable, supportive of both students and faculty, and is instrumental in bringing department members together as one fully functioning unit.

Sean D. Hudson
Assistant Registrar, Registrar's Office
Sean Hudson is responsible for administration of the Degree Navigator Audit System software, maintenance of its database files, and coordination of related training and documentation. Hudson must know each department's program requirements, the catalog in use when each student first came to the college, and the general education requirements that apply to each student's academic career. When faculty members, staff, and students experience problems with Degree Navigator, Hudson is persistent in solving them. His efforts result in much better service to both students and faculty advisers who rely on this software to monitor students' progress toward their degrees.

Kaylene D. Waite
Computer Graphics Specialist, Instructional Resources
Kaylene Waite helps faculty members produce posters, brochures, fliers, online forms, and Web sites for their teaching, research, and presentations delivered at academic conferences from San Diego to Cambridge. She also provides training in the use of Adobe Acrobat, Adobe PhotoShop, and all the Macromedia software products. Everyone who works with her cites her positive attitude and willingness to accommodate requests. Waite's work has supported research and creative efforts across Buffalo State, including that of art education students, geology professors, librarians, ceramic artists, historians, and many others.

Chancellor's Awards for Excellence

Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Professional Service will also be awarded at Academic Convocation to Dennis McCarthy, associate dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, and Roswell Park, director of Academic Support Programs.

A reception will immediately follow the ceremony on the front lawn of Rockwell Hall. For more information, please contact Carolyn Martino in the Academic and Student Affairs Office at ext. 5903.