University at Buffalo

The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as University at Buffalo, UB, or sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 as a private medical college and merged with the State University of New York system in 1962. It is one of two flagship institutions of the SUNY system, along with Stony Brook University. As of fall 2023, the university enrolled nearly 32,000 students in 13 schools and colleges, making it the largest public university in the state of New York.

Since its founding by a group which included future U.S. president Millard Fillmore, the university has evolved from a small medical school to a research university. Today, in addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, the university houses the largest state-operated medical school, dental school, education school, business school, engineering school, and pharmacy school, and is also home to SUNY's only law school. UB has the largest endowment and most research funding among the universities in the SUNY system. The university offers bachelor's degrees in over 140 areas of study, as well as over 220 master's programs and over 95 doctoral programs, and 55 combined degree programs. The University at Buffalo is one of two universities founded by United States Presidents.

The University at Buffalo is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In 1989, UB was elected to the Association of American Universities. The University at Buffalo intercollegiate athletic teams are the Bulls. They compete in Division I of the NCAA and are members of the Mid-American Conference.

History

thumb|left|upright|White House portrait of [[Millard Fillmore]]

City leaders of Buffalo sought to establish a university in the city from the earliest days of Buffalo. A "University of Western New-York" was begun at Buffalo under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church and property was purchased at North Street and College (the site of the later YMCA), on the north side of the Allentown district. "University of Western New-York" was chartered by the state on April 8, 1836. Following the charter, private funding was secured for the "Western University," which would endow six or seven professorships at $5,000 each; an addition $12,000 or $15,000 was also collected for a general fund, and a building lot was donated by Judge Ebenezer Walden, one of the wealthiest men in the city. However, the project collapsed and no classes were ever offered, and only the layout of the College Street campus remains.

Founding

The University of Buffalo (as it was originally named) was founded on May 11, 1846, James Platt White was instrumental in obtaining a charter for the university from the state legislature in 1846. He also taught the first class of 89 men in obstetrics. State Assemblyman Nathan K. Hall was also "particularly active in procuring the charter". The doors first opened to students in 1847 and after associating with a hospital for teaching purposes, the first class of students graduated the medical school in July 1847. Fillmore served as the school's first chancellor, a position he held until 1874, even as he served in other capacities during that time, including Comptroller of New York, U.S. Vice President, and eventually President.

thumb|1907 pub scene, students singing

Initially, the university did not have its own facilities, and early lectures were given at an old post office on Seneca and Washington streets in Buffalo. The first building specially built for the university was a stone structure at the corner of Main and Virginia streets, built in 1849–50, through donations, public subscription, and a state grant. With that additional space, in 1915, the then University of Buffalo formed the College of Arts and Sciences, creating an undergraduate division in addition to its prior educational work in the licensed professional fields. In 1916, Grace Millard Knox pledged $500,000 () for the establishment of a "department of liberal arts and sciences in the University of Buffalo", which was at the time still a private institution. The initial gift of $100,000 was for the purchase of what would become Townsend Hall and the remainder was to establish the university's first endowment, in her husband's name, to support the department.

thumb|upright|First home of the Medical College

In 1950, the Industrial Engineering department branched off from the Mechanical Engineering department. In 1956, a Civil Engineering Department was formed under Lehigh University graduate Robert L. Ketter, who went on to become Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and later President of the university. In 1959, WBFO was launched as an AM radio station by UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and run by UB's students. The station has since become the launching pad of two modern National Public Radio personalities: Terry Gross and Ira Flatow. In 1961, the Western New York nuclear research program was created at the university. This program installed a miniature, active nuclear fission reactor on the university's South (Main Street) Campus. This program was not particularly active, nor could it compete with other government-run research labs, consequently, the programs performed in this facility were abandoned somewhat shortly after its inception. This reactor was decommissioned in 2005 with little fanfare due to material security concerns.

Acquisition by the SUNY system and second campus

The private University of Buffalo was purchased by and incorporated into the State University of New York (SUNY) system in 1962, and became known as the State University of New York at Buffalo, more commonly known as the University at Buffalo. This acquisition was championed by then-Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller. As a part of the agreement to merge the university into the SUNY system, the state began to build an extensive second campus for the university. In 1964, the state acquired several hundred acres in the town of Amherst on the northeast of Buffalo, for development as a comprehensive campus for most of the non-medical disciplines at the University at Buffalo. This is often called the North Campus; it is the center of most University at Buffalo activities. The North Campus project included several major buildings, dormitory complexes, a separate spur of the interstate highway, and a new lake. The undergraduate college, the law school, and graduate schools were all moved to the new campus. During the late 1960s, the College of Arts and Sciences was divided into three separate schools: arts and letters, natural sciences and mathematics, and social sciences. During the 1998–1999 academic year, the three schools were reunited to re-create the existing College of Arts and Sciences, when the faculties of Arts and Letters, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics were combined, according to a memorandum issued by the State University of New York.

Since 1989, UB has been a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of 65 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. UB president Satish K. Tripathi serves on the AAU board of directors.

"UB 2020" strategic plan

Started in 2004 under President John B. Simpson, UB 2020 was a strategic planning and expansion initiative to develop and implement a vision for the university over the subsequent 15 years. The centerpiece of UB 2020 was to add about 10,000 more students, 750 faculty members and 600 staff, increasing the size of the university by about 40 percent. UB 2020 also recognized the university's contribution to the surrounding region. The most recent estimates of UB's impact on the local and regional economies of Western New York report approximately $1.7 billion are brought into the local economy from the presence of UB. This figure is also expected to rise by 40 percent, corresponding with UB's institutional growth.

One of the keys to helping UB achieve the goals of the UB 2020 plan, proponents said, was the passage of S2020 and A2020, known as the UB 2020 Flexibility and Economic Growth Act, by the New York State Legislature. On June 3, 2009, the State Senate passed S2020 and sent the bill to the Assembly for their consideration.

thumb|left|UB student Silvana D'Ettorre introduces President [[Barack Obama at a speech given in Alumni Arena in 2013.]]

The current president, Satish K. Tripathi, continued his vocal support of UB 2020 and has been actively engaging in campus-wide discussion on the proposed tuition increases introduced by the bill.

In 2011, the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences received a donation of $40 million from an alumnus, George Melvin Ellis Jr., MD, who earned his medical degree from the university in 1945. The donation contributed to the $375 million project which has relocated the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to UB's downtown campus. The new school building was designed by HOK Architects. A subsequent donation of $30 million from Jeremy Jacobs and family was received in 2015 and the medical school was renamed the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

From FY2011 to FY2012, UB spent over $300 million on the strategic plan to construct and open four new buildings, including Davis Hall, William R. Greiner Residence Hall, the Clinical and Translational Research Center and Kaleida Health medical research building, and Crossroads Culinary Center.

On August 22, 2013, President Barack Obama came to UB's campus to give a speech about needed higher education reform in the country. President Obama highlighted UB's accolades and specifically chose Buffalo for its excellence and commitment to the future, graduation rates and retention, and quality education at an affordable price.

As part of the UB 2020 initiative, "Heart of the Campus" projects were initiated in phases on each of UB's three campuses. In Fall 2019, UB began construction of the One World Café, an "international eatery" located on North Campus, adjacent to Capen Hall, Norton Hall, and Founder's Plaza.

Beginning in 2019, UB took steps to distance the institution from Millard Fillmore and ceased its co-sponsorship of his annual gravesite ceremony, due to his controversial policies regarding slavery in the United States. A year later, Fillmore's name was removed from the Millard Fillmore Academic Center, and the names of UB's fourth chancellor James O. Putnam and SUNY regent Peter Buell Porter were also removed from campus due to the former's openly racist views and the latter's ownership of slaves.

Name

The university's official legal name is "State University of New York at Buffalo". It is commonly known as the "University at Buffalo" (UB). The institution was known as the "University of Buffalo" for over a century. Other names such as "SUNY Buffalo", "SUNY at Buffalo", and "Buffalo" are also used. The university's athletic department, particularly on uniforms, uses the name "Buffalo".

Administration and organization

thumb|Clark Hall on UB's South Campus

Buffalo is a public university and is one of four university centers of the 64 campuses in the State University of New York (SUNY) which enrolled 467,991 students and employed 88,024 academic staff in 2014. SUNY is governed by an 18-member Board of Trustees, of which 16 vote. 15 of the voting members are appointed by the Governor of New York and the remaining voting member is elected by students as President of the Student Assembly of the State University of New York. The other two members are non-voting faculty from the University Faculty Senate and Faculty Council of Community Colleges. Merryl Tisch is the Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees and John King Jr. is the Chancellor of the SUNY system. Satish K. Tripathi was appointed by the SUNY Board of Trustees as the 15th president of the University at Buffalo in April 2011, becoming the first international-born president the school has had. He previously held a six-year tenure as the UB provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. He receives compensation of $385,000, $115,000, and $150,000 annually from each of the university, SUNY Research Foundation, and the UB Foundation respectively.

The University at Buffalo Foundation (UB Foundation) was chartered in 1962 as an independent non-profit corporation and is controlled by a privately appointed board of trustees. It serves as a vehicle to raise private funds for the university, develop real estate, and manage endowment investments on behalf of the university. The foundation managed a $685.2 million endowment for FY2011.

UB is organized into 13 academic schools and colleges.

The School of Architecture and Planning is the only combined architecture and urban planning school in the State University of New York system, offers the only accredited professional master's degree in architecture, and is one of two SUNY schools that offer an accredited professional master's degree in urban planning. In addition, the School of Architecture and Planning also awards the original undergraduate four year pre-professional degrees in architecture and environmental design in the SUNY system. Other degree programs offered by the School of Architecture and Planning include a research-oriented Master of Science in architecture with specializations in historic preservation/urban design, inclusive design, and computing and media technologies; a PhD in urban and regional planning; and, an advanced graduate certificate in historic preservation.
The College of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1915 and is the largest and most comprehensive academic unit at UB with 29 degree-granting departments, 16 academic programs, and 23 centers and institutes across the humanities, arts, and sciences.
The School of Dental Medicine was founded in 1892 and offers accredited programs in DDS, oral surgery, and other oral sciences.
The Graduate School of Education was founded in 1931 and is one of the largest graduate schools at UB. The school has four academic departments: counseling and educational psychology, educational leadership and policy, learning and instruction, and information science. In academic year 2008–2009, the Graduate School of Education awarded 472 master's degrees and 52 doctoral degrees.
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences was founded in 1946 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in six departments. It is the largest public school of engineering in the state of New York. UB is the only public school in New York State to offer a degree in Aerospace Engineering
The School of Law was founded in 1887 and is the only law school in the SUNY system. The school awarded 265 JD degrees in the 2009–2010 academic year.
The School of Management was founded in 1923 and offers AACSB-accredited undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral degrees.
The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is the founding faculty of the UB and began in 1846. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the biomedical and biotechnical sciences as well as an MD program and residencies.
The School of Nursing was founded in 1936 and offers bachelors, clinical doctorate, and research doctorate degrees, along with advanced certificates.
The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences was founded in 1886, making it the second-oldest faculty at UB and one of two pharmacy schools in the SUNY system.
The School of Public Health and Health Professions was founded in 2003 from the merger of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and the UB School of Health Related Professions. The school offers bachelor's, professional, master's, and doctoral degrees.
The School of Social Work offers graduate MSW and doctoral degrees in social work.
The Roswell Park Graduate Division is an affiliated academic unit within the Graduate School of UB, in partnership with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, an independent NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Roswell Park Graduate Division offers five PhD programs and two MS programs in basic and translational biomedical research related to cancer. Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center was founded in 1898 by Roswell Park and was the world's first cancer research institute.

The University at Buffalo Department of Media Study, located on the North Campus, provides facilities for experimental media production, including video, sound, and digital art studios.

Academics

thumb|right|Parker Hall

The University at Buffalo is a large, public research university with very high research activity. In 2020, the university offered 140+ undergraduate programs, 220+ master's programs, 95+ doctoral programs and 55+ combined degree programs.

The four-year, full-time undergraduate program comprises the majority of enrollments at the university which emphasizes a balanced curriculum across the arts, sciences, and professions. Women make up 48% of the student body and 78% of the student body is from the state of New York. Undergraduate tuition, room & board, and fees for New York state residents for the 2020–2021 school year totals $24,860 and costs to out-of-state residents totals $42,330. New York State also offers free tuition for all public college and universities through the Excelsior Scholarship program for families who have an income of lower than $125,000 and are residents of the state. Other requirements to qualify for free tuition include full-time enrollment and staying in the state for a number of years after graduating.

thumb|UB's Health and Sciences Library, Abbott Hall, South Campus

UB is noted for offering an early Computer Science major that was distinct from a mathematics major.

University at Buffalo academic and professional faculty are represented by United University Professions. The two UUP chapters at the University at Buffalo are Health Sciences and Buffalo Center. United University Professions has over 34,000 members at 29 campuses of SUNY. The organization serves as the collective bargaining agent representing SUNY faculty and professional staff, negotiating contracts and employment conditions.

Admissions

UB offers some flexibility in admission deadlines. The middle 50% range of SAT scores for enrolling freshmen was 600–699 for math, 600–699 for evidence-based reading and writing, and the ACT composite score range was 24–29. U.S. News & World Reports the 2023–2024 Best Colleges ranked UB 76 on their list of "Best National Universities", and 36th among public universities. U.S. News ranking of best online programs ranks UB eighth in "Best Online Bachelor's Programs" and 25th in "Best Online Graduate Education Programs". In the "World University Rankings 2022", Times Higher Education ranked UB at 251–300. U.S. News & World Report ranked the university 277 on their "Best Global Universities" ranking in 2022.

In 2024, Washington Monthly ranked University of Buffalo 129th among 438 national universities in the U.S. based on Buffalo's contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2021 ranked the Civil Engineering department 5th in the U.S. and 25th globally (World). The ARWU ranked the UB dental school 8th in nation and 10th in the world for dentistry and oral sciences. The School of Management is ranked 70th by U.S. News, 42nd by Forbes and 78th by BusinessWeek, making UB the highest ranked public business school in New York. The School of Education at UB is ranked 70th. The School of Public Health and Health Professions is ranked 31st, the School of Nursing is ranked 91st for masters, 73rd for doctorate, with the anesthesia program ranking tenth in the nation. The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is ranked 22nd, the School of Social Work is ranked 24th, the School of Law is ranked 94th. UB was ranked the 56th Best College for Veterans.

Research

UB houses two of the eleven New York State Centers of Excellence: the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS) and the Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics (CMI). Emphasis has been placed on developing a community of research scientists centered around an economic initiative to promote Buffalo and create the Center of Excellence for Bioinformatics and Life Sciences as well as other advanced biomedical and engineering disciplines.

Total research expenditures for the fiscal year of 2017 were $401 million, ranking 59th nationally.

Libraries

UB has nine libraries on its South (Buffalo), North (Amherst), and Downtown (Buffalo) campuses. The libraries' 4.3 million-plus print volumes are augmented by extensive digital resources, including full-text electronic journals, databases, media, and special collections, which include a collection of James Joyce manuscripts and artifacts.

Campuses

The University at Buffalo is the state's largest and most comprehensive public university and is spread across three campuses: North Campus, South Campus, and Downtown Campus. The Sustainable Endowments Institute's College Sustainability Report Card awarded the university a B+. UB was awarded the EPA "Environmental Champion Award" in 2015 and is ranked as one of the top 50 "green colleges and universities" in the nation, working towards becoming climate neutral by 2030.

North Campus

The North Campus, a census-designated place also called "University at Buffalo", located in the suburb of Amherst, began in the 1970s. Many academic programs, including the entirety of the undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences, the University at Buffalo Law School, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the School of Management, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the Graduate School of Education, as well as Lockwood Memorial Library, Oscar A. Silverman Library, and many administrative offices, are located on UB's North Campus.

thumb|right|240px|O'Brian Hall, home to the [[University at Buffalo Law School|School of Law]]

The North Campus is home to administrative and academic offices. The main buildings are arranged along one academic "spine", a second floor connecting corridor, that connects most of the main academic buildings. The whole campus covers with 146 buildings containing , 11 residence halls and 5 apartment complexes.

The North Campus offers a variety of entertainment programming and activity for students. It contains the Student Union, which houses offices for the Student Association and student-interest clubs; Slee Hall, which presents contemporary and classical music concerts; Broadview Arena, the home-court for University Athletics; the UB Center for the Arts, a non-profit presenter of a wide variety of professional entertainment and Broadview Stadium, the 30,000 seat football stadium.

South Campus

thumb|Overlooking UB's South Campus with a view of [[Edmund B. Hayes Hall]]

The South Campus, also known as the Main Street campus, located on in North Buffalo, is the former grounds of the Erie County Almshouse and Insane Asylum, of which four buildings still remain (Hayes Hall, the former insane asylum; Wende Hall, a former maternity hospital; Hayes D; and Townsend Hall, a former nurses' quarters). Edmund B. Hayes Hall located on South Campus is a registered U.S. National Historical Place. The college was designed by architect E.B. Green in 1910, and was intended to resemble Trinity College, Dublin. Its 53 buildings contain () and include two residence halls. as well as the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute to compose the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. The medical campus, which is designed to meet LEED Silver criteria, incorporates high efficiency lighting, heat recovery systems, and an Energy Star roof.

Also located in the downtown area is UB's Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions (CRIA), Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) and the Jacobs Executive Development Center (JEDC). The campus includes six major properties and a total of 43 buildings, counting shared lease space ().

In September 2007, UB added the former M. Wile and Company Factory Building on the southeast corner of Goodell and Ellicott streets and the former Trico Products Corp. building complex on the northwest corner of Goodell and Ellicott streets to its properties downtown. The UB Regional Institute, Center on Rehabilitation Synergy, and a number of pre-K-16 initiatives related to UB's civic engagement mission, such as the UB-Buffalo Public Schools Partnership office, are set to relocate to the first site. The latter location has been purchased to house additional biomedical and life science-related businesses connected to the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus.

Teaching hospitals

UB's teaching hospitals include Buffalo General Hospital, Erie County Medical Center, Millard Fillmore Hospital, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Veterans Affairs Western New York Health Care System, and the John R. Oishei Children's Hospital. Additional facilities include free clinics such as the Kaleida Health's Niagara Family Health Center and the Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic, a program run by UB medical students.

UB art galleries

UB is home to two university art galleries: the UB Anderson Art Gallery and the UB Art Gallery at the Center for the Arts.

Adjacent to the UB South Campus is the UB Anderson Art Gallery, a converted elementary school with an all-glass atrium exhibit space. The UB Anderson Gallery hosts exhibitions curated by faculty and visiting curators and features works from international and professional artist in its two floor facility. The UB Anderson Gallery building, along with over 1,200 works of art, was donated to the university in 2000 by collector and gallery owner David K. Anderson, son of legendary New York gallerist Martha Jackson. Selections from the personal collection of Jackson that was donated to the UB Anderson Gallery by David Anderson are on display in a 360 degree permanent installation in the Martha Jackson Gallery Archives and Research Center, on the second floor of the gallery.

The UB Art Gallery at the Center for the Arts is located on the north campus, and features works from contemporary artists, as well as faculty and students across disciplines.

Comprehensive Physical Plan

The University at Buffalo has grown to an enrollment of approximately 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students, and a staff of 14,000 employees, across three campuses in the last 160 years. In order to accommodate both students and faculty, the university is currently implementing a $4.5 million Comprehensive Physical Plan to help in growth as well as to best utilize and enhance current facilities. Connecting all three campuses, as well as the facilities UB uses, is also a major element of the project. The firm granted the contract to lead the project is Beyer Blinder Belle.

The comprehensive physical planning process is broken into four phases. Currently, UB is implementing "phase one" by seeking input from the local and university communities to pinpoint issues, opportunities, and concerns related to this expansion. The project recognizes UB's potential for excellence, in regard to the university's physical environment, by highlighting and evaluating various positive and negative attributes of the three campuses, including housing, circulation, functionality, landscape, and community interface.