Office of the Provost
The Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs is the university’s chief academic officer and is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the university’s academic vision. The Provost provides leadership across the academic enterprise through the articulation and support of academic priorities. These priorities include excellence in undergraduate, graduate, and professional education; faculty excellence in teaching, research, and public service; intellectual, geographic and cultural diversity of faculty and students; trans-disciplinary innovation in research, scholarship, and creative activities; and global leadership in research and education. As the university’s second ranking officer, the Provost reports directly to the President.
SPRING LETTER TO THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY
18 January 2008
Dear University Community,
Welcome back! The start of a new semester always seems to bring a renewed sense of excitement to our campus. And only a few days after the new year began, this excitement manifested in a way never before enjoyed in our institutional history.
On January 9, during his annual “State of the State” address, Governor Spitzer outlined a vision for New York State’s future in which the University at Buffalo will play a leadership role as “a flagship institution for a world-class, public university system.” The public leadership role the Governor recognized in his address has been a vital part of UB’s mission as a public research university since we joined the SUNY community in 1962. Over the years, as our public mission has grown, so has our reputation for excellence. And, in 1989, when the University at Buffalo was elected to the prestigious Association of American Universities, we rightly took our place as one of our nation’s finest public research universities.
We, as a university community, have continually striven for excellence throughout our research, education, and service missions—from our origin in the 19th century as a small medical faculty, through our gradual growth into a fine private university serving the regional community, to our present status as the state’s largest and most comprehensive public research university serving a truly global community. And, today, the University at Buffalo is becoming the number one choice for the most academically ambitious and accomplished undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. UB faculty are nationally and internationally recognized as defining leaders in their respective disciplinary fields—our faculty are changing the way we understand ourselves, our physical world, and the inherent possibilities thereof. Moreover, the University at Buffalo has truly become a prominent citizen of our region and state. We are educating the next generation of physicians, nurses, engineers, scientists, scholars, teachers, and public leaders. We are bringing our faculty research innovations into the marketplace to help improve the health, well-being, and quality of life to our regional and global citizenry.
With great pride I again acknowledge, the University at Buffalo has been publicly recognized for our leadership across our tripartite mission. To our university community: This is a tribute to you; to your innovation; to your creativity; to your unwavering commitment to excellence.
At the University at Buffalo, we have never been content to rest on our laurels. And, today is no different. We are transforming our university through creating communities for our undergraduate students—Honors College, Undergraduate Academies, Living/Learning Residences)—amidst a very large and comprehensive public research university. We are transforming our university through changing the way we approach research—trans-disciplinary Strategic Strengths. We are transforming our university through ensuring our students and faculty have the necessary academic support infrastructure—IT, library resources, mentorship, advisement—to be successful. I believe, quite enthusiastically, that the full manifestation of these transformational initiatives has yet to be realized.
In closing, I would like to extend my congratulations to our entire campus community upon being recognized by our Governor for our promise as a flagship university. It is only because of your steadfast commitment to excellence that we have achieved this recognition and will achieve our vision of becoming one of our nation’s premier public research universities. We are on our way!
Happy New Year and best wishes for a terrific semester.
Satish K. Tripathi
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Last Modified: Tuesday January 22 2008
- Office of the Provost
- 562 Capen Hall
- Buffalo, NY 14260
- Phone: (716) 645-2992
- Fax: (716) 645-3685