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The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
in Buffalo and
Amherst, New York Amherst () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. ...
, United States. The university was founded in 1846 as a private medical college and merged with the
State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...
system in 1962. It is one of two flagship institutions of the SUNY system, along with
Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...
. 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 United States president
Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...
, the university has evolved from a small
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
to a large
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
. Today, in addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, the university houses the largest state-operated
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
,
dental school A dental school (school of dental medicine, school of dentistry, dental college) is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches dental medicine to prospective dentists and potentially other dental auxiliari ...
, education school,
business school A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...
,
engineering school Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve systems. Modern engineering comprises many subfiel ...
, and
pharmacy school The basic requirement for pharmacists to be considered for registration is often an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university. In many countries, this involves a four- or five-year course to attain a bachelor of ...
, and is also home to SUNY's only
law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...
. UB has the largest enrollment, 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, the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
, and
Vincennes University Vincennes University (VU) is a public college with its main campus in Vincennes, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1801 as Jefferson Academy, VU is the oldest public institution of higher learning in Indiana. VU was chartered in 1806 as the In ...
are the only colleges founded by United States Presidents. The University at Buffalo is
classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...
among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In 1989, UB was elected to the
Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...
. The University at Buffalo intercollegiate athletic teams are the
Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine * Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...
. They compete in Division I of the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
and are members of the
Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...
.


History

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 Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...
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 Ebenezer Walden (1777–1857) was mayor of Buffalo, New York, serving in 1838–1839. He was born in 1777 in Massachusetts. In 1799, he graduated from Williams College, then made his way to Oneida County, New York where he studied law. In 1806, ...
, 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, as a private medical school to train the doctors for the communities of Buffalo,
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...
, and surrounding villages. Future
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...
, then a lawyer who had recently served in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, was one of the principal founders. 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 Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
, a position he held until 1874, even as he served in other capacities during that time, including
Comptroller of New York The New York state comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and head of the government of New York (state), New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. Sixty-one individua ...
,
U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
 Vice President, and eventually President. 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. There were continuous expansions to the college medical programs, including a separate pharmacy division, which is now The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 1887, a law school was organized in Buffalo, which quickly became associated with
Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...
just to the north of Buffalo. After four years, in 1891, the law school was acquired by the University of Buffalo as the University of Buffalo Law School, which had a downtown Buffalo facility. In the first few years of the 20th century, the university began planning for a comprehensive undergraduate college to complete the basic structure of a university, and in 1909 the university acquired the Erie County Almshouse grounds from the county of Erie, which became the University of Buffalo's initial campus. The establishment may have been influenced by the 1910 ''
Flexner Report The ''Flexner Report'' is a book-length landmark report of medical education in the United States and Canada, written by Abraham Flexner and published in 1910 under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation. Flexner not only described the state of m ...
'' which criticized the preparation of the medical students at the university. 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. In 1950, the
Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...
department branched off from the
Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
department. In 1956, a
Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...
Department was formed under
Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...
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 WBFO (88.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "BTPM NPR") is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio, public radio station in Buffalo, New York. It is owned by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Associati ...
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 National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
personalities:
Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NP ...
and
Ira Flatow Ira Flatow (; born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts WNYC Studio's popular program ''Science Friday''. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series '' Newton's Apple'', a television science program f ...
. 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 The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...
(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 Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...
. 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 The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...
(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 Strategic planning is the activity undertaken by an organization through which it seeks to define its future direction and makes decisions such as resource allocation aimed at achieving its intended goals. "Strategy" has many definitions, but it ...
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. 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 Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
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 The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...
. 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 James Osborne Putnam (July 4, 1818 – April 24, 1903) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Putnam was born July 4, 1818, in Attica, New York. He was the son of Congressman Harvey Putnam (1793–1855) and Myra Osborne (1795 ...
and SUNY regent
Peter Buell Porter Peter Buell Porter (August 14, 1773 – March 20, 1844) was an American lawyer, soldier and politician who served as United States Secretary of War from 1828 to 1829. Early life Porter was born on August 14, 1773, one of six children born to Dr ...
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". The more commonly used name and the school's formal academic name is "University at Buffalo", informally "UB". This name is similar to the university's former name of over 100 years, "University of Buffalo". Other names like "SUNY Buffalo", "SUNY at Buffalo", and "Buffalo" are also seen. The university's athletic department, particularly on uniforms, uses the name "Buffalo".


Administration and organization

Buffalo is a public university and is one of four university centers of the 64 campuses in the
State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...
(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 The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...
and the remaining voting member is elected by students as President of the
Student Assembly of the State University of New York A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...
. The other two members are non-voting faculty from the University Faculty Senate and
Faculty Council of Community Colleges The Faculty Council of Community Colleges (FCCC) is the official agency through which State University of New York community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate ...
.
Merryl Tisch Merryl H. Tisch is currently the Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees, and the former Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. She is the wife of James S. Tisch, an heir to the Loews Corporation. In November 2015, she stepped down f ...
is the Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees and
John King Jr. John B. King Jr. (born January 5, 1975) is an American educator, civil servant, and former state and federal government official who is the 15th Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY). He previously served as President & CEO of T ...
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 Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
* The
School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...
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 The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to business ...
-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 Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other me ...
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 only 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 MSW may stand for: Businesses and organisations * Manatawny Still Works, a craft distillery in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States * Massawa International Airport, Eritrea (by IATA code) * Ministry of Interior (Poland) () * Muslim Society of Was ...
and doctoral degrees in
social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
. * The Roswell Park Graduate Division is an affiliated academic unit within the Graduate School of UB, in partnership with
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by surgeon Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. Th ...
, 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 Roswell Park (May 4, 1852 – February 15, 1914) was an American physician and cancer researcher, best known for starting Gratwick Research Laboratory in 1898, which is now known as Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Biography Roswell Pa ...
and was the world's first cancer research institute.


Academics

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. The university enrolled 21,607 undergraduate and 9,896 graduate students in the fall of 2018. Women make up 48% of the student body and 78% of the student body is from the state of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. Over 7,000 students live in on-campus residential halls and 10,172 students live off campus in affiliated housing (including on-campus affiliated housing). Over 79% of students live on campus their first year. 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. UB is noted for offering an early
Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied 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.


Admissions

UB offers some flexibility in admission deadlines. For the Class of 2024 (enrolling Fall 2020), the university received 27,652 applications and accepted 15,233 (55.1%), with 4,119 enrolling. The middle 50% range of
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...
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.


Rankings and reputation

''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' 2025 American Top Colleges list ranked UB 134th in overall, and 57th among US public universities. '' U.S. News & World Report''s 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 ''Wall Street Journal''/''Times Higher Education'' 2021 ranking of top colleges and universities, the University at Buffalo was ranked as the 31st best public university and the 121st best college in the nation. In the "World University Rankings 2022", ''
Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL 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 ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine primarily covering United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine also publishes an annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which ser ...
'' 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 ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' and 78th by ''
BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...
'', 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 A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...
is ranked 94th. UB was ranked the 56th Best College for Veterans. The audiology program is ranked 17th, rehabilitation counseling is ranked 21st, speech-language pathology is ranked 30th, English is ranked 44th, library and information studies is ranked 39th, math is 73rd, physics is 85th, fine arts is 69th, political science is 76th, history is 92nd, physical therapy is 79th, occupational therapy is 32nd, computer science is 63rd, chemistry is 76th, statistics is 70th, psychology is 63rd, and clinical psychology is ranked 50th. The
Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...
(EPA) ranks UB first on their "Green Power List" of top colleges and universities. In
Kiplinger Kiplinger ( ) is an American publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice that is a subsidiary of Future plc. Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., was a closely held company managed for more than nine decades by three generations o ...
's "Best Values in Public Colleges" of 2017, the University at Buffalo ranks 54th in the nation for in-state students and 70th in the nation for out-of-state students.


Research

UB houses two New York State Centers of Excellence (out of the total 11): Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS) and 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 the world's single largest 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 A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
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. 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. Its size was supported by the implementation of a shuttle system circling the academic sector and surrounding areas including the administrative complex, located nearly a quarter mile from the central academic area. When originally built by the state of New York, the North Campus was provided with two Interstate exits, from I-290 and I-990, its own internal parkway, the John James Audubon Parkway, and two small lakes created from
Ellicott Creek Ellicott Creek is a stream in Western New York, United States. It is a tributary of Tonawanda Creek, which in turn flows into the Niagara River. Course Ellicott Creek originates in southwest corner of Genesee County, just northeast of Darien La ...
. As a census-designated place, the residential population recorded at the 2010 census was 6,066. 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; Alumni 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
University at Buffalo Stadium UB Stadium is a stadium in Amherst, New York, United States, on the campus of the University at Buffalo. It is primarily used for football, soccer, and track and field events, and is the home field of the Buffalo Bulls. The Stadium hosted the ...
, the 30,000 seat
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
stadium.


South Campus

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 Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...
. Its 53 buildings contain () and include two residence halls. This campus is served by the northernmost
subway station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase Train ticket, tickets, board trains, and Emerg ...
on Buffalo's Niagara Frontier Metro Rail system. Today, the South Campus is home to the School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, Dental School, and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning. In addition, the University at Buffalo South Campus is the home of the
WBFO WBFO (88.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "BTPM NPR") is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio, public radio station in Buffalo, New York. It is owned by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Associati ...
radio station, the university's biomedical science research complex, the Health Sciences Library, and certain administrative offices.


Downtown Campus

In 2002, UB commissioned Boston firm Chan Krieger to create a third campus center. The Downtown Campus is the site of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as well as UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Science, which partners in research with UB's Ira G. Ross Eye Institute as well as the
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by surgeon Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. Th ...
and
Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute The Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) is an independent, not-for-profit, biomedical research facility located in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus affiliated with the University at Buffalo. Its focus is on structural biology w ...
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 Energy Star (trademarked ENERGY STAR) is an Efficient energy use, energy-efficiency program established in 1992. It is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The EPA ...
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 John R. Oishei Children's Hospital (viewed from Ellicott Street in 2017) Kaleida Health, founded in 1998, is a not-for-profit healthcare network that manages five hospitals in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. Prior to the merger ...
,
Erie County Medical Center Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) is a hospital with 550 beds located in the East Side of Buffalo, New York and a member of the Great Lakes Health System. It is the primary teaching hospital for the University at Buffalo. It is also a New York ...
, Millard Fillmore Hospital,
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by surgeon Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. Th ...
, 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 Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
, 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.


Campus demographics

University at Buffalo is also a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) covering the campus. ''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' The CDP is mostly located within Sweet Home Central School District with a portion in Williamsville Central School District.
Text list
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Student life


Associations and activities

UB has two student-run periodicals: '' The Spectrum'', and ''Subject'', both of which are run as independent nonprofits. ''The Spectrum'' is a campus newspaper, which distributes on campus and online. ''Subject'' is a student-run online multimedia outlet that includes student-written articles, and radio shows, video, and podcasts by students and alumni. ''Subject'' was founded in 2020 by alumni of former campus radio station WRUB, and campus magazine ''
Generation A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...
,'', after Sub-Board I, the student services corporation that funded them both, was shut down in 2019. After the retirement of John B. Simpson, the undergraduate students have also developed a university forum with the hopes of developing a thriving online campus. This move was supported by now-incumbent president Satish K. Tripathi who called it a "model of University spirit and entrepreneurship". The UB Student Alumni Association (UBSAA) annually hosts the world's largest collegiate mud-volleyball game known as "Oozefest". One hundred ninety-two teams of at least six students compete in a double elimination volleyball tournament at "The Mud Pit" each Spring before finals. Fire trucks are brought in to saturate the dirt courts to create the mud. Awards are handed out to not only the victors, but the most creatively dressed. In the past, students have worn business suits and even dresses to the tournament. Held annually from 1991 to 2018 has been the Linda Yalem Safety Run, formerly called the Linda Yalem Memorial Run. Linda Yalem was a sophomore at UB who was studying communications and training for the
New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...
when she was raped and killed by
Altemio Sanchez Altemio C. Sanchez (January 19, 1958 – September 22, 2023), also known as the Bike Path Rapist (and later Killer), was a serial killer, of Puerto Rican descent , who is known to have raped and murdered at least three women, and raped at le ...
after going for a run on the
Ellicott Creek Bike Path Ellicott Creek is a stream in Western New York, United States. It is a tributary of Tonawanda Creek, which in turn flows into the Niagara River. Course Ellicott Creek originates in southwest corner of Genesee County, just northeast of Darien La ...
on September 29, 1990. The Run was held every year in her memory and to promote safety for runners. In 1923, an honorary senior society called Bisonhead was founded. It has since represented twelve undergraduate leaders at UB each year. Many of UB's clubs, such as the UB Accounting Association, are run through the Undergraduate Student Association and the Graduate Student Association, with each level requiring respective senate recognition for clubs.


Student housing

Student residence halls are located on both the North and South Campuses. On the North Campus, there is the Ellicott Complex, which consists of Evans (formerly Porter), Fargo, Red Jacket, Richmond, Spaulding, and Wilkeson Quadrangles. The Ellicott Complex is also known as "Lego Land" because the shapes of the buildings resemble Legos stacked upon each other. Next to Fargo Quad is the newly built in 2011 Greiner Hall, a dorm strictly for sophomores. Also on North Campus is the Governors Complex, home to the Freshman Honors Housing and various other living communities. There are also off-campus housing options close to the north campus such as The Triad Apartments. On South Campus is Goodyear and Clement Hall. The unique aspect of these dorms is that residents share a bathroom with the adjacent room, rather than have a communal bathroom. Up until Spring of 2011, there were four other dorm buildings, referred to as "The Quad": MacDonald (named for
Lillias MacDonald Lillias M. MacDonald (November 25, 1885 – August 27, 1961) was an American educator. She established the physical education program at the University of Buffalo, and was the school's first dean of women, an office she held from 1922 to 1952. ...
, UB's first dean of women), Pritchard, Schoellkopf, and Michael Hall. Michael Hall currently exists as the Student Health Center, the other three were demolished in 2018. In 1999, the university built its first apartment complex for families and graduate students at Flickinger Court. Since the success of Flickinger, UB has developed South Lake Village, Hadley Village, Flint Village, and Creekside Apartments. Most students who wish to still live on or near the North Campus but enjoy the lifestyle of apartment living take advantage of these apartments. University Village at Sweethome, Villas at Rensch, and Villas at Chestnut Ridge are student apartment communities adjacent to the North Campus and offer a shuttle service. Collegiate Village off campus apartments offers transportation to both North and South Campus. Students also find housing in private locations. Those locations are generally situated in the University Heights district of Buffalo, and other areas close to the North and South Campuses. The school assigns rooms based on a lottery system.


Athletics

The university's sports teams are known as the
Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Ame ...
, or UB Bulls.State University of New York: Buffalo
, ''University at Buffalo Athletics'', Buffalo, New York: University at Buffalo Athletics, 2014, Retrieved March 9, 2014.
The Bulls compete in Division I ( Division I FBS of the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
), and are a member of the
Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...
(MAC) for all sports. The Bulls have been a member of the Mid-American Conference since 1998.College football preview: Poller opposites; Everybody in Buffalo is ready for annual running of the Bulls
''Los Angeles Times'', August 24, 2003, Dufresne, C., Retrieved March 11, 2014.
Buffalo is the only SUNY school to field a Division I FBS football team, the highest level of
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
. They are also the only SUNY school to have had their men's basketball team nationally ranked and the only SUNY school to have had their women's basketball team nationally ranked. Buffalo Bulls field athletic teams in many other sports as well. Men's team sports at UB include those in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, track and field,
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
, cross country, and tennis. The Bulls' women's teams feature
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, track and field, cross country,
volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
,
softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
, soccer, tennis, and swimming and diving. Cheerleading is co-ed. The Bulls have had many athletes turn professional in football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball.Bulls in the pros
, ''State University of New York: Buffalo'', Buffalo, New York: University at Buffalo Athletics, 2014, Retrieved March 11, 2014.
Over 30
Buffalo Bulls baseball The Buffalo Bulls baseball team was a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University at Buffalo in Amherst, New York, United States. From 2001 to 2017, the team was a member of the Mid-American Conference East division, which is part of ...
players have been selected in the
MLB draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...
. Notable Buffalo baseball alumni include: Joe Hesketh, Tom Murphy, Bill Schuster,
Eddie Basinski Edwin Frank Basinski (November 4, 1922 – January 8, 2022) was an American professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. Early life Basinski was born in Buffalo, New York, ...
and
Steve Geltz Steven Geltz (born November 1, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Tampa Bay Rays. Amateur career Geltz was born in Newfane, New York to Ro ...
. The Women's Varsity Rowing team won the CAA
Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...
championship in April 2010 for the first time. In May 2010, the team won the Jack & Nancy Seitz Women's Point Trophy at the Dad Vail Regatta for the third year in a row. Rowing became a club sport at the end of the 2017 Spring semester. In 2015 UB's men track and field star, Jonathan Jones, became the first national champion in UB's Division I history when he won the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The mascot of UB's athletic teams is Victor E. Bull, a blue bull.Victor E. Bull competes for title of 'Mascot of the Year'
, ''UB Reporter'', Buffalo, NY: University at Buffalo, December 5, 2002, Retrieved March 12, 2014.
The university is home to the Thunder of the East marching band. The band performs at all home football games and travels to both local and national parades and competitions. Buffalo has three fight songs: "Victory March", "Go for a Touchdown", and "Buffalo Fight Song".


Basketball

The men's basketball team plays their home games at the 6,783 seat Alumni Arena. The Bulls were champions of the
Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...
in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
,
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
and
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
and thus earned the automatic bid to
March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...
in each of those seasons. In
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
the Bulls upset No. 4 seed
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
in the first round of
March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...
, advancing to the second round (round of 32) for the first time in school history. In the 2018–19 season Buffalo, led by C.J. Massinburg, earned a national ranking for the first time in the Associated Press poll. The basketball team was nationally ranked for most of the season with a high ranking of #11 on both the AP and Coaches Polls. For the second year in a row the Bulls won a game in the NCAA tournament, defeating
Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...
. The women's basketball team won the MAC championship and made their first trip to the NCAA tournament in program history in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. In
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
the women's team made another trip to the NCAA Tournament beating South Florida in the first round and Florida State in the second round, making the sweet sixteen for the first time in program history. The team finished with a final ranking of #21 in the Coaches Poll. In
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, the men's and women's basketball teams both won the MAC championship on the same day, the second time the Bulls had done so in four seasons. The women's team defeated
Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...
in the NCAA tournament in their third appearance in March Madness in four years.


Football

The University at Buffalo
football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
plays their home games at the 31,000+ capacity
University at Buffalo Stadium UB Stadium is a stadium in Amherst, New York, United States, on the campus of the University at Buffalo. It is primarily used for football, soccer, and track and field events, and is the home field of the Buffalo Bulls. The Stadium hosted the ...
. In 1958, the football team won the Lambert Cup, emblematic of supremacy in Eastern U.S. small-college football. That led to the team's first bowl invitation, to the Tangerine Bowl in
Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
, against
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
. But the Bulls would be allowed to participate only if backup defensive end Mike Wilson and starting halfback Willie Evans, who were black, did not play. The team stood behind the two, and refused the bowl offer. Buffalo did not receive another bowl invitation until the 2008 season when they won the
MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...
championship against previously undefeated
Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...
. Several UB football stars from the 1950s and early 1960s went on to play professional football, including quarterback John Stofa with the
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...
's
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
and
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
, and defensive lineman Gerry Philbin with the
AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...
's
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
. Philbin is a member of the AFL Hall of Fame and the All-time All-AFL Team. Philbin and UB's Willie Ross were the first two UB graduates to play on professional football championship teams in the United States: Ross with the 1964 AFL Champion
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
; and Philbin with the 1968 AFL Champion
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
, who also won that season's
AFL-NFL World Championship Game The Super Bowl is the annual league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 (with the exception of the Pro Bowl between the 1967 and 2009 se ...
(
Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football championship game played on January 12, 1969, at the Miami Orange Bowl, Orange Bowl in Miami, Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the fi ...
). James Starks was on the Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
champions as a rookie. Ramon Guzman played on the 2009
Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...
champion
Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...
. Khalil Mack was selected as the first-round fifth pick in the NFL draft, becoming the first UB football player to be selected in the first round of the
NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...
. In his time at Buffalo, Mack became the all-time NCAA record for forced fumbles and is also tied for most career tackles for loss in NCAA history. The 2020 season saw Buffalo ranked in the AP Poll for the first time in program history led by running back Jaret Patterson en route to an undefeated regular season.


Notable alumni and faculty

UB has over 273,000 alumni who live in over 150 countries in the world. Among the individuals who have attended, graduated, or taught at the university are: * Deborah Chung, materials scientist, SUNY Distinguished Professor, and Fellow of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
. * biomedical engineering professor Leslie Ying, *
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronauts
Gregory Jarvis Gregory Bruce Jarvis (August 24, 1944 – January 28, 1986) was an American engineer and astronaut who died during the January 28, 1986 destruction of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' on mission STS-51-L, where he was serving as payload spec ...
and Ellen S. Baker *
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
-winning American journalist
Wolf Blitzer Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist, television news anchor, and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990, and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network. He has been a host of ''The ...
, * actor
Winston Duke Winston Duke (born 15 November 1986) is a Tobagonian actor. Duke was born in Tobago and moved to Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, United States, at age nine. Duke began his career with minor roles in theatre productions and recurring role ...
, * dancer Roberto Villanueva, * chairman and former CEO of
A+E Networks A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
Abbe Raven, * Founder of
Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...
,
The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company, LLC (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein on March 10, 2005. TWC was one of the larg ...
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...
, * CEO of
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
Brad Grey Brad Alan Grey (December 29, 1957 – May 14, 2017) was an American television and film producer. He co-founded Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (now Brillstein Entertainment Partners), and afterwards became the chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictur ...
, * billionaire, founder, chairman, and CEO of
Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet services and artificial intelligence. It holds a dominant position in China's search engine market (via Baidu Search), and provides a wide variety of o ...
Robin Li Robin Li Yanhong (; born 17 November 1968) is a Chinese software engineer and billionaire internet entrepreneur who is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Chinese multinational technology company Baidu. As of May 2025, his net worth wa ...
, * CEO of
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
Bob Swan, * Pulitzer Prize-winner
Tom Toles Thomas Gregory Toles (born October 22, 1951) is a retired American political cartoonist. He is the winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. His cartoons typically presented progressive viewpoints. Similar to Oliphant's use ...
, * Nobel Prize-winners,
Ronald Coase Ronald Harry Coase (; 29 December 1910 – 2 September 2013) was a British economist and author. Coase was educated at the London School of Economics, where he was a member of the faculty until 1951. He was the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Eco ...
, Herbert A. Hauptman and Sir John Carew Eccles, * winners of the
National Medal of Technology and Innovation The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the president of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...
,
Norman McCombs Norman McCombs (born c. 1937) is a businessman and 2013 recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. McCombs developed an oxygen production system that helped ease the pain of millions suffering from lung diseases. President Barac ...
, Wilson Greatbach, and
Erich Bloch Erich Bloch (January 9, 1925 – November 25, 2016) was a German-born American electrical engineer and administrator. He was involved with developing IBM's first transistorized supercomputer, 7030 Stretch, and mainframe computer, System/360. He ...
. * Billionaire and owner of the Boston Bruins,
Jeremy Jacobs Jeremy Maurice Jacobs Sr. (born January 21, 1940) is an American billionaire businessman, the owner of the Boston Bruins and chairman of Delaware North. ''Forbes'' magazine ranks him as 669th richest person in the world. Early life and education ...
, * physicist Mendel Sachs, * musician and civil rights activist Charles Mingus, * pianist and composer Richard Aaker Trythall, * civil engineer, genealogist and author Angelo F. Coniglio, * cartoonist Fred Hembeck, * scholar of medieval religion Carolyn Muessig, * composer Margaret Scoville * creator of the BitTorrent (protocol), BitTorrent peer-to-peer client Bram Cohen, *
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
personalities
Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NP ...
and
Ira Flatow Ira Flatow (; born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts WNYC Studio's popular program ''Science Friday''. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series '' Newton's Apple'', a television science program f ...
, * American actor, director, and producer Ron Silver, * Academy Award-winning sound engineer Thomas Curley (sound engineer), Thomas Curley, * physician Mary Blair Moody, the first woman to earn a medical degree from the school. * The painter Martha Visser't Hooft taught at the university from 1956 to 1958. * Michel Foucault taught in the French department in 1970 and 1972. * Director of the Food and Drug Administration, Food and Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) Brian King (epidemiologist), Brian King. Among the athletes who have graduated from the university are * soccer player Bobby Shuttleworth * football players Gerry Philbin, Naaman Roosevelt, Branden Oliver, Khalil Mack and James Starks. Over the years, the University at Buffalo has also been particularly distinguished in contemporary creative writing. Noted novelists who have taught on its faculty include * John Barth, * Raymond Federman * Anthony Burgess. Noted faculty poets include * George Starbuck (1983 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, Lenore Marshall Prize), * Charles Olson, * Robert Creeley (Bollingen Prize 1999), * John Logan (poet), John Logan, (Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, Lenore Marshall Prize 1982), * Irving Feldman (MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, MacArthur Foundation Fellow 1992), * Carl Dennis (2000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize; 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry), * Robert Hass (Poet Laureate of the United States 1995–97, 2007 National Book Award, 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry), * Charles Bernstein (poet), Charles Bernstein (co-founder of the university's notable Poetics Program, Bollingen Prize, 2019), * Steve McCaffery, * Myung Mi Kim, * Susan Howe (Bollingen Prize 2011). Former UB students include * Michael Casey (poet), Michael Casey (Yale Younger Poets Award), * Anthony Petrosky, Tony Petrosky (Walt Whitman Award), * Donald Revell (2004 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, Lenore Marshall Prize), * Charles Baxter (author), Charles Baxter, * Michael Davidson (poet), Michael Davidson, * Jonas Zdanys, * from the Poetics Program, Elizabeth Willis, Peter Gizzi, Juliana Spahr, Jena Osman Political leaders who have attended and taught at the university include * Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, the ninth President and 21st Prime Minister of Somalia; * Zhou Ji (born 1946), Zhou Ji, Minister of Education of the People's Republic of China. * Shenthuran Maheswaran from the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Buffalo School of Engineering became a Global Peace Ambassador for Sri Lanka in 2020 and was appointed by the Global Peace Index. * Palanivel Thiagarajan, Minister for Finance & Human Resources Management for the state of Tamil Nadu, India Alumni have also served in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, including * Jack Quinn (politician), Jack Quinn,Quinn, John Francis (Jack)
, ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: 1774-Present'', Washington, D.C., 2014, Retrieved January 4, 2014.

, ''Internet Multicasting Service'', Undated, Retrieved January 7, 2014.

, ''Our Campaigns'', September 4, 2005, Retrieved January 7, 2014.
* William F. Walsh.Walsh, William Francis
, ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'', Washington, D.C.: US Congress, Undated, Retrieved January 21, 2014.
Other lawmakers, such as New York State Assembly Member Joseph Giglio, District of Columbia Advisory Neighborhood Commission Commissioner Hayden Gise and United States Attorney Dennis Vacco, are also graduates.


Notes


References


External links

*
UB Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffalo, State University Of New York At University at Buffalo, 1846 establishments in New York (state) Flagship universities in the United States, Buffalo Universities and colleges established in 1846 Schools of informatics SUNY university centers Universities and colleges in Erie County, New York Public universities and colleges in New York (state), University at Buffalo