Buffalo State

2010 Anthony Mullen, 2009 National Teacher of the Year, speaks at the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall. • Tribute for the late three-sport All-American Randy Smith held during men’s basketball game against Cortland on February 19. • Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff respond to Haiti relief efforts with a series of fundraisers and drives. Over $5,000 is eventually raised. • SUNY Board of Trustees appoints Aaron M. Podolefsky as the new president of Buffalo State College, effective July 1, 2010. •  The 13th annual Bengal 5K Run and Fun Walk is held on Saturday, March 20. • The Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College hosts a major retrospective of work by American artist Charles E. Burchfield, Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield. • The 13th annual Foundation Scholarship Gala is celebrated on April 24, 2010, at the Connecticut Street Armory. A record $275,000 is raised. • The State University of New York Board of Trustees has approves the appointments of Susan M. Leist, professor of English, to the rank of SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, and David A. Carson, chair and professor of history and social studies education, to the rank of SUNY Distinguished Service Professor. • Buffalo State confers degrees on more than 1,800 undergraduate and 750 graduate students during its 138th Commencement celebration, Saturday, May 15, in the Sports Arena. • Marking what would have been Anne Frank's 81st birthday, the Anne Frank Project Garden is unveiled at Buffalo State on Saturday, June 12. • Aaron Podolefsky becomes the eighth president of Buffalo State College on July 1, 2010; “Celebrate, Serve, Imagine: The Promise of Buffalo State College,” President Podolefsky's inauguration ceremony, is held on October 29 and is attended by more than 800 guests including former Buffalo State presidents Muriel Howard and Bruce Johnstone, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, area leaders, students, faculty, and staff.

2011 Buffalo State commemorates the life of Dr. Horace “Hank” Mann, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of exceptional education, with a celebration program and reception. • During his State of the College address, President Aaron Podolefsky declares the 2011-2012 academic year to be the Year of the Arts at Buffalo State. • The Anne Frank Project earns a special Community Leader Award from the National Federation for Just Communities (NFJC) of Western New York. • The Art Conservation program is awarded a $388,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. • The Physics Department receives a $750,000 Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). • The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awards a $250,000 grant to the Art Conservation Department. • Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, ’83, hosts the Buffalo State men's basketball team at City Hall to celebrate the Bengals SUNYAC Championship and run to the "Sweet 16" in the NCAA Tournament. • The 2011 Award for Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement is awarded to the Buffalo State Professional Development School (PDS) Consortium by the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS). • The University Police Department is awarded a New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee grant for educational programs, traffic safety observational activities, and increased enforcement (May-September 2011).  • The 13th annual Student Research and Creativity Celebration takes place April 28–30. • Buffalo State confers degrees on more than 1,900 undergraduate and 650 graduate students during its 139th Commencement celebration, Saturday, May 14, in the Sports Arena.  •  The Robert A. and Dorothy Stender Sweet Physics Scholarship Fund is established with a $1.7 million bequest by the Sweet family. It is the largest gift specifically designated for scholarships in the university's history.  • Kaitlyn Beachner, a graduate student in the Student Personnel Administration Department is elected president of the SUNY Student Assembly.  • Buffalo State’s 14th annual Foundation Scholarship Gala raised more than $275,000, making the gala the single most successful fundraiser in the institution’s history. • The master of public administration (M.P.A.) in public and nonprofit management—is launched. • Ground is broken on the new, $38 Million Technology Building. • The Chronicle of Higher Education again selects Buffalo State as one of 2011's "Great Colleges to Work For." • Gary S. Solar, associate professor and chair of Earth Sciences and Science Education, and Amitra A. Wall, associate professor in the Sociology Department, receive SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching •  Buffalo State's Siena Programs celebrates its 50th anniversary •  Filmmaker Spike Lee delivers a lecture at the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall, meeting with students from the television and film arts program before the event. • Buffalo State Creates Three New Education Departments: Adult Education; Career and Technical Education; and Social and Psychological Foundations of Education • Governor Andrew M. Cuomo visits the Burchfield Penney Art Center's New York Remembers Exhibition to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. •  The Golf and Tennis Scholarship Classic raises over $75,000 to benefit the All College Honors Program. • Donation Establishes Buffalo State Community Academic Center on Buffalo's West Side which celebrates its official opening in November

2012
Howard Zemsky is appointed Chair of Buffalo State College Council. •  Anthony Bannon is appointed director of Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College. •  The Art Conservation Department receives Mellon Foundation Grants totaling $543,000 to support and enchance the program. • Gary Brost, Linda Dobmeier, and Mylous Hairston are  appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the Buffalo State College Council. • Buffalo State is named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in recognition of its strong commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement. • During his State of the College address, President Aaron Podolefsky declares the 2012-2013 academic year to be the Year of the City at Buffalo State.