Buffalo State College President Aaron Podolefsky announced Thursday the establishment of the Robert A. and Dorothy Stender Sweet Physics Scholarship Fund thanks to a $1.7 million bequest by the Sweet family. It will be the largest gift to Buffalo State specifically designated for scholarships in the university’s history.

The fund will initially provide five annual scholarships of $2,500 each to students with a declared major in the Physics Department and will be renewable for up to four years. Preference will be given to candidates who are accepted into Buffalo State’s prestigious All College Honors program. The first scholarships will be awarded for the 2011-12 academic year.

“(Dorothy) Dottie Sweet is a phenomenal woman, and this is a phenomenal gift that will have a transformative effect on Buffalo State’s Physics Department,” said Podolefsky. “I am thrilled that she has chosen to support Buffalo State students in such a meaningful way.”

Dorothy Sweet, a personal friend of President Podolefsky, wanted to honor her late husband, Robert, by establishing a scholarship in the field in which he excelled. 

Robert, who served in the U.S. Navy on the Pacific front during World War II, enjoyed a nearly 30-year career on the technical staff with the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California, after earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Central Missouri and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern University. Dorothy, a graduate of the University of Richmond, was a civilian employee with the U.S. Army for 12 years.

“Physics was one of Bob’s passions,” said Dorothy Sweet.  “If kids are interested in physics and have enough intelligence and drive to pursue it… for heaven’s sake, let’s help them.  This is an opportunity for us to directly assist students who will help return our great country to prominence.”

The Sweets’ gift comes at a time when science is thriving at Buffalo State and in Western New York.  A $110 million Science and Mathematics Complex is currently under construction on the university’s campus with Phase 1 of the project slated for completion in 2012, offering future scientists and science teachers state-of-the-art facilities to hone their skills.

“The generous gift from the Sweet family will enable the Physics Department to compete for and bring the best possible students to Buffalo State,” said Michael DeMarco, chair and professor of physics. “When you attract a few good students, it snowballs, and you attract more. The scholarships, coupled with the new facilities and equipment that will be available to us in the near future, will also help us draw top faculty and researchers to our programs.”

The Physics Department offers several undergraduate programs, including two bachelor’s degree programs in physics and several physics education programs. The department also offers the Physics Three-Two Engineering program , which allows students to complete two bachelor of science degrees—one in physics, one in engineering—within five years.

Graduate offerings include several programs preparing teachers for the middle- and high-school physics classroom, including an alternative certification program designed for science and engineering professionals who wish to become physics teachers through a two-year process involving full-time work as a transitionally-certified high school teacher. The Physics Department at Buffalo State is internationally known for the excellence of its physics teacher preparation programs.

Alumni of the Physics Department have also gone on to success with major firms such as Bird Electronic Corporation, Boeing, Lucent Technology, and Xerox. Keith Kowalsky, a 1986 graduate of the physics program, became president of Flame-Spray Industries, Inc. In 2009, he received the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation’s National Inventor of the Year Award for a process that has been adopted by the automobile industry. Many other graduates have gone on to complete doctoral programs in physics at prestigious universities around the country.