A procession, including traditional Scottish bagpiper and faculty in full academic garb, will kick off Buffalo State College's annual academic convocation. The ceremony, which serves to remind faculty of their devotion to teaching and to start off a new academic year, will take place on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 12:15 p.m. The procession will begin at the college's Butler Library and continue throughout the campus to its signature Rockwell Hall.



This year's Bonnie and Vern L. Bullough Academic Convocation Address will be given by Betty L. Siegel, Ph.D., president of Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. Her talk is titled "Inviting Success." Many awards will also be presented during the ceremony including, a SUNY honorary doctorate of humane letters, which will be given to Darlene Clark Hine, Ph.D., John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of History at Michigan State University.



Also honored will be Francis R. Kowsky, professor of Fine Arts, who will be recognized as a SUNY Distinguished Professor, the highest rank of professorship in the 64-unit state university system, and Elizabeth "Betty" J. Cappella, chair and professor of Educational Foundations, as Distinguished Service Professor. The distinguished professor designation is given to individuals who have achieved national or international prominence in a chosen field.



Kowsky's research on 19th century architecture resulted in new interpretations of known material and in the discovery of new, seminal primary source materials. His book Country, Park and City: The Architecture and life of Calvert Vaux earned a front-page review in The New York Times book review magazine, a great rarity for a scholarly work on architectural history. Cappella is co-founder and co-director of Project FLIGHT, a Buffalo State College-based not-for-profit organization devoted to promoting literacy in children and caregivers through school and family literacy initiatives.



Other awards to be presented during the ceremony include, SUNY Chancellor's Awards, which will be presented to:

• Michael Johnson, associate professor, Modern and Classical Languages: Excellence in Teaching





• Kay Johnson-Gentile, associate professor, Elementary Education and Reading: Excellence in Teaching





• Albert F. Riess, librarian, E. H. Butler Library: Excellence in Librarianship





• Stephanie B. Zuckerman-Aviles, director, Career Development Center: Excellence in Professional Service

President's Awards will go to:

• Jerry S. Boyes, director, Intercollegiate Athletics: Excellence in Service to the College





• Susan P. Kendt, secretary 2, Dean's Office, Arts and Humanities: Excellence in Service to the College





• Therese M. Locher, Assistant Director, Purchasing: Excellence in Service to the College





• Diana M. McNerney, secretary 1, Art Conservation: Excellence in Service to the College





• James L. Palermo, professor, Educational Foundations: Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity





• Thomas J. Reigstad, professor, English: Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity





• Zhang Jie, associate professor, Sociology: Excellence in Teaching

A noted speaker, Siegel is the first woman to head an institution in the 34-unit University System of Georgia. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including 1997 Georgia Women of the Year and 1996 Cobb County Citizen of the Year. More recently she was selected as the 2001 Administrative Leadership Award recipient by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. She received her Ph.D. from Florida State University, M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.



Honorary doctorate recipient Hine has edited and written many books on African American history, particularly on women. Most recently she co-edited The Harvard Guide to African-American History (2001). Her many honors include the Otto Wirth Alumni Award for Outstanding Scholarship from Roosevelt University and the Special Achievement Award from the Kent State University Alumni Association. In 1990, her book Black Women in White, was named "Outstanding Book" by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights, received the Lavinia L. Dock Book Award from the American Association for the History of Nursing and was awarded the Letitia Woods Brown Book Award from the Association of Black Women Historians. Hine received her B.A. from Roosevelt University and her Ph.D. from Kent State University.



A reception on the front lawn of Rockwell Hall will follow immediately after the convocation ceremony.