Every year, the state university and numerous academic and professional organizations honor hundreds of UUP members for their excellence. The Voice is pleased to recognize some of these members here.

Herbert Fink of SUNY Brockport was awarded the UUP Brockport Award for 42 years of teaching. Fink is the chapter vice president for academics, a UUP delegate and a member of the union’s statewide Academic Issues Committee. His publications deal primarily with student learning outcomes, including “Student Assessment: A Comparison of Solitary, Cooperative and Competitive Testing,” published in the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. He retired in September as an assistant professor of psychology.
Robert Genco, a distinguished professor in the department of oral biology at the University at Buffalo, earned the Research Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for at least 25 years of leadership, research and accomplishment in his field. Genco served as department chair for 25 years and has more than 340 publications and 10 U.S. patents. Genco is also a professor in the department of immunology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and has been a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, since 1988.
H. Joseph Straight, a professor of mathematics at SUNY Fredonia, earned a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in recognition of his commitment to high-quality instruction. Straight, a member of the Fredonia faculty since 1977, served as chair of the department of mathematics and computer science from 1998-2004, and has attained Fellow status within the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.
Ronald Thomas, a telecommunications project manager for information technology services at the University at Albany, received a 2008 President’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Thomas is responsible for telecommunications in building construction and rehabilitation projects among UAlbany’s three campuses.

— Karen L. Mattison