It took him 16 years of studying part time on nights and weekends while working full time and raising a family to complete his engineering degree at UB, but Felix Smist, B.S. ’65, of North Tonawanda, N.Y., kept at it. To honor his father and help students who experience similar situations, Felix’s son James Smist, B.S. ’80, and his wife, Mary, have established the Felix Smist Scholarship at UB with their gift of $30,000.
| MoreBetween my husband’s family and mine, there’s nine of us who graduated from the School of Pharmacy. My husband’s father was the first one to attend UB and graduate from the School of Pharmacy in... | More
Contact Information:
Center For Tomorrow
Buffalo, NY 14260
Phone: 716.645.3312
Fax: 716.645.3838
Professional success because of UB
Ruth Penman ’34 ties every part of her career to UB. After graduation she taught junior high-schoolers in Kenmore, N.Y. She enjoyed the role, but with World War II fully underway, she joined the U.S. Navy.
Stationed in Pensacola, Fla., Penman taught Air Force pilots how to navigate using the link trainer. After her stint ended, she returned home to Buffalo and took night courses in human resources at UB. The Veterans Administration hired her as an instructor. “That I could move into the personnel field had to be an outcome of what I learned at UB,” she said.
Later, Penman went to work for Fisher-Price in East Aurora, N.Y., teaching supervisors how to supervise for the next 28 years: “That I learned from my UB education courses.”
Penman credits UB and the support she received as a student for much of her professional success. Her father died when she was young, leaving her family financially strapped: Penman received a UB scholarship. “I’ve always wanted to give back,” she says. “That’s why UB is in my will—they made it possible for me to get a college education.”