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SUNY names Satish Tripathi President Emeritus
The honor recognizes the Indian American academic leader's transformative tenure at the University at Buffalo.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 19, Jun 2026
- 17:19 EDT
- 56
SUNY leaders honored UB President Satish K. Tripathi on June 2 for his 15 years leading the university. From left: SUNY Board of Trustees Chair Meryl Tisch, Vice Chair Cesar Perales, SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr., Tripathi, and SUNY Trustee Eunice Lewin. / Photo: SUNY Media/Valerie Caviness
The State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees appointed Indian American academic Satish K. Tripathi as President Emeritus and University Professor, recognizing his more than two decades of leadership at the University at Buffalo (UB).
The appointment was approved during the board’s June 2 meeting, where trustees honored Tripathi for his contributions to UB and the SUNY system. Tripathi served as UB’s provost before becoming the university’s 15th president in 2011.
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A nationally recognized computer scientist and academic administrator, Tripathi has played a key role in expanding UB’s research profile, strengthening international collaborations and advancing the university’s standing among leading public research institutions in the United States.
During his presidency, UB opened six major building projects across its campuses, including the $375 million Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building in downtown Buffalo. He also launched the university’s Boldly Buffalo fundraising campaign, which later expanded its goal to $1 billion after surpassing initial targets.
SUNY board of trustees vice chairman Cesar Perales praised Tripathi’s leadership, saying his tenure had “truly been transformational” and credited him with elevating UB’s academic excellence, strengthening its research enterprise and expanding its global reputation.
“What stands out just as much as the milestones, the growth, the new facilities, the historic philanthropy, the research achievements, is the way you have led with humility, integrity, vision, and an unwavering belief in the power of public higher education,” Perales said.
SUNY chancellor John B. King Jr. highlighted Tripathi’s emphasis on team building, mentorship and partnerships across the SUNY system and New York State. King pointed to UB’s role in the Empire AI consortium and its artificial intelligence computing center as examples of Tripathi’s collaborative approach to advancing research and economic development.
“It has been a privilege of a lifetime to serve SUNY as president of UB,” Tripathi said during the meeting in Albany.
Tripathi noted that UB awarded approximately 140,000 diplomas during his presidency and said the university’s achievements reflected the collective efforts of faculty, students, staff, alumni and partners.
“What makes these accomplishments especially meaningful is that they have been the result of a collective effort,” Tripathi said. “I’ve been so fortunate to help advance UB’s mission alongside extraordinary faculty, talented students, dedicated staff, engaged alumni and valued partners, all united by a shared sense of purpose.”
Tripathi joined UB in 2004 as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and was one of the architects of the university’s UB 2020 strategic plan. Before arriving at UB, he served as dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, and previously held faculty and leadership positions at the University of Maryland.
The first international-born president in UB’s history, Tripathi graduated at the top of his class from Banaras Hindu University in India. He earned a doctorate in computer science and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Toronto, along with master’s degrees in statistics from the University of Alberta and Banaras Hindu University.
In 2024, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the International Academy of Artificial Intelligence Sciences (AAIS).
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