Department of Physics, University at Buffalo

It is with heavy heart that we are sharing the sad news that Michael George Fuda (Mike) passed away peacefully on January 30, 2026, at the age of 87. Mike played an important role in the physics department at UB for four decades. He earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mike worked as a research scientist at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Schenectady before joining UB Physics in 1967. He was a theoretical nuclear physicist, specializing in the relativistic quantum mechanics of few-particle systems. During his forty-year career at UB, he taught a variety of courses, from electrodynamics to advanced quantum mechanics. Mike was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998. He also served as our Director of Undergraduate Studies for twenty-three years. Mike retired from UB Physics in 2008.

Graduate student Gabriele Fiore wins an Excellence in Teaching Award, one of only nine at UB.

“Model Mentors”

Recipients of UB's student mentoring awards were recognized on Wednesday at a breakfast held in the University Club. The recipients (from left): Timothy Cook, Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award; Andreas Daum, the President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring; Elenora Botta, the President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award; Priya Banerjee, the President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award; and Amanda Nickerson, Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award. Photo: Douglas Levere

https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/ub-seen/photos/2024-photos/02/Mentoring-awardees.html?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=uc_ubnow&utm_content=employee_020124

Research from Professor Priya Banerjee’s group:

https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/physics/news-events/recent-news/research-news.host.html/content/shared/university/news/news-center-releases/2023/11/rna-solo-act-on-the-ever-changing-stage-of-cellular-dynamics.detail.html

Study looks at RNA’s solo act on the ever-changing stage of cellular dynamics RNA, in the limelight for its starring role in cutting-edge vaccine technology, is also a key player in the inner workings of cells.

Congratulations to Professor Peihong Zhang on being awarded $1 million from the University of Rochester.

The SUNY Research Foundation is proud to support your work at the University at Buffalo. https://lnkd.in/gz_KGQuD





https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rfsuny_sunyresearch-sunyimpact-activity-7156012789134675969-Jy4w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

The Research Foundation for SUNY on LinkedIn: #sunyresearch #sunyimpact Congratulations to Professor Peihong Zhang on being awarded $1 million from the University of Rochester. The SUNY Research Foundation is proud to support…

2023 in review.

2023 in review: A year of innovation, community service, scholarly excellence and more From harnessing AI to help children with speech and language impairments to drilling through 1,600 feet of ice, UB's list of accomplishments in 2023 was nothing short of spectacular.

UB remains Top 25 destination for international students This is the 21st straight year that UB has ranked among the Top 30 in the annual Open Doors report.

Special announcement to Undergraduate Students: For Spring Semester 2024, the Department of Physics will for the first time be offering a course on cosmology aimed specifically at UNDERGRADUATE students!

PHY480: Cosmology
MWF 2:00-2:50 PM, Park 143

This course will cover a general introduction to cosmology, including the basics of cosmic expansion, thermal history of the universe, and the Cosmic Microwave Background. In addition, the course will cover a number of topics of current research interest such as dark matter, dark energy, and inflation. The course is focused on advanced undergraduate students; no previous experience with General Relativity is assumed, but familiarity with classical mechanics, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics will be helpful.

Support the Department of Physics on Giving Tuesday!

The Department of Physics at UB is committed to excellence in both education and research and needs the support of donors and our community to achieve its goals.

We are grateful for the donations and endowments we have already received in support of our academic mission. We seek additional contributions from friends and alumni to either enhance our existing endowments or provide targeted endowments for research or student success.

Make a Gift The Department of Physics at UB is committed to excellence in both education and research and needs the support of donors and our community to achieve its goals.  

Our annual Newsletter, Interactions, is now available at

Fall 2023 One piece of news that has been very important to the Department is that UB was named a SUNY Flagship Campus in 2022 in recognition of UB’s excellence in research and education and its utmost importance to the Western New York area. With this recognition came significant and timely investment....

Professor Herbert Fotso’s work is featured in this story:

Studying impact of imperfections on quantum materials UB physicist Herbert Fotso has received a DOE grant to explore the interplay between disorder and strong interaction between electrons.