Binghamton Chapter President Report presented at the UUP Binghamton Executive Board / General Meeting held on Wednesday, December 6, 2023. Click here for the report.

Binghamton Chapter Presents Resolution in Memory of Benita Roth at UUP Delegate Assembly, UUP Pledges to Fund Scholarship in Benita’s Name

Resolution in Memory of Benita Roth

WHEREAS, Benita Roth passed from this life on May 27, 2023; and
WHEREAS, Benita served as a statewide academic delegate from Binghamton University from 2009 – 2023; and
WHEREAS, Benita served as UUP Binghamton Chapter President from 2013 – 2017; and
WHEREAS, Benita served as UUP Binghamton Chapter Vice President for Academics from 2017 – 2023; and
WHEREAS, Benita contributed to many UUP statewide committees by serving on Outreach, Negotiations, AAUP, Future of Public Higher Education, Online Education Courses Advisory, Retiree Participation, Link Development, Technology Issues, and Task Force on Emerging Issues of Diversity; and
WHEREAS, Benita spearheaded efforts on both Family Leave and Women’s Rights & Concerns Committees to secure paid family leave and to assure fair and equal treatment of women on local campuses; and
WHEREAS, Benita answered the call to serve her union once again by serving on the 2022-2023 Negotiations Team and helped to lead us to our best contract in decades, with special attention to the most vulnerable; and
WHEREAS, Benita was an inspiration to others as a fervent advocate for marginalized communities, championing the rights of women, LGBTQ individuals, and racial minorities; and
WHEREAS, Benita fearlessly dedicated herself to the pursuit of justice and never hesitated to confront unchecked authority; and
WHEREAS, Benita’s academic brilliance left an indelible mark, with her books on feminism and the AIDS movement serving as cornerstones of her scholarly legacy; and
WHEREAS, Benita’s visionary work in addressing opioid use disorders transformed the lives of many vulnerable individuals; and
WHEREAS, Benita’s remarkable blend of intellect and compassion made her a guiding light for aspiring union leaders and junior faculty members; and
WHEREAS, Benita was a dedicated professor for whom students always came first, leaving an enduring impact on the lives of those she taught and mentored

NOW, THEREFORE, be it
RESOLVED, that the 2023 Fall Delegate Assembly honor Benita Roth for her service and dedication to UUP; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the 2023 Fall Delegate Assembly express their condolences to Benita’s family; and be it further
RESOLVED, that UUP contribute to a scholarship fund created in her name at Binghamton University supporting students whose educational trajectory and research reflects outstanding work in gender justice and social justice at Binghamton University.

Have the cold, gray days got you down?
United University Professions (UUP), Binghamton Chapter invites faculty and professional staff to

“Beat the Winter Blues”
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Mandela Room, University Union

Join us for hot hors d’oeuvres, mini pastries, cold beer, wine, soda, water, and good company. The Harpur Jazz Conspiracy Quartet will provide music.  There will be a short discussion of membership issues as part of the festivities.
 
This is a member-only event; membership cards will be available at the door to join UUP.

 For catering purposes, please RSVP  to Linda O’Branski, Chapter Assistant, by Wednesday, March 8, at 777-4382 or email uup@binghamton.edu. 

Article from Vol. 4 No 20, February 10, 2023, UUPconnect

Most people who had been invited to the State of the Union address and were about to have a private chat with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer might use that time to tout their accomplishments—especially if they were a Nobel Laureate.

Not M. Stanley Whittingham.

Whittingham—a Binghamton Chapter member, a distinguished professor of chemistry and materials science, and a 2019 Nobel Prize winner—said he planned to spend his precious time with Schumer touting Binghamton University and Broome County, where the campus is located.

“Anything we can do to get more, to get more traction to Binghamton, is good,” Whittingham said in a Feb. 7 Zoom interview from his hotel in Washington, D.C., as he prepared to attend the State of the Union address that evening as a guest of Schumer. “Clearly, one of our charges as a university is to help the state and help the region.”

As for Broome County? “It’s a great place to raise a family,” said the British-American Whittingham, who has spent most of his career at Binghamton. His wife, Georgina Whittingham, is also a UUP member at SUNY Oswego.

Whittingham won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in the development of lithium-ion batteries, which are now widely used in mobile devices such as cell phones and laptop computers, as well as most electric cars. A research building at Binghamton is named for him, and he’s been a leading voice in advocating for federal dollars to help fund innovations in battery technology and clean energy.

His meeting with Schumer before President Biden’s address to the nation was not the first time he’s spoken with the majority leader—who has also been a steady supporter of UUP and public higher education.

It was Schumer who backed Binghamton University’s successful proposal for the federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant. Binghamton’s proposal, the New Energy New York project, has received more than $113 million in federal and state funding for this project, which will expand research and workforce development in emerging battery technologies.

Binghamton was one of 60 proposals nationwide selected out of 529 applicants as a winner for Phase I of the grant, which provided $500,000 of startup funding, and which qualified Binghamton to go on to be selected as a winner.

Whittingham was instrumental in the development of the winning proposal, which has the potential to be an economic windfall for the Southern Tier. The region needs help: Broome County has the third-highest poverty rate in the state at 8.54%, based on a report on poverty in New York published in July 2022 by the New York State Community Action Association.

As exciting as the prospect of the Build Back Better project is, Whittingham said that he would like to see better state funding for SUNY, and certainly for his home campus. Campus infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth of the Binghamton student body, he said; there were 11,000 students when he started at Binghamton in 1998, and now there are 18,000.

“We could always use more money,” he said. “We’re desperately short of lecture halls on campus; we’re desperately short of dorm rooms. We need new research buildings on campus. Research funding is going up, but we have to have the facilities to house the students.”

And he is grateful that he can use the attention his research has garnered to call attention to both the highlights and the needs of his campus.

Said Whittingham of his once-in-a-lifetime night at a national event: “It’s an honor for me, but it is also an honor for Binghamton.”