Caroline Attardo Genco has been named the sixteenth president of the University at Buffalo within the State University of New York System. Upon assuming her presidency on August 10, Dr. Genco will become the first woman to lead the university in its 180-year history.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, the University at Buffalo enrolls roughly 20,000 undergraduate students and more than 11,000 graduate students. Women represent 46 percent of the undergraduate population.
Dr. Genco comes to the University at Buffalo from Tufts University in Massachusetts, where she has served as provost for the past four years. Earlier in her tenure at Tufts, she was chair of the department of immunology in the School of Medicine. She has also taught at Boston University, as well as the Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University, both located in Atlanta, Georgia.
A nationally recognized microbiologist and immunologist, Dr. Genco conducts research at the intersection of infectious diseases, epidemiology, biomedical engineering, and public health. She focuses her work on chronic inflammation and the role of the microbiome in systemic inflammatory diseases. At Tufts, she held the Arthur E. Spiller, M.D., Endowed Professorship in Genetics.
Speaking to her new appointment, Dr. Genco said, “The University at Buffalo has seen tremendous momentum and, as the next president, I envision an even brighter future that boldly positions UB as a globally engaged, inclusive, and innovative community where all students feel welcomed and are supported and successful; where exemplary faculty members are fulfilled because their scholarship and creativity have impact; where staff realize their career goals and aspirations; and where people across the city, region and state talk about the university with pride and ownership.”
A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Genco earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the State University of New York at Fredonia. She received her master’s degree and Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Rochester in New York.