Simone Baptiste

Off the Court

Buffalo alumni, as Simone Baptiste tells it on the shows. Each story was checked against its source.

• Janet RideoutFound AZT's use against HIV

  Janet Rideout earned her doctorate here in 1968. She was one of the scientists who discovered that the drug azidothymidine could be used to treat H I V. Buffalo will take that banner over any other.

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• Mary Blair MoodyFirst woman medical graduate

  In 1876, Mary Blair Moody became the first woman to earn a degree from the medical school here. A physician and an anatomist, and first through a door that stayed open behind her.

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• Jeffrey WigandTobacco industry whistleblower

  Jeffrey Wigand earned his biochemistry doctorate at Buffalo, then became the first tobacco executive to blow the whistle on the industry, on 60 Minutes in 1996. Russell Crowe played him in The Insider. Real courage, with a U B diploma.

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• Linda J. WachnerFormer Warnaco chief executive

  Linda Wachner, class of 1966, ran Warnaco from 1986 to 2001. In 1996 she was reported to be the highest-paid woman executive in America. In June 2001 the company filed for bankruptcy protection. We'll let you do the math.

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• Robert GundlachInvented the modern photocopier

  Robert Gundlach left here with a physics degree in 1949 and went on to develop the modern photocopier. So yes, a Buffalo grad is the reason your office has that one machine everybody gathers around.

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