Communication Department Chair Frank Tutzauer, Ph.D., is a proud "southern boo" who has combined his educational pursuits of math and debate into one successful career at UB.
Born in Greensboro, NC, Tutzauer grew up in New Orleans, where he still considers his home and where his father and siblings still live.
"It's kind of odd to still consider New Orleans home," Tutzauer said. "I've lived in Buffalo longer."
His childhood home was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but his family was fortunately safe from the more severe devastation areas. He was able to contact them immediately after the storm and had peace of mind throughout that time period knowing that they were safe.
In 1974, he graduated from Marion Abramson Senior High, better known among the students as "MASH." It was in high school that he began to realize he had two academic passions. He fell in love with mathematics in high school and attributes it to the excellent teachers he had. Debate was offered as an extracurricular activity, which Tutzauer tried in order to miss English class, not knowing how much it would later contribute to his successful career and become his second passion.
Through his debate activities in high school, Tutzauer met his wife Carol, and together they became nationally ranked debaters. They married the summer after high school graduation and have been together for 34 years. Carol currently works in the vice provost office for undergraduate students at UB.
After high school, Tutzauer attended Southwestern College in Kansas, where he majored in mathematics. With the intention of becoming a lawyer, he continued to pursue debate as a hobby throughout college.
As college graduation neared, Tutzauer realized that the law profession would not suit him. Despite enjoying the debate aspects of law, he wanted to avoid the paperwork that he would undoubtedly endure as a legal professional.
It was then that he decided to continue his education by going to Northwestern University for his master's degree in communications. Tutzauer realized that he could combine his two academically-opposing fields into one through communication studies. From there he wanted to continue researching his passions and continue on to the Ph.D. program.
At a communications conference at Northwestern, Tutzauer met George Barnett Ph.D., who focused his research on building mathematical communication models. Barnett recruited Tutzauer to UB when there was an opening in the communications department back in 1987.
Tutzauer had always had a desire to work at UB.
"I defined UB by the people who are here," Tutzauer said.
By interacting with Barnett and other UB scholars, Tutzauer fell in love with the school before he had even come to Western New York. To this day Barnett and Tutzauer are fellow co-faculty members in the communications department.
Tutzauer has established himself well in the 20 years he has been here. He has conducted research on conflicts of people working together versus fighting against each other, also known as "Matrix Games." He has been published several times in various journals for his work.
He is currently using his mathematical and communications studies to research how best to measure centralized or defused networks.
Tutzauer has not forgotten about Southern traditions since leaving New Orleans. Every year he hosts a Mardi Gras party, at which he personally prepares Southern favorites such as gumbo, chicken etouffee, red beans and rice, and broiled crawfish.
He has the crawfish prepared and flown to Buffalo from Louisiana by a friend who specializes in crawfish.
"He catches them on Wednesday, boils them on Thursday, overnight ships them to arrive on Friday, to serve on Saturday," Tutzauer said.
He is also famous for his slow-smoked ribs and for brewing his own beer. At the end of the summer, Tutzauer hosted the communication department at his house in Wilson, NY for a kick-off to the school year party, where he served his smoked ribs and brewed beer.
He is a member of the "Sultans of Swig," which is a club for those who brew their own beer.
As a resident of the rural town of Wilson, Tutzauer also hopes to get into astronomy, because the rural town has the perfect lighting to look at the stars.
Tutzauer's true heart and soul will always lie with his communication department and the research of communication.
As chairman, he likes being able to help implement the collective will of the faculty and bring the visions of the communications department to where everyone wants it to be.
"Communication is something that touches everyone's life, it has immediate relevance," Tutzauer said.
