Board of Trustees Members

Ismet (Izzy) Mamnoon (Board President) is a change catalyst. She started her career as an auditor and financial consultant at Pricewaterhousecoopers and evolved to become a serial entrepreneur and now works as a facilitator translating creativity from theory into practice. She was first drawn to the field of creativity and innovation when she became a parent. She speaks intimately about her journey on the TEDx stage.

Ismet is the founder and guardian of imagination of Beyonder which offers training and facilitation for Parents, Educators and Youth with the mission of using creativity as the means to unlock the human potential of the next generation. Her acumen for applied creativity is evident in her diverse range of projects and clients that include large organizations, entrepreneurs, governments, academics, not-for-profits, the armed forces, educators, parents, and children all over the world. Her clients range in age from 5 to “undisclosed” and she has been known to facilitate just about anyone anywhere including but not limited to complete strangers in coffee shop queues and Marines at the Pentagon.

Ismet was recently featured in TIME magazine’s article When schools get creative in their special edition on the Science of Creativity for her creative approach to parenting and for the work she does globally to weave creativity into education. She is a graduate of the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State where she received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, the President’s Medal for Outstanding Graduate Student at Buffalo State, and the Firestien Family Creative Achievement award for her work in the field of creative thinking and facilitation. She is a certified facilitator of FourSight, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Polarity Thinking, and Accelerated Learning.

Dr. David Banks (Board Vice President) is a Professor of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Banks earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His research interests include social anthropology, kinship, culture, historical methods, contemporary social change and studies of Southeast Asia and Malaya.

Dr. Mustafa Gokcek (Board Treasurer) joined the Board of the Buffalo Academy of Science in 2009 and was re-elected for a second term in 2012. Dr. Gokcek is currently an Associate Professor of History at Niagara University. He completed his Ph.D. in history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on trans-imperial intellectual interactions in the early 20th century. He regularly teaches courses on the history of the United States since 1945, Russia, the Middle East and Central Asia. He also serves as the Director of the masters program in Interdisciplinary Studies. Dr. Gokcek has been involved with charter schools in various capacities since 2004. He believes strongly in the contribution that charter schools make to our education system. For Dr. Gokcek, a strong focus on STEM education, preparing students for college and beyond, and strong cooperation of the student-teacher-parent triad is critical for the prosperous future of our society.

Betty Jean Grant (Board Trustee), a resident of Buffalo for the last 42 years, was born and raised in Brighton, Tennessee. Mrs. Grant attended Medaille College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1993. She earned a Master of Science degree in Special Education from Buffalo State College in 1995. Betty Jean has taught in the Buffalo public schools as well as the Federal Head Start program. Mrs. Grant was elected to the Buffalo common Council in 1999 representing the University District. In 2004, she was elected to the Buffalo City Board of Education, representing the Ferry District. In 2007, Betty Jean was elected to the 2nd district, Erie County Legislator where she served until December 31, 2017. In 2012, she was elected Chairwoman of the Erie County Legislature. Betty Jean Grant is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for her diligent and unyielding dedication and contributions as a public servant.

Karen Wallace (Board Secretary) earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Ed.M. in Science Education from the University at Buffalo. Her career at the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences included Director of Tifft Nature Preserve, Special Projects Coordinator, Director of the Learning and Interpretation, and Deputy Director at the Buffalo Museum of Science. Karen has also earned an Informal Learning and Schools Certificate from the National Science Foundation and participated in the WNY’s STEM Learning Ecosystem, part of a global Community of Practice.

Karen has served as lecturer at Buffalo State College and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo where she developed Teaching Science in Context, a course aimed to get science teachers outdoors. In 2016, she won the Douglas B. Seager Award for Outstanding Contribution to Science Education.

Dr. Onur Nacakgedigi (Board Trustee) is a dentist and public health expert with over a decade of experience in managing and evaluating prevention and healthcare promotion programs for vulnerable populations and refugees. His work has spanned both international settings like Northern Iraq and Turkey as well as in the United States.

Throughout his career, Dr. Nacakgedigi has provided community and individual-based prevention, evaluation, and treatment services to over 3,000 patients, addressing issues like dental caries, oral lesions, gingival diseases, and other oral disorders. He has analyzed legislation, fiscal impacts, conducted scientific research for public health departments, and developed prevention campaigns and health research projects focused on refugee populations.

Dr. Nacakgedigi currently serves as a Community Dentistry Fellow at the University of Rochester's Eastman Institute for Oral Health. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Director of the Ulysses Postdoctoral Refugee Research & Training Program and an Assistant Clinical Professor at UC Davis School of Medicine, where his work centered on refugee and immigrant health issues.

He founded Moon Health Teledentistry, which aims to eliminate barriers to oral healthcare access worldwide. Dr. Nacakgedigi has taught at universities in the U.S., Turkey and Iraq, covering topics like public health dentistry, refugee health, and dental education pedagogy. His expertise spans research design, data analysis, grant writing and research coordination.

Dr. Yashodhara Satchidanand (Dr. Satch; Trustee) is a retired Palliative care physician. She was born in Hyderabad India and obtained her medical degree from Gandhi Medical college, HyderabadIndia. She moved to Buffalo in 1972 and trained in Pathology at Roswell Park Cancer institute. She subsequently developed an interest in Hospice and Palliative medicine and joined Hospice Buffalo as a volunteer physician in 1985 and later became a greatly valued staff member. During this time, she vastly expanded the Hospice home care program.  In 1999 she started her own private practice in Palliative medicine delivering both home care and inpatient hospital care.

This was the first and only such practice in WNY. She initiated a palliative care consulting service at St. Joseph hospital, which was a resounding success. In 2009 she joined Roswell Park Cancer Institute to initiate a Palliative care program. Under her leadership this program achieved unrestricted certification by the Joint Commission on accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. After a few years in this practice, she joined an outpatient oncology clinic providing pain and symptom management till she retired in 2018, 

Being a physician, Dr. Satch has always been strongly interested in science education. As a resident of Kenmore, she volunteered at several Kenton elementary schools where she showed the students how human tissues were evaluated using microscopes and slides. She believes strongly in introducing students to careers in science early and exposing them to individuals who have a passion for science and education. She was an active member of the Planning team at Kenmore West high school where her children were students.