Anything but routine

“People love to ask me what the end goal is, and I love telling them that I really have no clue,” he says. “I think I get that from my parents who owned a restaurant for more than 30 years. They didn’t have a lot of options as immigrants to this country, and they instilled in us that higher education was the ticket out of the restaurant life they didn’t want us to have.”

After earning a dual BS and BA in applied music, journalism and audio/radio production, Lam went on to earn master’s degrees in higher education administration, music, engineering management and human resource management in addition to his MBA from the University at Buffalo School of Management. He’s currently also working towards an MS in business analytics from the School of Management, as well as an MS in sports management from SUNY Cortland and an MA in nonprofit management from Washington University in St. Louis.

And, of course, a single career isn’t enough for Lam. 

On top of his full-time role as a resource analyst for the University at Buffalo, Lam also is an on-air meteorologist, delivering forecasts across New York state on Spectrum News 1, as well as in markets like Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Jackson, Mississippi. 

Buffalonians may recognize Lam from his time on the weather team at WGRZ-TV, where he got his start as a fill-in meteorologist in 2016 and was promoted to weekend meteorologist in 2021.

“When I was like three or four years old, I knew if I was watching The Price is Right that the weather was coming up right after that,” he says. “There was something in me that loved numbers, colors and loud noises, and you have all of those in the weather forecast. It was just so captivating.”

In his role at UB, Lam serves as a liaison between central administration and his assigned schools and colleges, helping manage the university’s annual resource planning process and evaluate funding requests for initiatives beyond day-to-day budgets. He also supports budget forecasting, long-range scenario planning and the rollout of UB’s new budgeting system, ensuring units are aligned and using a shared financial framework.

Lam says that among all his degrees, the skills he developed in the UB MBA program are what set him up for success. 

“Through the variety of coursework there were always options that forced you to stretch yourself,” he says. “I had so many great professors who were a gateway to so many different types of careers I could have, and I was the type of student who wanted to look at all the options.”

When he’s not working or learning, Lam still finds time for himself. He especially enjoys traveling and finding new restaurants, as well as live sports and concerts — particularly the latter.

“I love going to Bills games and sporting events, but live music is more fulfilling because it generally leaves you in a good mood and doesn’t disappoint you at the end with a loss,” he says. “Anything that gets me out of the day-to-day routine is what I like to do.”