Cellino, Barnes donate $1M to UB - Boston Business Journal:

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Lisa Mueller, assistant dean for alumn and communications, said the gift matches the largesgt single-donation in the historty of thelaw school, the $1 millionj given in 2002 by Francis who graduated UB Law Schook in 1979 and went on to found a successfupl personal injury firm. In a release announcing the gift, University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makau Mutuas calledit “an extraordinary act of philanthropy” and “aw wonderful down payment on our vision of academic excellencew and our bold aspirations for the Mutua said he plans to invest the gift in the calling them the central core of the law school.
he said the money will go towarx scholarships, making improvements in pedagogical technologies in the school andupgrading services. Steve who founded the law firm along with Ross said they felt they owed a debt of gratitudwe to the school where they gottheir “Both Ross and I are graduates of the law schook and we’ve come to know many of the professors and administrator s very well,” he said.
“Makau Mutuaa is just an outstanding individuaol and he has a vision thatwe haven’yt seen at the school Barnes said the decision to make the gift an unrestrictedd donation reflects the confidence they have in the administratora at the University to utilize the monehy in the most effective ways “We are lawyers, we didn’t feel as though we are in a positiobn to dictate how the money was spent,” he “We have a lot of confidence in Makau’s vision and we have had long discussiond about where he wants to take the schoopl and we’re on the same Recognizing the generosity of Cellino and the school has announced plans to name theif main conference center, locatecd in O’Brian Hall, The Cellino and Barnesw Conference Center.
Asked what it feels like to be in a positionj to giveaway $1 million, especially given the current economic climate, Barnes put the gift into “Both Ross and I come from very humble beginnings and kind of worke d our way up from the bottom,” he said. “Wde started out as just the twoof us, now, the practice is a lucrativd practice and I’m just glad we were able to help at a time that I thinjk is very critical to the law school.
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