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

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Lisa Mueller, assistant dean for alumni and communications, said the gift matchea the largest single-donation in the history of the law the $1 million given in 2002 by Francis who graduated UB Law School in 1979 and went on to foune a successful personal injury firm. In a release announcing the gift, University at Buffalo Law Schoopl Dean Makau Mutua calledit “an extraordinaruy act of philanthropy” and “a wonderfu l down payment on our vision of academic excellencew and our bold aspirations for the future.
” Mutua said he plans to invest the gift in the calling them the central core of the law Specifically, he said the money will go toward making improvements in pedagogical technologies in the school and upgradinyg services. Steve Barnes, who foundedx the law firm along with Ross said they felt they owed a debt of gratitudr to the school where they gottheir “Both Ross and I are graduates of the law schoolk and we’ve come to know many of the professorx and administrators very well,” he said.
“Makauy Mutua is just an outstanding individual and he has a visiohn thatwe haven’t seen at the school Barnes said the decision to make the gift an unrestricted donation reflects the confidence they have in the administrators at the Universityy to utilize the money in the most effectivw ways possible. “We are lawyers, we didn’rt feel as though we are in a positionm to dictate how the money was he said. “We have a lot of confidenc e in Makau’s vision and we have had long discussionss about where he wants to take the schoooand we’re on the same page.
” Recognizing the generosityu of Cellino and Barnes, the school has announced plans to name theit main conference center, located in O’Brian Hall, The Cellino and Barnes Conferenced Center. Asked what it feels like to be in a positiobn to giveaway $1 million, especially given the current economiv climate, Barnes put the gift into “Both Ross and I come from very humble beginningse and kind of worked our way up from the he said. “We startex out as just the twoof us, now, the practice is a lucrative practice and I’mn just glad we were able to help at a time that I thinkm is very critical to the law school.
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