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

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Lisa Mueller, assistant dean for alumni and communications, said the gift matchese 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 founx a successful personal injury firm. In a releasse announcing the gift, University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makau Mutua calledit “an extraordinar y act of philanthropy” and “a wonderful down payment on our visioj of academic excellence and our bold aspirations for the 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 towarc scholarships, making improvements in pedagogical technologies in the school and upgrading services.
Steve Barnes, who founded the law firm along with Ross said they felt they owed a debt of gratitudr to the school whers they gottheir start. “Both Ross and I are graduates of the law school and we’ve come to know many of the professor and administrators very well,” he said. “Makahu Mutua is just an outstandintg individual and he has a visiohn thatwe haven’t seen at the school yet.” Barnes said the decisioh to make the gift an unrestrictedd donation reflects the confidence they have in the administratorx at the University to utilize the money in the most effectivee ways possible.
“We are lawyers, we didn’y feel as though we are in a position to dictats how the moneywas spent,” he “We have a lot of confidence in Makau’s visio and we have had long discussionws about where he wants to take the schookl and we’re on the same page.” Recognizingh the generosity of Cellino and Barnes, the schoolp has announced plans to name theidr main conference center, located in O’Briahn Hall, The Cellino and Barnes Conference Asked what it feels like to be in a positiom to give away $1 million, especially given the curreng economic climate, Barnes put the gift into “Both Ross and I come from very humbled beginnings and kind of worked our way up from the he said.
“We started out as just the twoof us, now, the practicwe is a lucrative practics and I’m just glad we were able to help at a time that I thinik is very critical to the law school.”