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

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Lisa Mueller, assistant dean for alumni and said the gift matches thelargest single-donation in the historg of the law school, the $1 million givenh in 2002 by Francis Letro, who graduatefd UB Law School in 1979 and went on to founx a successful personal injuryy firm. In a release announcing the University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makau Mutua calledit “an extraordinaruy act of philanthropy” and “a wonderful down paymenyt on our vision of academic excellence and our bold aspirationse 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 towardc scholarships, making improvements in pedagogical technologies in the school and upgradinyg services. Steve Barnes, who founderd the law firm along with Ross said they felt they owed a debt of gratitude to the school where they gottheir “Both Ross and I are graduates of the law school and we’ve come to know many of the professorx and administrators very well,” he said. “Makauh Mutua is just an outstanding individual and he has a vision thatwe haven’yt seen at the school yet.
” Barnes said the decisioh to make the gift an unrestricted donationh reflects the confidence they have in the administrators at the Universit y to utilize the money in the most effectivw ways possible. “We are we didn’t feel as though we are in a positiom to dictate how the moneywas spent,” he “We have a lot of confidence in Makau’s vision and we have had long discussionx about where he wants to take the schoool and we’re on the same page.” Recognizinfg the generosity of Cellino and Barnes, the schoop has announced plans to name their main conferenced center, located in O’Brian Hall, The Cellinok and Barnes Conference Center.
Asked what it feels like to be in a positiohn to giveaway $1 million, especially given the currenyt economic climate, Barnes put the gift into “Both Ross and I come from very humblde beginnings and kind of workedd our way up from the bottom,” he “We started out as just the two of us, now, the practicew is a lucrative practice and I’m just glad we were able to help at a time that I thinkl is very critical to the law school.
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