With an unwavering commitment to educating the best and the brightest students, the anonymous donor whose donations started-and have been the major force behind-the Distinguished Honors Scholars Program has given the program another cash gift of $800,000.

The latest contribution brings the donor's total donations-some of which were given before the current capital campaign was launched-to $6.4 million over the past seven years.

This gift also has boosted the efforts of the larger University Honors Program to raise $10 million as its goal in the university's $250 million campaign to $4,862,935.

"We are all privileged to focus on the University Honors Program as a key component of this campaign" and grateful for donors who understand the importance of supporting academically gifted students, said John N. Walsh III, Western New York insurance executive and civic leader who is chair of the honors campaign committee.

"With our support, there is no limit to the professional, scientific and civic contributions that these future leaders can make," Walsh added. "However, we need more than the anonymous donor, who certainly has been generous-both before and during the campaign-if we are to succeed in reaching our goal."

Walsh said the money raised would be used for additional scholarships, to expand and endow the Distinguished Honors Program, for faculty support and to provide the capital funds for an honors building.

Josephine A. Capuana, administrative director of the University Honors Program, said she is thrilled that donors are "beginning to recognize the value of this extraordinary program, which has such a direct, positive, life-changing impact on the students."

Capuana said 150 honors students will graduate Sunday, bringing the total number of alumni of the University Honors Program to more than 1,000. She added that the oldest alumni are "just beginning to hit their stride professionally" because most extend their academic lives by attending graduate school, either at UB or elsewhere.

The University Honors Program began 20 years ago with 20 students who received scholarships to help with tuition and fees, and who also participated in honors seminars and colloquia. The number of honors students has grown annually and next fall some 235 freshman are expected to join the program, where they will enjoy special academic opportunities, in addition to receiving annual scholarships ranging from $2,500-$4,000.

Included in the incoming honors group are 17 Distinguished Honors Scholars, whose scholarships cover tuition, room and board, books and fees-a five-figure support package-which enables UB to compete with the very best colleges and universities in the country for these exceptional students. The Distinguished Honors Program began in 1995 with a $1.6 million gift from the anonymous donor, who has continued making $800,000 gifts annually to it but says donations from others also are important to maintaining and growing the program.

Donors who have responded to the challenge include Burton Greenstein, who has made a $365,000 bequest commitment; the late Eleanor Millonzi, whose $250,000 gift was designated for honors students in the creative and performing arts; a 1949 UB graduate who has made an anonymous pledge of $150,000, and another anonymous donor who's giving $40,000 to support one Distinguished Honors Scholar for four years.

Another is the 43 x 79 Foundation, with a four-year, $48,000 gift designated for two honors students "who are committed to the Buffalo area and may become future business and community leaders in Western New York."