Where students with enormous potential achieve exceptional success.
About CPMC
Cora P. Maloney Center (CPMC)
The Cora P. Maloney Center (CPMC) is a constellation of talented individuals who are distinguished by their interconnectedness—here at UB, and in the community at large. Our spirit is a testament to the legacy of Mrs. Cora P. Maloney, a public servant and community builder who made a lasting impact in the Buffalo, NY, area and in the lives of others.
Today, CPMC continues to offer academic and cultural programs that address the needs and concerns of UB students of color and residents in the City of Buffalo. Our mission is to provide a dynamic network of services and opportunities that promote access and academic excellence, ensuring talented UB students persist and actualize their academic and professional potential.
Guided by our vision to provide UB with a strong foundation for equity and academic excellence, we use a nationally recognized model for access, opportunity and persistence to graduation and beyond. CPMC is the home for the university’s pre-college programs: Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP), Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), and Upward Bound. CPMC also houses the following undergraduate programs: Access to College Excellence (ACE), Daniel Acker Scholars Program, Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), McNair Scholars Program, and Student Support Services (SSS).
Cora P. Maloney
The Cora P. Maloney College was chartered in 1976 and was named in honor of Mrs. Maloney.
Photo of Mrs. Maloney courtesy of the Uncrowned Queens Institute.
The Legacy of Mrs. Cora P. Maloney
Born around 1905 in Kansas City, MO, little is known about Mrs. Maloney’s early years or family. She was a graduate of the University of Kansas’ School of Pharmacy and worked in Kansas City, Detroit and Albany as a pharmacist at a time when opportunities for women in the workplace were limited. Maloney met her husband, Clarence, an assistant attorney general, while working in the Bangs Disease Laboratory in Albany, New York. They married in 1945 and moved to Buffalo shortly after. She continued to work as a medical technologist at the E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital until she became involved in local politics.
Maloney was active in numerous community organizations, including the Community Chest, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the American Cancer and American Heart Associations, the Buffalo Inter-Club Council, the Democratic Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Niagara Buffalo Links and the Litmus Study Club. Additionally, she held various leadership roles with the Buffalo Urban League Guild, the United Negro College Fund Board, the YWCA and the Social Welfare Council's Negro Adoption Committee. Maloney was also a member of the Niagara Frontier Association of Medical Technologists, the Masten District Youth Board, Emma V. Kelly Temple 700.IBPOEW, Alpha Kappa Alpha Scholastic Sorority and the Women's Committee of the New York State Fair. Several months prior to her death in 1961, Maloney was endorsed by the Democratic Executive Committee as Councilman-At-Large, making her the first African American to be endorsed by a major political party for a city-wide elected office. To say she dedicated her life to serving others is an understatement.