Philanthropy

A 1999 trip to Cambodia -- a country whose economy and educational system was left in ruins by the Khmer Rouge genocide of the late 1970s -- has prompted a University at Buffalo administrator to create a fund to help meet an urgent educational need in Indochina, one of the poorest regions on earth.

The so-called "digital divide" between the "haves" -- those who can afford computer access -- and the "have nots" has been erased, at least in the freshman class at the University at Buffalo. Thanks to the university's Students Needing Assistance Program (SNAP) and its corporate partners financial hardship simply is not an issue for 264 freshmen, at least where computers are concerned.

J. Grant Hauber, an alumnus of the University at Buffalo School of Management, has given $500,000 to the school for construction of a state-of-the-art student center.

An extremely enthusiastic response by University at Buffalo faculty to the year-old, high-performance computing facilities in the Center for Computational Research (CCR) has prompted the center to double the capacity of its most powerful machine, a 64-processor SGI Origin2000 supercomputer. By acquiring 64 additional processors and a high-speed interconnect, the CCR now has a 128-processor Origin2000 supercomputer.

The Charles B. Sears Law Library at the University at Buffalo has received an important collection of books, manuscripts, documents, treaties and other material related to the defense of indigenous rights -- and in particular, of American Indian nations -- from the late Howard R. Berman. A distinguished scholar of international human-rights law, Berman, a 1971 graduate of the UB Law School, devoted his legal career to defending the interests of aboriginal peoples.

David K. Anderson has donated to the University at Buffalo the internationally respected Anderson Gallery, with an estimated worth of up to $3 million, and has established a $2 million charitable remainder trust to assist with gallery maintenance and exhibitions. Anderson, whose previous donations to UB include support for the Center for the Arts and the donation of nearly 300 paintings, sculptures and prints with a value totaling more than $1.5 million, also plans to transfer to the university a substantial part of the Anderson Gallery permanent collection.

Jeremy M. Jacobs, Sr., chairman and chief executive officer of Delaware North Companies, today finalized purchase of the Butler Mansion and announced that he will make the building available for use by the University at Buffalo School of Management.

A pharmacist and business executive turned venture capitalist, University at Buffalo graduate Henry A. Panasci, Jr. has given $1 million to the university to create a competition that encourages students to become entrepreneurs.

One of his favorite pulp writers might describe George Kelley as "just one dirty guy doing a seedy job in a miserable world." But Kelley's life-long pursuit of cheap -- sometimes even cheesy -- paperbacks has the librarians at the University at Buffalo doing handsprings. That's because Kelley has made a gift to the UB Libraries of 25,000 pulp-fiction titles.

William Minniefield's determination to convince the African-American community that organ donation is a good and necessary thing has resulted in a major grant award to the University at Buffalo and the regional transplant agency to accomplish that goal.