Marine Midland Establishes $1 Million Endowment to Fund Center For International Leadership In UB Management School

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo today announced the creation of the Marine Midland Endowment Fund for the new Center for International Leadership in the UB School of Management.

The center was created with the help of a $1 million endowment fund established by Marine Midland Bank that will fund educational and outreach activities in the areas of international business and corporate leadership.

The creation of the new center was announced today at a press conference in Capen Hall on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. A check representing the bank's pledge was presented by James H. Cleave, Marine Midland president and CEO, and Northrup R. Knox, chairman of Marine's board of directors, to UB President William R. Greiner and Frederick W. Winter, the new dean of the UB School of Management. The bank will honor the $1 million pledge with 10 annual payments of $100,000.

"We are deeply grateful -- and proud -- to be the recipient of this gift," Greiner said.

"It represents a significant investment in the future of management education at UB at a time when our commitment to cultural diversity and our attention to the global economy have become increasingly important."

Greiner acknowledged the long relationship between UB and Marine Midland.

"This partnership between the bank and our school of management is just one additional facet of a long and mutually-beneficial relationship between Marine and UB," he noted. "We share common goals and aspirations for Western New York, and look forward to many years of continued collaboration on this and other projects to serve our community."

Cleave said that through the endowment, "Marine Midland is making a commitment to the future excellence of management education at the University at Buffalo School of Management.

"Because Marine is part of The HSBC Group, a worldwide financial organization, the students at the Center for International Leadership will have access to individuals and ideas vital to promoting business in international markets," Cleave added.

Winter explained that the Center for International Leadership will be dedicated to fostering the advancement of management in the global business environment -- an issue of recognized importance to Marine Midland and its parent, The HSBC Group, headquartered in London.

"Marine Midland's gift is especially useful in that it allows the center to use the funds in creative ways as its mission changes and evolves," he said. "As the funds build, we foresee conferences that are sponsored, student support of various kinds, and perhaps teaching cases that are developed and disseminated."

Winter added: "This is a significant gift to the School of Management, significant both in the size of the gift and what it will allow us to do, but also significant in terms of the vote of confidence by such a respected institution. As the center moves ahead, we expect that contacts and relationships that Marine Midland will help us to make will be invaluable to the school of management."

He said that the center will be headed by James Meindl, professor of organization and human resources. Marine Midland will have active input in the development of the center's programs.

"Jim is, in my mind, the complete professor," Winter said. "He's active in research, accomplished in the classroom, and respected by all in the School of Management. He is a recognized leader in the leadership field."

To help create the Center for International Leadership, Marine Midland established an endowed fund within the University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc.

With $17.5 billion in assets, Marine Midland is a New York State regional banking institution and a wholly-owned and indirectly-held subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. The HSBC Group, with over 3,000 offices in 65 countries and assets in excess of $300 billion, is among the world's largest banking organizations.