Jacobs Designates Newly Purchased Butler Mansion For Use By UB School Of Management

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- 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.

"I am pleased to offer the use of the mansion to the University at Buffalo," said Jeremy M. Jacobs. "My intention for the landmark building had been to protect its integrity and preserve its historical significance. Through this partnership, the university will now have a facility that enables it to reach out to the downtown Buffalo business community to meet its needs in regards to continued professional development and education."

The school, according to Lewis Mandell, dean of the School of Management, will work with area corporations to provide dedicated facilities for the ongoing training of executives and high-level managers, and will set up corporate-training facilities to bring the latest computer technology to downtown businesses.

It also will investigate the possibility of offering a second Executive MBA program in the Butler Mansion and may consider development of a lunchtime MBA program for downtown business people, according to Mandell.

UB President William R. Greiner praised the long-time and valuable support of the university by Jacobs, a UB graduate who serves as chair of the University at Buffalo Council, the university's local governing council. Jacobs also is a former chair, trustee and director of the University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc.

The UB School of Management has benefited previously from the generosity of Jacobs. The school's building on UB's North (Amherst) Campus bears the Jacobs family name, in honor of a $1 million gift provided in 1985.

"This is wonderful news for the university and our School of Management," said Greiner.

"The Butler Mansion is a beautiful, historic building in the heart of Buffalo's business district; it will make an excellent executive education center, a facility that will enable us to expand our School of Management programs to better serve the needs of the Western New York business community," Greiner said.

He added: "We are extremely grateful to Jeremy Jacobs and the Jacobs family for their generosity in making the Butler Mansion available to UB." Jacobs will maintain ownership of the mansion -- located on the corner of Delaware Avenue and North Street.

A Buffalo architectural landmark, the three-story, 40-room mansion was built in 1899 by Buffalo banker and leather manufacturer George L. William, who commissioned Stanford White of the prestigious New York City architectural firm McKim, Mead and White for its design.

Jacobs stated that he acquired the mansion in 1979 and spent more than $6 million restoring it. "The mansion served as our company's headquarters in the 1980s, before we sold it to the Varity Corporation in 1991. It played a significant role in the history of Delaware North as its location served as the genesis for the name of our company."

Varity maintained the building in impeccable condition and fully wired it for computer technology, which means that the school easily can move its programs into the building, Greiner said.

"Outreach to businesses, particularly in downtown Buffalo, is a priority for the school." Mandell said. "The mansion will enable us to meet increased demand for program from organizations all over the world."

"Motorola, for example, is sending its executives to Buffalo for the final semester of a now Executive MBA program we've launched in China, and Samsung in Korea has contracted the school for training of its information-technology managers."

Many of the nation's top business schools, Mandell added, have recognized the logistical and marketing value of providing executive-development programs in facilities separate from those used for traditional undergraduate and graduate programs.

"Our executive programs now will be offered in what is probably the most elegant and architecturally beautiful building being used by any business school in the country," said Mandell. "We now are far better able to meet the executive-training needs of our corporate customers."