Henderson Named "Niagara Frontier Executive of the Year" by University at Buffalo School of Management

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Marsha S. Henderson, president of KeyBank-Western New York, has been named the 2004 Niagara Frontier Executive of the Year by the University at Buffalo School of Management.

The award will be presented to Henderson at the 55th annual UB School of Management Alumni Association awards banquet at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 9 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

Henderson was selected for the award based on a vote by the board of directors of the alumni association and past honorees, who cited her career success, civic leadership and professional integrity.

After 25 years in banking, Henderson in 1988 joined KeyBank, the 11th largest U.S.-based financial institution providing services to individuals, small businesses and corporations.

As president of KeyBank-Western New York, she has oversight of 41 Key Centers and approximately 1000 employees across four counties. In addition to its lending services, Key holds $2.5 billion of deposits and $3 billion of brokerage assets for more than 100,000 households and corporations in Western New York. Under Henderson's leadership, Key's Western New York area was recognized by KeyCorp for attaining the highest growth and financial results in the entire company in 2002.

Henderson serves as chair of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, a 3,500-member organization representing business in Western New York. She was recently appointed to the eleven-member Greater Buffalo Commission, established to create a new form of city-county government for the 21st century.

Henderson is the immediate past chair of the Western New York Women's Fund, treasurer of the Independent Health Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise and the University at Buffalo Foundation. She also is a member of the Kaleida Health Finance Committee.

Henderson is a past board member of numerous business and charitable groups including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Benedict House and Financial Women International, which she served as national president.

She has been honored for her community leadership as recipient of the 2000 Athena Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Canisius College and induction into the Western New York Women's Hall of Fame. She is a charter graduate of Leadership Buffalo.

Henderson was the recipient of the Buffalo Niagara Sales and Marketing Executives' 2002 Executive of the Year Award, the Service to Mankind Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and she was named by Business First as one of the Top-40 Most Influential People in Erie and Niagara Counties. She is a 2004 honoree of the National Conference for Community and Justice.

A lifelong resident of the Buffalo area, she received a bachelor's degree from the University at Buffalo and earned her MBA from Canisius College. She and her husband, Chris, reside in Williamsville.

Established in 1949, the Niagara Frontier Executive of the Year award is presented annually to a resident of the Niagara Frontier. Past recipients include Robert E. Rich, Sr.; Paul L. Snyder; Robert E. Rich Jr.; Jeremy M. Jacobs; the late Burt P. Flickinger, Jr.; the late Seymour H. Knox, III; Sal H. Alfiero; Robert G. Wilmers; Bernard J. Kennedy; Frank L. Ciminelli; Reginald B. Newman, II; Luiz F. Kahl and Frank McGuire. Last year's honoree was Randall L. Clark.

For more information about the awards banquet, contact John Shellum, assistant dean in the UB School of Management, at 645-3224.