UB celebrates largest fundraising campaign in history

UB announced today that the largest fundraising campaign in university history — and the largest in the history of SUNY — has successfully closed due to the generosity of alumni and friends.

Through the Boldly Buffalo campaign, donors invested more than $1.1 billion in support of student success, faculty research and changing the world for the better.

“This campaign has transformed every aspect of our university,” said President Satish K. Tripathi. “It has dramatically enhanced our living-learning environment, made our world-class education even more accessible to our talented, ambitious students, and helped fuel our faculty’s game-changing scholarship, research and innovations.”

The impact of the Boldly Buffalo campaign is transformational to both the communities the university serves as well as UB’s efforts to situate itself among the top 25 public research universities in the nation. “Our generous, dedicated donors are inspired by UB’s many successes as a premier public research university, and our bold goals for UB’s brightest future,” Tripathi said. “Our work at UB — the discoveries we are making here, the leaders we are cultivating — has energized friends near and far, galvanizing UB’s culture of philanthropy and enabling the Boldly Buffalo campaign to surpass our greatest expectations.”

The campaign’s original goal — $650 million — was achieved at a record pace, with more than $711 million raised by April 2021. “The incredible support we received from alumni, friends, campaign volunteers and community partners signaled that we had the engagement and interest in investing in UB’s future to extend our goal to $1 billion,” said Kathleen Heckman, interim vice president for university advancement.

Support of the Boldly Buffalo campaign has led to the creation of 336 new scholarships and fellowships to help make college more affordable for undergraduate and graduate students, with a focus on attracting high-achieving students from diverse backgrounds.

Investments in faculty — with 46 newly endowed faculty positions — are helping advance research and academic output, and elevate the university’s standing among its peers.

“Scholarships and programs that our alumni and friends supported through Boldly Buffalo have provided bright and talented students with the resources to attend our university, supported their success and enabled them to participate in life-changing educational experiences and experiential learning opportunities,” said A. Scott Weber, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “We are deeply grateful for the generosity of our alumni and friends, and their commitment to our students and their academic and future success.”

Nearly 84,000 donors have contributed to the Boldly Buffalo campaign, in amounts ranging from $1 to $40 million. “Every dollar, every donor made a difference to this campaign,” Heckman said, “because the collective generosity of our alumni and friends adds up to make a bigger impact for our students, our research and in the communities we serve.” Of the 84,000, more than half — 42,800 — made their first-ever gift to the university.

UB’s endowment has grown by nearly $400 million over the course of the Boldly Buffalo campaign — to more than $1 billion. “The campaign’s impact on the endowment will benefit the UB community for decades to come,” said Stacy Knapper, CEO of the UB Foundation. Contributing to the endowment increases reliable, perpetual distributions of spendable return, which provides annual financial backing to many programs, scholarships, awards, fellowships, professorships, research and more. Our donors who help fund the endowment create lasting support for generations of UB students, faculty and staff.  The benefit to the university is immeasurable.”

Among the many significant commitments that UB received throughout the campaign was a $40 million commitment, which Tripathi announced during his 2023 State of the University address. Russ Agrusa, a longtime philanthropic supporter of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, made his gift to support engineering and computer science education and construction of a new building that will serve as a hub for student learning and activity. “My hope for this project is to change lives. It’s not just a place for engineering students. We’re purposely creating an environment where students from all disciplines can collaborate. Something this large needs to be a hub that will bring people together,” Agrusa said.

Another milestone achieved during the Boldly Buffalo campaign took place in fiscal year 2023, when the university had its best fundraising year in history, surpassing the $120 million mark for the first time ever.

Contributing to this momentum was a unique opportunity for donors to enhance the impact of their gift through a limited-time opportunity offered by SUNY. The SUNY University Center New York State Endowment Challenge unlocked additional dollars from the state to support UB students, faculty and research. One such gift from Salvatore "Sam" Privitera, BS ’88, and his family established a $750,000 scholarship fund for students in the College of Arts and Sciences by leveraging the state match. “The matching program was an impetus for me and my family to make the gift now and to go much bigger because the program gives us a chance to influence many more people,” Privitera said. “I want to encourage others to take advantage of the endowment match program so they can make a bigger impact.”

In addition to scholarships and fellowships, UB’s 32,000 students have benefited in numerous ways from the Boldly Buffalo campaign. Nearly 70 facilities were built, updated or planned throughout the campaign, including the new building for the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, which enabled the school to return to downtown Buffalo in 2017, bolstering the city’s biomedical sector as a catalyst for regional economic development. 

Campus improvements also include the Murchie Family Fieldhouse, a new athletic training facility; One World Café, a unique gathering, studying and dining space in the heart of the North Campus; and the James Joyce Museum, which will house UB’s collection—the largest in the world—of ephemera by and about the esteemed Irish author and playwright.

Volunteer leadership was critical to the success of the Boldly Buffalo campaign. Campaign co-chairs and UB alumni Dan Alexander, MD ’99, BA ’95, and Gail Alexander, BS ’87, have stewarded a robust group of campaign volunteers from around the U.S. to the successful conclusion of the Boldly Buffalo campaign.

“When we were asked to lead this historic campaign, we couldn’t have imagined the overwhelming response from alumni and friends that led to so quickly reaching the initial $650 million, much less raising more than $1.1 billion for our university,” the couple said. “The new buildings, the scholarships and the research outcomes that have been made possible because of this ambitious effort are breathtaking. This is an entirely new level of UB pride expressed by donors from around the world.”

Beyond dollars raised, the campaign has achieved other important objectives, including increasing connections among UB alumni, facilitating personal and professional growth while enabling direct support for current students. Since the start of the campaign, more than 124,000 alumni worldwide have mobilized to participate through volunteerism, virtual lifelong learning programs, young alumni gatherings, mentorship, reunions, networking, alumni recognition programs and supporting the UB Bulls. “Surpassing our engagement goal during the campaign — by more than 12,000 alumni — demonstrates a strong desire for connection with their alma mater,” said Heckman. “These connections are equally as important as fundraising for the long-term success of the university by solidifying loyalty that lasts throughout one’s lifetime.”

“As this historic campaign comes to a close, the entire university community is grateful for the support of our alumni, donors and friends whose generosity has made a lasting and indelible impact on the University at Buffalo,” the Alexanders said. “We are a thriving institution dedicated to solving some of society’s most pressing problems, and the success of the Boldly Buffalo campaign has positioned us to make great change for the betterment of the world.”

For more stories of incredible generosity and inspiring impact of this historic campaign, visit the campaign’s website.