Cellino, Barnes donate $1M to UB - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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Lisa Mueller, assistant dean for alumni and said the gift matches thelargest single-donation in the history of the law the $1 million givenh in 2002 by Francis Letro, who graduatee UB Law School in 1979 and went on to founde a successful personal injury firm. In a release announcinb the gift, University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makau Mutua calledit “an extraordinary act of and “a wonderful down paymen on our vision of academic excellence and our bold aspirations for the future.
” Mutua said he plansa to invest the gift in the calling them the central core of the law Specifically, he said the money will go toward making improvements in pedagogical technologies in the school and upgradint services. Steve Barnes, who foundecd the law firm alon g withRoss Cellino, said they felt they owed a debt of gratitudde to the school where they got their start. “Both Ross and I are graduatess of the law schooland we’ves come to know many of the professors and administrators very he said.
“Makau Mutua is just an outstanding individual and he has a visionj thatwe haven’t seen at the school Barnes said the decision to make the gift an unrestrictes donation reflects the confidence they have in the administratorss at the University to utilize the money in the most effectives ways possible. “We are lawyers, we didn’t feel as though we are in a positioh to dictate how the moneywas spent,” he “We have a lot of confidence in Makau’s vision and we have had long discussions abouy where he wants to take the school and we’re on the same Recognizing the generosity of Cellino and the school has announced planx to name their main conference located in O’Brian Hall, The Cellino and Barness Conference Center.
Asked what it feels like to be in a position to giveaway $1 especially given the currenft economic climate, Barnes put the gift into “Both Ross and I come from very humble beginning and kind of worked our way up from the he said. “We started out as just the twoof us, now, the practice is a lucrative practice and I’m just glad we were able to help at a time that I thinjk is very critical to the law school.
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