Campaign Profiles

Honorary Chairs

Jeremy M. Jacobs Sr. (’60) is chair and chief executive officer of Delaware North Companies Inc., a diversified international holding company with subsidiaries in food and beverage service, pari-mutuel, marketing, recreation, hospitality and retail. Currently chair of the UB Council, Jacobs is a charter member of the University Founders and was chair of the UB Foundation Board of Trustees from 1980 to 1987. In 1996, he received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from the State University of New York. Among many other philanthropic enterprises, he and his family established the Jacobs Management Center through a $1 million gift in 1985.

Erma R. Hallett Jaeckle (’36) is an attorney whose 44-year career has included private practice, corporate work and government service. In 1999, she received the Edwin F. Jaeckle Award (named for her late husband), and given annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the Law School and the legal profession. The Jaeckles made substantial gifts that have enabled the Law School to create and develop the Edwin F. Jaeckle Center for State and Local Government, which features extensive community externships and trains law students for work in the public sector.

Robert E. Rich Sr. (’35) is chair of the board of Rich Products Corporation, the nation’s largest privately owned frozen food manufacturer. The recipient of the university’s 1996 Chancellor Norton Medal, he is a charter member of the University Founders and a member of the Edmund Hayes Society. He served on the President’s Board of Visitors, as a UB Foundation trustee, and as a member of the University Council and the University Centennial Committee of 1947. Captain of the football and wrestling teams while a UB student, he was elected to the UB Athletic Hall of Fame in 1966.

Campaign Cochairs

Gerald Lippes (’64) is managing partner of Lippes, Silverstein, Mathias & Wexler, a Buffalo law firm. A University Founder who serves on the New York State Council on the Arts, he served on the President’s Board of Visitors, the UB Council and the UB Foundation Board of Trustees. A founding member of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, he established the Gerald and Sandra Lippes Entrepreneurial Law and Strategy Program. He has received the Edwin F. Jaeckle Award from the UB Law School and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from the State University of New York.

Frank J. McGuire (’53) is chair of the McGuire Group Inc., which is principally involved in construction, health care, and real estate development and management. A licensed professional engineer, he is a principal in Frank J. McGuire & Associates Consulting Engineers. His philanthropic, civic and professional affiliations are numerous; in 1998 the Buffalo News named him one of the “100 Most Influential People in Western New York.” A member of the University Founders, he has served the university as a trustee of the UB Foundation and as a member of the Honorary Sesquicentennial Committee.

James W. McLernon (’50) is retired chair of the board of American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., a major supplier to the automotive industry and a world leader in engineering and manufacturing of driveline systems, chassis components and forged products. A member of the University Founders and the Edmund Hayes Society, he received an honorary doctorate in 1998 and is a past recipient of the Alumni Association’s Samuel P. Capen Award and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean’s Award. McLernon and his wife, Nancy, support UB’s School of Engineering with the James W. and Nancy McLernon Scholarship program.

William A. Niese (’61) recently retired as vice president, general counsel and assistant secretary of the Times Mirror Company, the parent company of the Los Angeles Times. He joined Times Mirror (now part of the Tribune Company) as corporate counsel in 1966, where his positions included vice president and general counsel of the Los Angeles Times and senior vice president of law and human resources. Chair of the Law School’s Dean’s Advisory Council, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Law School in 1994. He is a former member of the UB President’s Board of Visitors.