Reporter Volume 25, No.25 April 21, 1994

By SUE WUETCHER
News Bureau Staff
Northrup R. Knox and Robert G. Wilmers have been honored by the
University at Buffalo for their generosity and commitment to the
university.
	Knox, who served as national chairman of UB's Pathways to
Greatness capital campaign from 1987-92, received the President's
Medal for "signal and extraordinary service to the university."
Wilmers was recognized for his distinguished service and philanthropic
support of UB for nearly a decade.
	Knox, Wilmers and members of the University Founders, an
honorary society of individuals whose philanthropic commitment to UB
totals $50,000 or more in cumulative lifetime giving, were honored at
a dinner held April 12, in the new Fine Arts Center.
	The President's Medal, first awarded in 1990, is presented for
"outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts,
contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership, or any other
major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and
the quality of life in the UB community."
	As the chief volunteer leader of the Pathways to Greatness
campaign, Knox spearheaded the first capital fund-raising drive in the
history of UB as a public university and the largest ever conducted by
a college or university in the State University of New York system.
The five-year, $52 million effort finished two months ahead of
schedule and $4 million over goal.
	In addition to his role in the capital campaign, Knox has
served UB in several capacities. He is a director of the University at
Buffalo Foundation, Inc., and has served as a member of the
foundation's executive and investment committees. He was one of the
original architects of the policies governing UB Foundation investment
procedures. The foundation's investment portfolio's 10-year average
total return now ranks in the top quartile of American universities.
	Members of the Knox family have been generous benefactors of
UB over the years. In 1988, the Seymour H. Knox Foundation pledged $1
million to endow programming in the university's new Fine Arts Center.
	Seymour Horace Knox, Northrup Knox's father, was one of the
original members of the University of Buffalo Council upon its
reorganization in 1920, and became chairman of the council in 1949. At
that time, he also was named chairman of the university Committee on
General Administration, serving in that post until the merger of the
university with the state system in 1962. Upon the merger, he became
one of the first members of the new Council of the State University of
New York and remained a member until his death in 1991.
	In 1916, Grace Knox, Northrup Knox's grandmother, established
the first endowment to assure the future excellence of the then-new
Department of Arts and Sciences at the University of Buffalo.
	Chairman of the board of Marine Midland Banks, Inc., Northrup
Knox also serves as president, treasurer and director of the Seymour
H. Knox Foundation and as vice president and director of the Buffalo
Fine Arts Academy and the Hitchcock Foundation. He is a director of
Marine Midland Banks, Inc.; Marine Midland Bank, N.A.; HSBC Holdings
plc; Hong Kong Bank of Canada, and the Greater Buffalo Partnership.
	Wilmers, president and chief executive officer of First Empire
State Corp. and chairman of the board and chief executive officer of
its principal subsidiary, M & T Bank, served as chairman of the board
of trustees of the UB Foundation from July 1, 1991 to June 30, 1993.
In his position as chairman, Wilmers enhanced significantly the
public-private partnership that is critical to the growth of UB and
its achievements as a leading public research institution.
	During his tenure, total foundation revenues and gift support
from alumni, parents, friends, corporations and other private sponsors
reached record levels, and the base was laid for continued
philanthropic growth. Wilmers led the foundation through a structural
reorganization designed to strengthen ties between the foundation and
the university and realign the responsibilities of the two.
	Wilmers also has created the Robert G. Wilmers Endowment,
which provides generous unrestricted support of campus-wide
priorities.
	In addition to his positions with First Empire and M & T Bank,
Wilmers serves as a director of First Empire's other banking
subsidiary, The East New York Savings Bank.
	He currently is chairman of The Fund for Music and co-chairman
of the Buffalo Financial Plan Commission. He serves on the board of
directors of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery; the Buffalo Philharmonic
Orchestra; the Business Council of New York State, Inc.; The Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, and the Greater Buffalo Partnership.