UB remembers a remarkable benefactor

The university has given permanent recognition to the generosity of the late Albert Jay Wright, who provided one of the largest private gifts during the university's private history, with the dedication of the new Albert Jay Wright and Tatiana M. Wright Memorial, consisting of a plaque placed amid landscaped gardens located at the entrance of Capen Hall on the North Campus.

Wright, who died in 1940, made a bequest that now is valued at $1.6 million.

Several generations of Wright family members, from Western New York and from as far away as Maryland and Florida, attended the recent dedication of the memorial garden.

Wright was a prominent Buffalo businessman, civic leader, art connoisseur and author, whose successful 58-year banking and investment career earned him the designation "dean of Buffalo brokers." A native of Olean who moved to Buffalo in 1866, Wright was a graduate of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. A member of the Wesleyan baseball team, he suffered an injury during a game that affected his vision and ultimately left him totally blind.

His gift to the university was made through a trust that provided lifetime income for his wife and children. In 1972, the trust expired and the remainder passed to the university, which established the Albert Jay Wright and Tatiana M. Wright Fund. The fund provides support in perpetuity for student merit scholarships in the university's Honors Program and other priorities as determined annually by the university president.

In addition, the Wright Fund has helped make possible the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Program held in conjunction with Black History Month, campus lectures by distinguished speakers, support for the university's sesquicentennial celebration and grants-in-aid for scholar-athletes.

"We are deeply grateful for the generous support and assistance that has been provided by Albert Wright, which truly demonstrates the invaluable, far-reaching, positive effects a gift can have at UB," said President William R. Greiner. "This memorial translates into a meaningful tribute for a magnanimous commitment that has benefited many of our outstanding students and contributed to a wide array of special initiatives at the university."