Jonathan Dandes, '74

The longest serving member of the UB Council, Jonathan A. Dandes was first appointed in 1994 by Governor Mario Cuomo. In 2021, Dandes was appointed to his fifth consecutive term on the Council by Governor Kathy Hochul. A 1974 graduate of UB’s School of Management, Dandes also graduated from the Harvard Business School Management Development Program in 2003.

Most recently, Dandes served as Corporate Vice President of Rich Products Corporation. In 1986, he joined Rich Products Corporation Food Services Division as product manager and was soon appointed director of restaurant operations. He was named vice president/general manager of Stadium Services, Inc. in 1988, and executive vice president of the Rich Entertainment Group in 1996. Appointed in October 2001, Dandes was the longtime president of Rich Baseball Operations, which is comprised of Rich Products’ subsidiary companies including Buffalo Bisons Baseball, Northwest Arkansas Naturals Baseball, Jamestown Jammers Baseball, National Baseball Congress and Palm Beach National Golf & Country Club in Lake Worth, FL. Dandes also served as an adjunct professor at Niagara University in the College of Hospitality and Tourism Management and taught in Niagara University’s Sport Management Program.

An active civic leader, Dandes had served as chair of the Ralph C. Wilson Explore & More Children’s Museum, Shea’s Performing Arts Center, the Erie County Medical Center Corporation, the Erie County Medical Center Foundation, Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Visit Buffalo Niagara, the Erie County Sheriff’s 21^st Century Foundation, Upstate New York Transplant Services Foundation, Erie County Jewish Family Services, and the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission. He had also served as vice-chair of the Buffalo Zoological Society and the Buffalo-Niagara Enterprise; director of the National Kidney Foundation, the Amherst Junior Football League and Lou Gehrig Youth Baseball; and member on the boards of the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation and the 100 Club of Buffalo.

In the education arena, Dandes was previously a director of the Buffalo Public Schools Foundation, president of the UB Alumni Association board and trustee of the Nichols School in Buffalo.

Within the hospitality profession, Dandes was a past president of the New York State Restaurant Association, and a member of La Chaine des Rotisseurs, Les Amis du Vin, the National Association of Concessionaires and the Stadium Managers Association. In 1994, he was designated as a certified Foodservice Management Professional by the National Restaurant Association.

Dandes son, Leo, is a 2010 graduate of the UB Law School, and daughter, Arin, is a 2009 UB graduate, with a BFA in Musical Theatre.