Jeremy M. Jacobs
Chairman
Mr. Jacobs is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North
Companies, a global leader in hospitality and food service and one of
the largest privately held companies in North America. In addition to
his leadership of Delaware North Companies, Mr. Jacobs owns the National
Hockey League's Boston Bruins. As owner of the team, Mr. Jacobs represents
the club on the NHL's Board of Governors, serves on its Executive Committee
and is Chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee.
Mr. Jacobs has served the Western New York region for more than three
decades with his business expertise and philanthropic leadership. A
longtime friend and supporter of the University at Buffalo, Mr. Jacobs
has previously served as chairman, trustee, and director of the UB Foundation,
chairman of the President's Board of Visitors, and advisor to the School
of Management. He has been a member of the UB Council since 1997 and
was appointed Chairman by Governor George Pataki in November 1998.
Benefactors of the University at Buffalo over the years, Mr. Jacobs and his long invested in higher education, providing significant financial support for a number of UB’s most important academic initiatives. Their most recent $10 million gift is the largest single gift ever to UB and makes the Jacobs family the university’s most generous donor, with gifts totaling $18.4 million. The gift is made as a challenge to the private sector to support the vision for a world-class medical community in Western New York.
The Jacobs family has funded scholarships for exceptional undergraduates in the UB Honors College, provided financial aid to female student-athletes and created flexible funds for innovation and special needs. In the mid-1980s, Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs gave more than $1 million to help fund two academic chairs and support a UB School of Management MBA program in China, the first academic partnership between an American university and that evolving nation. A School of Management building on UB’s North Campus bears the Jacobs name, in honor of the family’s long-standing generosity.
In 2000, Mr. Jacobs donated the architectural landmark Butler Mansion
to UB for use as a continuing education and training facility. Renamed
by the university as The Jacobs Executive Development Center, the building
is used extensively for business education and has become an important
regional presence for the university.
Mr. Jacobs has provided distinguished service and leadership to the
United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, which has designated him a member
of its Million Dollar Roundtable of donors. Under his leadership, Delaware
North has received countless awards for social responsibility, community
service, and environmental stewardship; the company and the Jacobs family
have donated millions of dollars back to the communities where the company
operates.
In 2003, Mr. Jacobs was named to the prestigious Department of Commerce
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, based on his strong support of the
travel and tourism industry
An alumnus of UB's School of Management and the Harvard School of Business
Advanced Management Program, he holds honorary doctorates from the University
at Buffalo and Canisius College.
He and his wife Margaret reside in East Aurora, New York. They have
six children and eighteen grandchildren.
