Campus News

Schneider to retire as UBF executive director

UBNOW STAFF

Published June 8, 2021

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“Under the leadership of Ed Schneider, the UB Foundation has contributed greatly to UB’s rise as a nationally ranked public research university. ”
President Satish K. Tripathi
headshot of Ed Schneider.

The UB Foundation (UBF) has announced that long-time Executive Director Edward P. Schneider is retiring. Schneider joined UBF in 1976, when its total assets were approximately $6 million; today total assets stand at $1.4 billion, with $900 million comprising the UBF endowment.

The UBF Board of Trustees has engaged a search firm and expects to make an announcement about Schneider’s successor within the next several months.

“Under the leadership of Ed Schneider, the UB Foundation has contributed greatly to UB’s rise as a nationally ranked public research university,” says President Satish K. Tripathi. “During Ed’s 45 years at the helm of UB Foundation, our university, through the support of the UB Foundation, was able to transform the physical landscape of our three campuses, provide student access to educational excellence and support our faculty’s impactful research and scholarship. Ed has been a wonderful colleague and will be greatly missed”

“It is very difficult to sum up in words the accomplishments of someone who for almost five decades has so loyally and ably served an organization that has contributed to the University at Buffalo becoming a premier public institution of higher education across the United States,” says Greg Bauer (‘82), chairman of the UBF Board of Trustees.

The UBF endowment has benefited tens of thousands of students with financial scholarships and other awards. In just the past five years, over $75 million has been awarded to UB students.

Schneider notes that over the years UBF has evolved into an multifaceted organization that provides vital services and flexibility for UB through the private support it receives. In addition to growth of a significant investment portfolio, UBF has financed and developed five student housing projects with some 2,800 beds.

UBF also played a pivotal role through the acquisition of the properties on which the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences facility was built in the heart of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, which kept the project moving forward on a timely schedule and resulted in significantly lower overall project costs. 

“UBF was created for the betterment of the university and I am proud to have worked with literally hundreds of trustees and five university presidents over the last 45 years” Schneider says. “During this time, UB joined the prestigious Association of American Universities; advanced through the ranks of higher education and continues to strive for Top 25 ranking among the nation’s public universities; experienced significant growth from research activities; gained considerable national recognition from its athletic endeavors; built a downtown campus; expanded its North Campus presence in Amherst; and much more,” he says. “UBF has been pleased to contribute to these university successes.”

Due to the growth of total assets and the complexity of UBF, the person selected to succeed Schneider and run the day-to-day operations of UBF will serve as chief executive officer. 

“What we have learned throughout the process is that this is an extremely coveted position, as reflected in the credentials of the dozens of individuals who have expressed an interest in it,” Bauer says. “The responsibilities check all of the boxes that would be required for a CEO.”