Philanthropy

Inspired by the work of internationally known pioneering neurosurgeon L. Nelson "Nick" Hopkins III, M.D., the chairman emeritus of Merrill Lynch and Co. has made a gift of $1.5 million to the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to establish an endowed fund to name a neurosurgery chair in honor of the distinguished physician.

Orin Smith, retired CEO of Starbucks Corp., hadn't seen former University at Buffalo president and current law professor William R. Greiner in more than 30 years. Yet one day Smith picked up the phone and called the UB Law School development office, seeking a way to honor his former teacher. The conversation resulted in Smith making a tribute gift of $200,000 in honor of his mentor.

Emeritus Professor Robert F. Berner, who had a 36-year career at the University at Buffalo, will support the work of doctoral candidates in the UB School of Management through an endowed gift. He also is supporting the UB Graduate School of Education in honor of his late wife, Ruth L. Berner, who did graduate work there, and the Millard Fillmore College, where he served as dean for more than 20 years.

A $148,328 grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation will establish a multidisciplinary task force for ontology-based IT support for large-scale field studies in psychiatry at the University at Buffalo.

Artists, students, scholars, musicians and friends of the arts will gather on Oct. 17 to dedicate the Robert G. and Carol L. Morris Center for 21st Century Music and thank the generous donors for whom it is named.

The University at Buffalo will host its second Scholarship Gala on Nov. 10 to raise funds for undergraduate and graduate student scholarships across the university. The goal is to raise $200,000, a 33 percent increase over last year's total.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation today announced a $250,000 gift to the University at Buffalo to create and provide initial support for a program to train entry- and mid-level workers for Western New York's emerging life-sciences industry.

The University at Buffalo School of Management and the Not For Profit Resource Center, an initiative of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, are partnering to help local community service agencies through an innovative new educational technology, Digital Access.

A $500,000 gift from Ravinder K. Bansal, Ph.D., and his wife, Pratibha Bansal, M.D., of Clarence, to the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will be used for costs associated with the construction of a new engineering building on UB's North (Amherst) Campus.

The worldwide public accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP and its staff members have contributed $34,400 to the University at Buffalo over the past year.