Cellino, Barnes donate $1M to UB - Business First of Buffalo:

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Lisa Mueller, assistant dean for alumn i and communications, said the gift matches the largesft single-donation in the history of the law the $1 million given in 2002 by Francids Letro, who graduated UB Law Schoo l in 1979 and went on to founed a successful personal injury In a release announcing the gift, University at Buffallo Law School Dean Makau Mutuaa called it “an extraordinary act of philanthropy” and “w wonderful down payment on our vision of academi c excellence and our bold aspirationse for the future.” Mutua said he plans to investf the gift in the students, calling them the centralk core of the law school.
Specifically, he said the mone y will go toward making improvements in pedagogical technologies in the schoo andupgrading services. Steve who founded the law firm along withRoss Cellino, said they felt they owed a debt of gratituded to the school where they got their “Both Ross and I are graduate of the law school and we’ve come to know many of the professors and administrators very well,” he said. “Makau Mutua is just an outstandin g individual and he has a visiom thatwe haven’t seen at the schook yet.
” Barnes said the decision to make the gift an unrestricted donation reflectws the confidence they have in the administratorsz at the University to utilize the money in the most effectivde ways possible. “We are lawyers, we didn’ft feel as though we are in a positionj to dictate how the money was he said. “We have a lot of confidencw in Makau’s vision and we have had long discussions aboug where he wants to take the schooland we’rw on the same page.” Recognizing the generosity of Cellino and the school has announced plans to name theit main conference center, located in O’Brian Hall, The Cellinok and Barnes Conference Center.
Askeds what it feels like to be in a position to giveaway $1 million, especially given the curreng economic climate, Barnes put the gift into “Both Ross and I come from very humblwe beginnings and kind of worked our way up from the he said. “We started out as just the twoof us, now, the practicre is a lucrative practice and I’m just glad we were able to help at a time that I thinkj is very critical to the law