New business building opens to high expectations

The Alfiero Center, a new $7 million building devoted solely to the School of Management, opened for business with a formal dedication ceremony on Tuesday after three years of planning and construction.

Every inch of the 23,000-square-foot facility next to Jacobs Hall has been designed and intended for student use.

According to John Thomas, the dean of the School of Management, there is not one office or administrative section in the entire center, which features an Internet caf?(c), high-tech classrooms, lecture halls, study spaces and other areas for student organizations.

"Every detail of this center was made with the needs of the students in mind," Thomas said. "It's designed to promote interaction between students, and it reminds us all that students are the reason we are here. This building means better students, faculty, and opportunities for both."

The Alfiero Center is the first academic building at UB - and one of very few in the SUNY system - built primarily with private funds. The center received its first donation in 1999 from J. Grant Hauber, who received his bachelor's degree at UB in 1948 and donated $500,000 towards the construction.

The building is named after Jeanne and Sal Alfiero, who contributed a total of $2 million.

"This has been a couple of years in the making, and I think they've done a wonderful job with it," said Alfiero, chairman and CFO of Protective Industries, LLC. "This is going to be a place where students can come and gather. This is their space."

Donors like Alfiero, alumni like Hauber, and other members of the Buffalo business community were only a few of the people who attended the formal ceremony. Among those who spoke at the dedication were Dean Thomas, SUNY Chancellor Robert King, UB President John Simpson and Jeremy Jacobs, chair of the UB Council.

"It's a terrific building and it will attract more students and contribute to the education experience," said Olivia Hooper, president of the Graduate Management Association.

All of those who spoke expressed gratitude to the donors and said they anticipate watching the business program at UB expand with the help of the new facility. King also said the center's opening reaffirms UB's national reputation as a top-class university.

"What this represents is a real expression of confidence in this university and this state," King said.

Jane Armbruster, assistant dean and senior director of development for the School of Management, said the Alfiero Center is a great tribute to the donors who contributed to the funding.

"This is an outstanding legacy for our donors here at UB who create a magnificent learning environment for our students," Armbruster said. "I hope it will serve as an inspiration to all of our students. We wanted a place where people will want to spend time working and meeting. This is a place where people will want to be."

Daniel Penberthy, a 2000 alumnus of the executive MBA program, called the new facility an asset to the students of UB.

"The building is absolutely beautiful," Penberthy said. "I wish they had something like this when we went through the program. This is a better selling tool as well - it's attractive, and it's something students will remember when they're looking at schools."

Jonathan Pancerman, president of the Undergraduate Management Association, also said he was happy to see how well the building turned out.

"We students endured over 700 days of detours and construction-related ordeals," said Pancerman, a senior accounting major. "We're all happy to see the construction equipment go, but we're even happier to see what it brought."

With the formal dedication for donors done, the Alfiero Center will host a student dedication ceremony Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. that will also include guest speakers and a reception afterwards.