Russell L. Agrusa Hall Ceremonial Groundbreaking
Delivered September 17, 2024
Good morning, and welcome!
Thank you for joining us today. I am delighted you could be with us to celebrate the ceremonial groundbreaking for Russell L. Agrusa Hall.
With that, it is my honor to acknowledge the namesake of the new building, UB alumnus Russ Agrusa!
Russ, on behalf of our UB community, thank you. Your historic gift demonstrates your enduring conviction in UB’s mission of excellence and impact, and we are truly grateful.
I would also like to recognize our elected leadership for your unwavering support of UB. Allow me to gratefully acknowledge Governor Kathy Hochul, U.S. Representative Tim Kennedy, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, State Senator Sean Ryan, State Assembly Member Karen McMahon and all the members of the Western New York state delegation.
I would like to also recognize and thank New York State Secretary of State Walter Mosley for being with us today.
In 2022, we were delighted to hear Governor Hochul announce, during her State of the State address, that a new engineering building for UB was among her priorities for our flagship university.
In the spring of that year, we celebrated the news that, with the support of the Governor and the New York State legislature, a new building for our School of Engineering and Applied Sciences was on the path to becoming a reality.
And, in 2023, I had the immense pleasure of announcing Russ’ gift to the building at my annual State of the University address.
So, we have reached several milestones in this major undertaking. And, with today’s groundbreaking, we arrive at another.
Across the state, nation and globe, students come to UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to receive a world-class education and pursue their life’s dreams.
Our school is nationally and internationally renowned for its excellent, impactful education, research and scholarship. Our engineering students, faculty—and, of course, our alumni—are contributing significantly to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, here in Western New York and well beyond. At the same time, society is increasingly calling upon our engineering professionals to respond to challenges that affect every aspect of our lives.
These compelling factors made a new engineering building among our university’s foremost priorities.
Russell L. Agrusa Hall will have a transformative impact on our engineering school, our learning environment and our university community.
Consider the collaborations that will form in this building, leading to the next generation of start-ups. Consider the students who will be educated there and go on to lead in their fields. Consider the innovations that will take root within its walls, producing the technologies of tomorrow.
All will contribute to economic development, prosperity and vitality for individuals and communities near and far.
This is how we live our university’s mission of excellence--by harnessing the knowledge and expertise we acquire here to make a meaningful difference in the communities we serve.
To conclude, I would like to again thank Russell Agrusa for his dedication to our university mission. He has shown his commitment with this incredible gift to our School of Engineering and Applied Sciences—but also, time and again, by giving back to his alma mater in ways that have greatly benefited our students, and our UB community broadly.
Allow me to also reiterate my sincere appreciation to Governor Hochul, along with all of our government leaders who were able to join us today: Representative Kennedy, Secretary Mosley, Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes, Senator Ryan, Assembly Member McMahon and our entire Western New York delegation.
We are fortunate to have such dedicated champions of UB advocating on behalf of our university’s goals.
Thank you!