A 1976 graduate of the University at Buffalo is giving back to his alma mater with a generous grant. UB announced on Thursday that Stephen Still is providing $4 million to its School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The gift will support the work of the Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics (ISTL), which partners UB's engineering and management schools to study and address transportation issues including logistics and supply-side management.
Still, who described himself as a child of the 1970s environmental movement, says it's more true now more than then that moving people and goods is impacting the planet's climate. The purpose of his gift is to help pay for research, programming and other work that aims to design better transport systems and societies.
"This takes a full-bodied approach," Still said. "We need political scientists. We need business leaders. We need people from all disciplines of this university. The ISTL embraces that approach to transportation education."
Still's name will be added to the ISTL, rebranding it the Stephen Still Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics. Paul Tesluk, dean of UB's School of Management, says the institute has already made social and business impacts.
"With its emphasis on sustainability, the program offers in-depth exploration of environmental-friendly and socially responsible technologies and practices in all segments of activity," Tesluk said.
Still, who lives in Virginia, has worked in the aviation industry for most of his career and co-founded two successful business, which he later sold. He credits UB for influencing his career path.
"UB was the first inspiration of realizing how transformational transportation planning can be," he said. "It forms our cities and towns as we know them. the inspiration all came right here."
