PLANNED GIVING

Bill Breene joined the University at Buffalo Division of Athletics in 1988 as the Director of Athletics Development, and was given the responsibility of initiating a donor program specific to athletics as part of an aggressive move from a Division III non-scholarship program to today’s status as one of the premier Division I-A programs in the State of New York. He has served in a number of administrative capacities, and has been instrumental in the overall development and growth of the UB program.

Breene has played a major role in a number of program milestones, including the first-ever $1,000,000 gift commitment to athletics in 1991. He was a member of the university-wide committees that successfully bid and hosted the 1993 World University Games, the 1995 World Veteran’s Games, as well as UB’s membership into the Mid American Conference in 1996. In that same year, Breene led a team of University representatives that was awarded the opportunity to host the 1998 NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships at UB Stadium. The event marked the first time a Division I national championship was hosted in Buffalo. In 1999, Breene was asked to resurrect the UB Baseball program, and was the head coach of that program until 2006, at which time he returned to his development roots, and his current position with the program.

Prior to coming to UB, Bill served in a similar development capacity at the University of Houston, where he oversaw the annual giving campaigns and other externally related programming.

A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Bill played and coached baseball for the Golden Eagles, and is a member of the University’s athletics Hall of Fame.

Bill resides in the Town of Tonawanda with his two children, a daughter, Sara, and a son, Connor.