Buffalo State alumna tops Business First’s Power 250, interim president and several other alumni recognized

Buffalo State University alumni, as well as interim president Bonita R. Durand, Ph.D., were recently honored by Buffalo Business First, a Buffalo-based business journal, on its 2025 Power 250 list. This annual distinction recognizes the most powerful people in Western New York, based on parameters of occupation, number of employees, community activities, length of time at a company, and overall impact of personality. 

Alumna Alice Jacobs, ’16, ranked first alongside her husband Jerry, marking the first time a couple has shared the top spot on the Power 250 list. Jacobs, who began her career as a corporate and immigration attorney, later founded the Innovation Philanthropy Initiative. She guided the $230 million expansion and renovation at Buffalo AKG Art Museum campus, helped create the WNY Women’s Foundation’s All In initiative, and is currently working with the Jacobs Institute to sponsor a podcast through Innovation Philanthropy, including a website called The Art Dome, which focuses on visual arts. Jacobs is the Buffalo AKG Art Museum’s board chair, as well as a board member for Say Yes Buffalo, the WNY Women’s Foundation, and the WNY Women Making History Committee; member of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the 5/14 Memorial Commission; and co-founder and co-chair of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

Buffalo State University interim president Bonita R. Durand, Ph.D. ranked 33rd, making her one of the region’s top leaders. 

The list included an impressive number of Buffalo State alumni:

LaVonne Ansari, ’91

A.J. Baynes, ’79

Tom Calderone, ’85

Robert Denning, ’90

Raymond Ganoe, ’92

Morgan (Williams-Bryant) Hardy

Brian Higgins, ’85

Denise Jones, ’88

Brenda McDuffie, ’74

Brandye Merriweather, ’04

Thomas Quatroche Jr., ’94

Shana Stegner, ’14

Benjamin Zuffranieri Jr., ’80

Image courtesy of Business First.