Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Support for a Rich Future

A $1 million commitment from former Chair of the Board of Trustees Tom Bozzuto ’68, L.H.D. ’18 and Barbara Bozzuto will support innovative scientific teaching and research.

by Andrew Wickenden '09

Former Chair of the Board of Trustees Tom Bozzuto ’68, L.H.D. ’18 and Barbara Bozzuto recently made a $1 million estate gift to support Hobart and William Smith’s commitment to scientific teaching, learning and research. The endowment funded through the gift will sustain continued upgrades in equipment and facilities for HWS’ new Fish Center for the Sciences.

“The innovation we have seen in academic programs, combined with our historic commitment to the arts and sciences, ensure that Hobart and William Smith has a rich future ahead,” says Tom Bozzuto. “We made this gift very simply because we believe in HWS. I think it’s incumbent upon those of us who have benefited from that education to help to the degree that we can. Barbara and I have been blessed and we’re very happy to be able to be supporters of the school and its continual evolution as a great educational institution.”

“Tom and Barbara have spent their lives investing in ideas and organizations that change people’s lives,” says Chair of the Board of Trustees Craig Stine ’81, P’17. “Their continued support of Hobart and William Smith demonstrates their belief in our mission and the transformative power of an HWS education. On behalf of the Board and the entire HWS community, I thank them.”

Citing the legacy of hands-on lab work, research in the Finger Lakes and training for pre-med students, Bozzuto says that the sciences are “a critical part of what makes Hobart and William Smith such an extraordinary place.”

Bozzuto, who joined the Board of Trustees in 1999, served as Chair from 2016 to 2020.

“I am delighted with how far we’ve come in a relatively short period of time,” he says, noting the $314 million already raised toward the $400 million goal of ‘Further Together: The Campaign for Our Third Century.’ “That is a remarkable achievement.”

When this most recent gift is realized, the Bozzuto family will have established a legacy of distinction. In 2017, Bozzuto, his wife Barbara, and their children Toby and Lexie made a $4 million gift to endow the Bozzuto Center for Entrepreneurship and the Bozzuto Family First-Generation Endowed Scholarship. Bozzuto was a lead donor in the renovation of the HWS boathouse, named in honor of his father, Charles Bozzuto. He has also been a participant in the Executive in Residence Program and the company he started, The Bozzuto Group, has provided internship and job opportunities for dozens of HWS students. To commemorate their 40th wedding anniversary, Barbara established the Thomas S. Bozzuto ’68 Endowed Scholarship Fund at HWS.

At Hobart, Bozzuto majored in English, was a Theta Delta Chi brother and a Druid, played football, was a member of Hobart Student Association and Little Theatre, and worked at Saga. He was president of his sophomore and junior classes and, in his senior year, president of the student body. He served as a combat correspondent for the 25th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, and later earned a master’s degree in metropolitan studies from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.

During his more than 50-year career in real estate, Bozzuto has overseen and been responsible for the creation of more than 60,000 homes and apartments, garnering national renown for his leadership and vision. In 1988, Bozzuto established and for 28 years was CEO of The Bozzuto Group of Companies, where he now serves as chairman.

Barbara Bozzuto is an author and distinguished leader and philanthropist, serving on the boards of numerous culturally iconic institutions including the Washington Ballet, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Madison Council at the Library of Congress. She owned the Bozzuto/ Lowenstein Marketing Group for a decade, providing expert advice to numerous clients.