Wegmans Family Foundation Gives $1.5M to Niagara University

Gift will establish Robert B. Wegman endowed director of food industry innovation and supply chain excellence

4/20/2023

Wegmans Food Markets has given $1.5 million to Niagara University, the alma mater of the late Robert Wegman, chairman of Wegmans from 1969 to 2006.

Niagara University’s Holzschuh College of Business Administration has received a $1.5 million gift from Wegmans Family Foundation to establish the position of Robert B. Wegman endowed director of food industry innovation and supply chain excellence. The director will lead the growth and development of the college’s centers of food industry leadership and supply chain excellence and guide efforts to create a pre-eminent on-campus facility to house the centers. The director will also work with food industry leaders in western New York state to create, build and inspire programs and partnerships to generate educational and career opportunities for students.

“This generous gift from Wegmans Family Foundation will advance Niagara University’s work to strengthen our academic programs focused on the food industry and the field of supply chain management, providing more impactful career pathways for our students and important collaborations and opportunities for our corporate partners,” noted the Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., president of Lewiston, N.Y.-based Niagara University. “In addition, this work is grounded in our Catholic and Vincentian mission, and it provides an interdisciplinary approach to potential solutions to the food insecurity we witness in our surrounding community.”

“At Wegmans, we believe education creates opportunity,” said Wegmans Food Markets President and CEO Colleen Wegman. “We’re proud to partner with Niagara University to help prepare the next generation of food industry professionals for their future in this essential business.”

Robert Wegman, who was chairman of Wegmans from 1969 until his death in 2006 at the age of 87, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Niagara University in 1941. In 2007, he was recognized in the university’s inaugural class of the Niagara Legacy – Alumni of Distinction.

Niagara already offers an interdisciplinary food industry leadership program enabling students to gain experience and knowledge while they pursue their chosen academic field. The university is currently working to expand its current supply chain management course offerings, guided by an advisory board comprising U.S. and Canadian supply chain executives whose expertise spans logistics, transportation and global trade. These programs will form the foundation of a multidisciplinary initiative designed to meet current and emerging needs in the food industry, among them increased demand for organic and locally sourced food and a greater emphasis on farm-to-table systems.

Family-owned Wegmans operates more than 100 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and Massachusetts. The company is No. 34 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Wegmans a Top Regional to watch in 2023.