By Sylvia Corneliussen ’01

When longtime Old Dominion supporter Barry M. Kornblau learned of the Alumni Association’s plans to help create the university’s first-ever alumni center, he knew it was his opportunity to make a difference. He wanted to help give ODU’s more than 90,000 alumni a comfortable place to call home on campus.

So the 1971 political science graduate made a significant contribution to his alma mater to help transform the former Public Safety Building into an alumni center. In recognition of his gift, the Alumni Association has recommended to the university’s Board of Visitors that the building be named the Barry M. Kornblau Alumni Center.

The center, which will host alumni events and serve as a welcome center for alumni visiting their alma mater, will also house the Office of Alumni Relations. It is expected to open in early March.

An active supporter of ODU athletics, Kornblau is a member of the Educational Foundation board and a past member of the Alumni Association board of directors, Board of Visitors and Intercollegiate Foundation board.

In fall 2003, the Alumni Association board made a contribution of $420,000 to the Alumni Center Campaign, the largest gift ever made by the association to the university. Current and former members of the board were on hand at a January men’s basketball game to officially present the money, in the form of a very large mock check.

Other alumni and groups have contributed to the center as well. A gift from Jeffrey W. Ainslie ’83, Alumni Association vice president for alumni organizations, will be used for audiovisual equipment, including a plasma television for viewing Monarch and Lady Monarch basketball away games and a sound system.

Robert Hardison ’67 (M.B.A. ’79), a past president of the Alumni Association, also has made a significant gift to the campaign. His name will appear on the Alumni Center terrace.

The conference room will be named for Wells Gresham ’42 and his wife, Jane M. Gresham, who taught physical education at the Norfolk Division, thanks to their generous contribution.

The Black Alumni Council made a sizable gift to the campaign. Donations from members of the council totaled just over $40,000, putting the council’s name on the fireplace and an outside pond and garden.

GEICO Direct, an auto insurance provider and longtime affinity partner of the Alumni Association, also has donated to the center. Over the life of the company’s seven-year agreement with the association, it will have contributed $51,000 toward the building.

Alumni Center donors will be recognized on a Wall of Honor in the building. To make a contribution, call Claire Geiger Ackiss ’99, executive vice president of the Alumni Association and director of alumni relations, at 757-683-3097 or 888-ODU-3435.