By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

Engage attorney Gordon Gross in a conversation, and one thing quickly becomes clear - he is passionate in his support for the University at Buffalo.

On April 9, the university will have a chance to reciprocate that love, as the UB Alumni Association bestows the Samuel P. Capen Award, its highest honor, on the senior partner of Gross Shuman Brizdle & Gilfillan PC. For Gross, it is a recognition not only of his half-century of legal work in Western New York, but his unwavering support of his alma mater.

While he no longer actively practices law, Gross, in his words, "Gets up and comes in every morning" to the firm he has been part of since 1959.

He sat down last week to talk about his career, his life in Western New York and what it means to be honored by the university he cares deeply about. Excerpts from that conversation follow below.

Buffalo Law Journal: I know you don't do what you do for the accolades, but it has to feel pretty good to have been chosen for this award.

Gordon Gross: Everybody likes recognition, but with this one I was blown away. Frankly, it was something I just never anticipated, but coming from the university, I really appreciate it.

BLJ: You have a long history of serving the university, from your work on the State University of New York board of trustees (2001-2008) to your significant financial gifts. What is it that makes UB so special to you?

GG: To me, the university really is the number-one engine that is going to drive the future of this area.

Beyond the students and the jobs the university has is the acceleration of the spawning of new businesses that come out of the university, the research, medical research and high-tech. The university is all-important.

BLJ: After graduating from UB Law in '55, you built your legal career here and never left. I'm sure the opportunities were there throughout your career, so what kept you in Western New York?

GG: My wife, Gretchen, and I just love the area.

Western New York to me - and I have a home elsewhere, in South Carolina - is just so much more stimulating. There is so much opportunity if you want to take advantage of it.

The cultural life is outstanding. It's exciting to see the collaboration between Roswell (Park Cancer Institute), the university, Haupman-Woodward (Medical Research Institute Inc.).

BLJ: You have been practicing law since 1957. Beyond the obvious, at a fundamental level, how has the practice of law changed over your career?

GG: Some aspects are still the same as they have always been. You're still selling. You're selling what kind of a result you can achieve for your client, you're always selling with another attorney, you're selling to a judge.

I think all the fundamentals remain the same; it's the mechanics, mostly, that have changed. To a greater extent, while I was still practicing, over time, you were dealing with more attorneys out of town.

That makes a big difference, because with the communication, if you need expertise in an area, it comes to you much more quickly now.

BLJ: Your charitable efforts on behalf of UB and Roswell Park are well-known. Talk about how the charitable side of what you do has evolved and grown throughout your career.

GG: Let's put it this way: I'm an optimist and I'm enthusiastic about things.

All of my experiences - like, if you are on a board or whatnot - what you hear about are the problems. I always seem to relate more to the solution for a problem.

When it comes to the fundraising work, a lot of people just don't like asking for money. They are afraid it might complicate their businesses or their professional work.

I never felt that way. To me, supporting things like Roswell is important. I mean, that affects all of us. Something like raising money for the university and being involved with them is very important. I'm very enthusiastic about so many of these things that sometimes I have to keep myself under control (laughs).

BLJ: Looking back on your life, did you ever imagine when you were graduating from law school back in 1955 that 55 years later, this is where you would be?

GG: Truthfully, I never even thought about it. The reason I went to law school (was), I was a history and government major, and I was contemplating a career in the state department or perhaps teaching.

But my father owned a factory, and it was a family business with everybody looking to me as the heir apparent.

One day, while I was in college, my father and a very good friend of his, a businessman, were complaining about their legal bills. They both said the thing for me to do if I was going to take over the business was to go to law school. That way, I wouldn't have as many legal bills (laughs).

Their idea was that I should go to law school for one year, but once I was there I felt challenged by it and I loved law school, and I've really enjoyed practicing law.

Gross will receive the Samuel P. Capen Award at the UB Alumni Association Achievement Awards ceremony Friday. CNN host Wolf Blitzer, a 1970 graduate of the university, will receive a Distinguished Alumni Award at the event.

• Age: 78
• Law firm: Senior partner at Gross Shuman Brizdle & Gilfillan PC
• Family: Wife, Gretchen Gross, founder of the Audubon in College Park child-care center; two children and three grandchildren
• Resident of: Amherst