Richard Handler — UR alumnus, successful CEO, and sponsor of the multi-million dollar Alan and Jane Handler Scholarship — is retiring from his position as chair of the University Board of Trustees after seven years.
“I will always be appreciative that I found my way to the University of Rochester in 1979,” Handler wrote in an online thank-you note, “and I know my heart will never leave our fine institution.”
Handler received his undergraduate degree in economics from UR in 1983. After attaining a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford and beginning a career as the CEO of Jefferies Financial Group, an investment banking and capital markets firm, he returned to the University in 2005 to serve on the Board of Trustees — while still maintaining his position with Jefferies. Throughout his years on the Board he has chaired both the Board’s Investment Committee and Special Committee, and in 2018 was elected to chair the Board itself.
Handler also co-chaired the Meliora Challenge, a fundraising initiative lasting from 2011-2016 that raised $1.37 billion for the University. The challenge won a CASE Gold Award for its quality, innovation, use of resources, and impact on the University community.
Handler has endowed the University with what University Advancement has called the “largest scholarship gift in the University’s history”: a $25 million permanent fund that covers its recipients’ entire University cost, including housing, tuition, transportation, and more. Handler Scholars also receive personal mentorship and guidance throughout their college experience. According to University Admissions, only 1% of each incoming class, or about 15 students per class, receive the scholarship. Since the program’s inception in 2007, Handler’s scholarship has aided 161 UR students.
Lila Balistrieri ‘22, a Handler Scholar, is one of many who have written about her experiences with the program.
“Because of the Handler Scholarship,” she wrote for a University Admissions blog in 2022, “I have experienced everything our University offers in great depth. I found the courage in myself to branch out to try new things that I would’ve never imagined.”
The Board of Trustees plans to elect its new Chair this fall.
