Union College has landed a $2 million gift from an alumnus whose son attends the Schenectady school.
The unrestricted gift comes from David Breazzano, a 1978 graduate who co-founded a Waltham, Mass.-based investment management firm.
It's one of several multimillion dollar gifts Union has received in recent years. The biggest came in 2002, when geologist John Wold, a former Wyoming congressman, and his wife pledged $20 million for a variety of programs.
Others include more than $6.5 million from 1932 graduate William Dennison Williams and $1.5 million from brothers James Taylor, Class of '66, and John Taylor, '74, for a new music facility.
In gratitude for Breazzano's gift, announced Monday, Union will rename one of the houses in its Minerva system the Breazzano House.
Under the system, every Union student is assigned to one of seven “living and learning communities,” buildings where they hang out, study and interact with faculty.
Breazzano's son Jeremy is assigned to Orange House, which happens to be the one whose name will officially change to Breazzano House during “ReUnion” weekend from May 31 to June 3.
The senior, like most students, doesn't actually live in his Minerva house.
“He thinks it is kind of cool,” David Breazzano said of his son's membership in the soon-to-be Breazzano House, according to a news release Union put out Monday.
The gift from Breazzano, a Union trustee, is part of a fundraising campaign that has raised almost $120 million toward a goal of $200 million. A main focus of the “You Are Union” drive is revitalizing residential life.
During his years at Union, David Breazzano served as president and treasurer of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and got involved in the radio station WRUC, intramural sports and the Interfraternity Council. He went on to earn an M.B.A. from Cornell University.
He rose high in the world of finance, managing one of the country's largest high-yield funds, the Fidelity Capital & Income Fund, and serving as chief investment officer of a $107 million limited partnership investing in distressed securities, the T. Rowe Price Recovery Fund.
Breazzano and two partners founded DDJ Capital Management in 1996. The Massachusetts firm manages more than $3 billion on behalf of more than 80 institutional clients.