Nelson D. Civello ’67, retired professor of finance, taught many important lessons to his senior finance majors over the past seven years at Canisius College. Perhaps none of them is more valuable than his most recent example. Nelson and his wife, Patti, committed $1.475 million to A Legacy of Leadership: The Campaign for Canisius College through a combination of multi-year cash gifts and estate planning.The resources provided by the Civellos’ philanthropy will endow the Nelson D. Civello ’67 Foundation Golden Griffin Fund Scholarship for senior students enrolled in the year-long Golden Griffin Fund (GGF) program. The gift also establishes an endowment for the Financial Markets Lab, which is home to the Golden Griffin Fund. It will provide critical funding for technology and other learning resources to enrich the educational experiences for students. In recognition of the Civellos’ generosity, Canisius permanently named the lab, the Nelson D. Civello ’67 Family Financial Markets Lab, during a dedication ceremony and reception on October 9.
“We are deeply grateful to Nelson and Patti, for this generous gift,” said Canisius President Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J. “The Golden Griffin Fund has developed into a real point of distinction for Canisius. Nelson’s extraordinary work at the college, coupled with his and Patti’s generous commitment, will create a legacy that will benefit our students far into the future.”
“The success of the GGF after five years convinced me of the need to establish an institutional permanence to the program,” added Nelson Civello. “It made good sense to direct my campaign gift for a purpose that I strongly believed in.”
Civello was the chief architect and the first director of the Golden Griffin Fund, an innovative, student-run investment management course that focuses on rigorous corporate research and analysis to determine stock selection and portfolio management. The GGF provides practical, true-to-life experiences by using real money to make real investment decisions. As a result, “more investment firms than ever before now open their doors to Canisius finance majors and offer them lucrative opportunities to begin investment careers,” says Antone F. Alber, PhD, dean of the Wehle School of Business.
Civello’s financial services career began in 1969, when he joined Marine Midland Bank (now HSBC Bank) after he completed his graduate studies at Bowling Green University. For the next 10 years, he served in a variety of increasingly responsible management positions before he became the chief financial officer and treasurer for the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA). During his tenure at the ECIDA, Civello increased industrial revenue bond financings from $8 million to $100 million within a year, and oversaw 24 venture capital-type investments, which created or retained more than 5,000 industrial jobs. He returned to Marine Midland following his two-year stint with the agency to head the bank’s Public Finance Group.
In 1988, First Bank System recruited Civello to Minneapolis/St. Paul to serve as executive vice president and director of its Capital Market’s Group (now U.S. Bank). One year later, he joined Dain Bosworth, a Minneapolis based, full-service brokerage and investment banking firm, as president and director of its Fixed Income Capitol Markets Group. Civello served in this role until his planned early retirement in 2000. While at Dain, he served five years on the Bond Market Association Board of Directors, one of Wall Street’s most influential trade associations and lobbying groups. His service culminated with his election as chairman in 1999.
Nelson Civello’s Canisius homecoming commenced in 2001 when he returned to alma mater as the Oishei Visiting Professor in Economics and Finance. In this role, he shared a wealth of experience gained throughout his career in financial services. His original course, entitled Financial Institutions and Markets, attracted more than 300 MBA and undergraduate business majors during his tenure. Civello’s rich compilation of investment experience not only educated students but prepared them for the job market. All the while, he focused his teaching strategy on the total return on investment. Here at Canisius, one needs to look no further than Nelson Civello to see the valuable dividends that have accrued from the college’s investment in him and his investment in Canisius College.