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A 1955 alumnus of Canisius College, Castiglia is a community leader, philanthropist and the former vice chairman, president and chief executive officer of Pratt & Lambert United. Since his retirement from the company in the mid-1990s, he has offered his insights and expertise to such organizations as Christ the King Seminary, an ecumenical school of theology and pastoral studies for which Castiglia is vice chair and trustee. He also serves on the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Foundation boards of trustees. Castiglia is director of Baker Victory Services and Read to Succeed Buffalo. He is a member of the Catholic Diocese’s Bishop’s Council of the Laity, a philanthropic fund which supports the priorities of Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, and serves on the Finance and Investment committees of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
Castiglia’s vision and strategic thinking are often called upon to lead organizations through critical points of transition. As chairman of the Board of Directors for the Catholic Health System (CHS), Castiglia guided the consolidation of the region’s Catholic health providers, making certain that the missions and expectations of the different hospitals were balanced against the needs for increased efficiency in a rapidly changing environment. It was also during Castiglia’s tenure as chair of the CHS that the organization established The Heart Center, created a new neonatal intensive care unit, and expanded the system’s rehabilitative services. Its facilities are now known for excellence in such areas as women’s health, cancer and intensive care.
He served 20 years as chairman of the Board of Directors for BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York. In this role, Castiglia helped stabilize the operations and finances of the region’s largest health plan. He also championed for the relocation of the BlueCross BlueShield headquarters in downtown Buffalo, a move which put a workforce of 1,300 people in the heart of the city.
At alma mater, Castiglia has served a total of 20 years on the Canisius College Board of Trustees, during which time he led the transition from the 27-year presidency of Rev. James M. Demske, S.J., to the present presidency of Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J. He chaired the search committee that brought Father Cooke to Canisius, and served as national chair of the college’s Imagine Canisius capital campaign, which raised nearly $40 million; the largest amount ever raised by the college.
Castiglia earned his undergraduate degree in accounting from Canisius and went on to become a certified public accountant. In 1967, he was recruited to the Buffalo-based paint company Pratt & Lambert as chief financial officer. Castiglia quickly rose through the ranks and eventually became former vice chairman, president and chief executive officer. Throughout his tenure, Castiglia led the paint company through unprecedented growth. At the time of its sale to Sherwin Williams, in the mid-1990s, Pratt & Lambert was Western New York’s largest publicly held company with more than 1,425 employees and annual sales in excess of $200 million.
The Regents Scholarship Ball is the principal fund-raiser for the Canisius College Board of Regents Scholarship Fund, which provides financial support to promising young students who otherwise would not be able to take advantage of a Canisius education. This year’s event raised a record $116,000.