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Suffolk University is naming one of its newest buildings in honor of Leonard Samia, the real estate industry figure behind the school’s largest single alumni gift in its history.
Suffolk graduate Samia is president and CEO of The Samia Cos., a family-owned residential and commercial real estate company that owns a variety of commercial and residential properties throughout Eastern Massachusetts.
Samia is making a $10 million gift to the university to fund scholarships for students from Massachusetts who have significant financial need.
“One gains wealth, not to enjoy himself, but to help the needy,” Samia said in a statement.
The dedication ceremony will take place at noon Friday, April 12, on Roemer Plaza, 20 Somerset St., Boston. Suffolk University President Marisa Kelly will speak, and Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Suffolk University alumnus, will offer remarks during the naming celebration.
The 20 Somerset St. building that will bear the Samia name opened in 2015 and is designed to take full advantage of innovations in teaching and learning. Its focus on science and technology, including its labs and active-learning classrooms, prepare students for critically important jobs in growing industries. The building also is a hub for Suffolk’s communication program.
“We are so very grateful to Leonard Samia and the Samia family for this truly transformative gift, which will open doors for generations of Suffolk students,” Kelly said in a statement. “Lennie is so passionate about this university and the education that we provide our students. How fitting it is to have him forever linked to the building that is central to our academic enterprise.”
The $10 million gift is not Samia’s first gift to Suffolk. Through the establishment of the Bert J. Samia Memorial Centennial Scholarship Fund, the Samia family provides generous support for Suffolk students from Allston-Brighton. The fund was named in honor of Samia’s father. Samia also has made generous gifts in his family’s name that supported construction of seven lobbies in the academic building that will bear his name.
