Borough of Manhattan Community College

PRESIDENT
Antonio Perez
FOUNDATION CHAIR
Elizabeth Butson
TOTAL COLLEGE ENROLLMENT
22,000+
ALUMNI ON RECORD
54,468
FULL-TIME FACULTY
396

Borough of Manhattan Community College serves more than 22,000 students in its degree programs and 10,000 more through its Continuing Education Department, making it the largest community college in New York City. It offers associate degrees in more than 20 fields. New majors include theatre, writing and literature, and multimedia programming and design. BMCC is unique in New York City for its respiratory therapy, paramedic, and video arts technology programs. As one of the nation’s premier community colleges, it ranks second nationwide in granting associate degrees to minority students, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Philanthropic Support FY00-FY09 — $23,719,800
Projected Philanthropy Target through FY2015 — $40,000,000

Philanthropic support to BMCC during the campaign totaled over $23.7 million. Private gifts assist the college in its support of students, faculty and programs and the renovation of facilities and equipment.

Gift Highlights

  • The Miles & Shirley Fiterman Foundation has contributed over $6 million to the BMCC Foundation. These funds support hundreds of full- and part-time scholarships.
  • Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and JPMorgan Chase each contributed $500,000 to help refurbish the Student Commons which was converted into makeshift classroom space following 9/11. Merrill Lynch contributed another $100,000 to support the Financial Literacy program.
  • The Citi Foundation contributed $548,000 to support the Out in Two program and other scholarships.
  • The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation provided $486,000 to support the Out in Two program.
  • The Robin Hood Foundation donated $350,000 to BMCC Foundation’s 9/11 Emergency Fund to support scholarships and emergency grants.
  • The Bank of New York Mellon contributed $210,000 toward the Financial Literacy program and scholarship support.
  • The Lanza Family Foundation contributed $195,000 toward scholarships for nursing and allied-health students.
  • The James T. Lee Foundation contributed $180,000 in general support.

Look Who's Investing in Borough of Manhattan Community College

Philanthropists Miles and Shirley Fiterman

“Miles and I were so impressed with BMCC and the students who work so hard to improve their lives through higher education. We were always pleased to support these efforts.”

— Shirley Fiterman

On Sept. 10, 1993, philanthropists Miles and Shirley Fiterman donated to BMCC their 15-floor, 375,000- square-foot office building, renamed Fiterman Hall, located at 30 West Broadway, just blocks south of the college’s hub. The gift, with an estimated value of $30 million, was, at the time, the largest private gift to a community college in U.S. history. The building housed 40 “smart” classrooms, as well as the school’s business and computer programs, an incubator for high-tech start-up companies and the school’s virtual library. Fiterman Hall was destroyed in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. With nearly 80 percent of BMCC students reporting annual household incomes of less than $25,000, many of them face staggering economic hurdles. Over the last 13 years, the Miles and Shirley Fiterman Charitable Foundation has donated over $6 million to the BMCC Foundation for scholarships.

Prof. Fred Peskoff

“I continue to be inspired by my students and my fellow faculty members.”

— Prof. Fred Peskoff

Prof. Fred Peskoff, chair of BMCC’s Mathematics Department, knows first-hand the many hurdles the college’s students must overcome. Dr. Peskoff believes in the college, its mission, its students and its faculty. He demonstrated this conviction with the establishment of the Leila and Simon Peskoff Memorial Scholarship Fund. Dedicated to his late parents, Leila and Simon Peskoff, Fred Peskoff began the endowment  with a gift of $10,000. Over the past six years, Dr. Peskoff has increased the endowment, not only with personal contributions, but also by encouraging family and friends to contribute. Today, the Leila and Simon Peskoff Memorial Scholarship Fund totals more than $90,000. In academic year 2006-2007, four students received scholarships from the fund.

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