Contact: John
Chandler
(818) 677-2130
john.chandler@csun.edu
Alum Harvey Bookstein Donates $1 Million to
CSUN
to Create Endowed Chair
and
Institute in Taxation
(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., May 23, 2005) — Alumnus Harvey
Bookstein, co-founder of the Los Angeles accounting firm RBZ, LLP, has
donated
$1 million to Cal State Northridge for the creation of the Harvey and
Harriet
Bookstein Chair in Taxation in the university’s College of Business and
Economics.
The gift, one of CSUN’s largest from an alumnus, also
will fund the Bookstein Institute for Higher Education in Taxation. The
new
taxation chair represents the first endowed chair in CSUN’s nearly
6,000-student business college, the largest of nine colleges on the
campus.
“We are grateful for the vision and generosity of
Harvey
Bookstein. Harvey is known for taking a personal interest in the
success of his
clients, and with this gift shows that he is equally committed to the
success
of his alma mater,” said Fred Evans, dean of the College of Business
and
Economics.
“This gift provides a huge
lift to our accounting program
and moves the college significantly closer to our vision of being the
program
of choice in the greater Los
Angeles
area for students and employers,” Evans said.
Bookstein added, “I am in the business
of ensuring that
my clients succeed and prosper. I hope that by establishing this chair
and
institute, which will support resources for faculty and scholarships
for
students, I can help Cal State Northridge business faculty and students
do the
same.”
Bookstein graduated from
CSUN in 1970 with a bachelor’s
degree in accounting, and in 1975 co-founded Roth, Bookstein &
Zaslow, the
accounting and business consulting firm that later became RBZ, LLP.
Bookstein
served as a managing partner there for more than 23 years.
With a team of 10 partners
and 65 staff members, the
company specializes in tax and consulting for real estate, high net
worth,
nonprofit, law firms, manufacturing and distribution. Bookstein is
considered a
specialist in the fields of real estate and tax planning with a
“hands-on
approach” to financial planning.
Bookstein also serves on CSUN’s University
Corporation
board of directors as well as the boards of the Entrepreneurship
Institute and
Students for a Better Tomorrow. He founded, served on or chaired the
boards of
directors of Phoenix House and Hathaway Children’s Services, as well as
a
community bank and a publicly traded retailer. He also was president
and
commissioner of the Los Angeles Telecommunications Commission.
CSUN’s College of Business
and Economics
is home to several nationally recognized programs where students gain
valuable
hands-on experience working alongside faculty members and business
professionals in a variety of areas.
Among its acclaimed programs is the Wayne and
Roberta Colmer Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance (VITA) Program, in which CSUN students provide free tax
preparation
assistance to low-income families and individuals.
The college also is home to the San Fernando Valley
Economic Research Center,
where students work with faculty in analyzing and disseminating
economic,
social and demographic data about the Valley. That includes presenting
an
annual economic forecast and report on the local economy.
Cal State Northridge has
31,000 full- and part-time
students and offers 61 bachelor’s and 42 master’s degrees as well as 28
education credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the
largest
single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public
university in the San Fernando Valley.
The
university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of
the
Valley and beyond.
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