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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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