In Memoriam: Jay Furman, 1942–2015

NYU Law Trustee Jay Furman ’71 passed away on January 4 at the age of 72. An unflagging supporter of the Law School, Furman left a legacy that is deep and wide: He enabled the construction of Furman Hall, endowed two scholarship programs, and created the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

“Jay’s transformative philanthropic support of the Law School was matched by his love for its intellectual life,” said Dean Trevor Morrison in a Law School statement. “I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to know and work with Jay, to call him my friend, and to take inspiration from his unquenchable thirst for learning.”

After graduating from the Law School, Furman earned an MPhil in economics at Columbia, then taught at Cardozo School of Law for two years before dedicating his career to real estate. As president of RD Management, founded by his father, he led affiliate operations that ranged over three dozen states.

“Only a few people are lucky enough, determined enough, talented enough, to have one big idea that significantly changes the world for the better. Jay had many,” said Vicki Been ’83, former director of the Furman Center and now commissioner of housing preservation and development for New York City, in her eulogy. “His curiosity, sense of adventure, and constant desire to make things better, combined with his ability to just do it, come what may, has left us with a richer, more interesting world.”

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All of 2015 The People

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