Making Academic Dreams Come True

By Anne Ambrose

Nearly every student who has attended CSULB since 1998 has passed through the university’s administration and student services building, named that year for E. James Brotman, M.D., one of Cal State Long Beach’s most generous donors to student scholarships for more than 20 years.

Brotman, a graduate of Pomona College and USC School of Medicine, was a Southern California physician for some 60 years before retiring 11 years ago at age 80, but his connection to CSULB came by happenstance. In the early 1980s, he saw a segment of the television news program “60 Minutes” about Louisiana petroleum executive Patrick F. Taylor, who spoke to a group of middle school students about going to college. “They said, ‘Sure, we’ll go to college,’ then he got the message that they didn’t have the money,” Brotman recalled. “He said, ‘If you guys graduate in good standing, I’ll pay your way through college.’”

Brotman was inspired to also consider helping students, “so I looked around to see where I could do the most good with $10,000 and Cal State Long Beach tuition was so that I could put five students a year into the program,” he said. “I had no other reason to go there, other than I understood that particular Cal State university was one of the top ones in the state. It was just off the cuff.”

Over the years, Brotman enlarged upon his original $10,000 annual gifts, donating more than $5 million to scholarships, and in particular, the Brotman Scholars Endowment. His focus is on assisting students with high academic potential, good character and financial need, especially those intending to pursue careers in scientific research. More than 30 students have benefited from his largesse.

One such student is Theresa Austria, at right, who came to CSULB from Banning High School in Wilmington, Calif. “I am a President’s Scholar in my fourth year of college as a cellular and molecular biology major with a minor in chemistry. In addition to this, I am also planning on earning my certificate in biotechnology,” she said. “My dream is to work as a research scientist for either St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. I want to work in such a field because I want to give people the hope for a better, healthier future. My mantra in life is that, through the art of science, our gifts of knowledge, reason and curiosity will lead us to improve the lives of our fellow human beings.

“I view being a Brotman Scholar as a gift because it gives me the incentive to try the very best that I can in my chosen field,” Austria continued. “Dr. Brotman’s contributions and utter generosity is actually part of the reasons that I am able to attend college. Without his donations, many students like myself may not have the opportunities that we now have before us. Dr. Brotman and his scholars program are assets to CSULB, which students like myself are very grateful for.”

“One of the highlights of my memories is this program,” Brotman said. “I hope that people who read this will join the effort to help worthwhile students with financial need.”