The Student Services Administration Building was renamed E. James Brotman Hall in honor of Dr. Brotman after an anticipated unanimous vote of approval by the California State University system chancellor and Board of Trustees on July 15.
Brotman has made cash contributions to Cal State Long Beach scholarships for bright, financially needy students in the sciences for years, said Bob Bersi, special counsel for university relations and development and longtime friend of Brotman.
"We were just looking for an appropriate way to recognize [Brotman,] and that is when we thought about naming this building after him, because student services are housed in this building, and because his gift was to directly benefit students," President Robert Maxson said.
In 1995, when the President's Scholars Program, the brainchild of Maxson, was born, Brotman seized the opportunity to make even more of a difference in the welfare of the state of California. He partnered up with Maxson and began drawing scholarship candidates from Maxson's program, Bersi said.
More than 250 high school valedictorians and National Merit scholars here have received full scholarships through the programs. "The whole idea is when you take focus and apply mass, you begin to get results," Bersi said.
Bersi introduced Brotman to Maxson, correctly predicting that a meeting between the two seemed an inevitable match made in heaven. "What really stands out with this is the fusion of philosophies between Brot-man and Maxson," Bersi said. "When they got together, they just clicked."
"You have to give masses of students access to good education and that is what motivated [Brotman] to donate," Bersi said.
CSULB ranks No. 1 in the nation for the number of graduates it has in doctoral programs in the sciences, Bersi said. These students represent the success of programs such as the President's Scholars Program and Brotman's Scholars.
While Brotman was eager to come to CSULB to meet with Maxson and generously donate millions of dollars, Bersi said. It was not as easy to convince Brotman that he must come see the lettering on the former SSA Building, which has already been put in place in Brotman's honor.
Brotman hopes that his $4.2 million cash donation to CSULB will turn out to be a fruitful investment, "He has come to love this institution so much," said Bersi, "and he's not finished yet."
"[Brotman] really saw the integrity of this institution," Bersi said. "We can serve very bright students just as well as any independent institution or the UC system. 'If I want to have an impact, I'll invest my resources here' is how Brotman thinks," Bersi said, who says a treasured friendship with Brotman has grown out of a mutual admiration.
Ironically, while every student who registers for classes will see Brotman's name each time he goes to enrollment services, to get a financial aid check or to register for the WPE, Brotman is a private gentleman, who despite making the largest cash donation to the university in its entire history, wished to remain an anonymous donor/contributor, Bersi said.
"[Brotman's] only request was that [the donated money] go to students," Maxson said. "He didn't want any publicity on it. I'm the one who asked him to let us put his name on [the Student Services and Administration Building.]"
Maxson's recommendation came as no surprise, Ken Swisher, spokesperson for the Board of Trustees Public Affairs Office said. "The campus asked us if we would do that [rename the SSA Building after Brotman,] and there was no reason not to in this case."
The individual CSU campuses have a lot of autonomy in making these decisions and their recommendations carry a lot of weight when brought to the chancellor and the trustees for approval, Swisher said.
At the July 15 meeting, five sites were renamed throughout various CSU campuses. "A policy changed in 1995 that made it easier to name buildings after donors and supporters," Swisher said.
The state does not give much money to the university, and renaming buildings after donors has become, in part, a successful fundraising drive by Maxson, he said.
Campus buildings have been named in honor of people for several reasons, Toni Beron, assistant vice president of public affairs, said.
For example, the university has memorialized its appreciation for the service of its presidents. Their namesakes appear on the Peterson Hall Science Buildings, which were named after the university's first president and the McIntosh Humanities Building, which honors another former president.
Other buildings were named in honor of a person's direct connection to the university. For example, The Daniel's Recital Hall and Music Complex was named after a former chairman of the music department.
Financial donors have also been monumentally recognized by the particular facilities with which they were affiliated.
The late Isabel Patterson, whose name prefixes the Child Development Center was memorialized following a history of donations to the university, largely to her namesake facility.
The Carpenter Performing Arts Center was named for Richard and Karen Carpenter, CSULB graduates who made financial donations in support of that facility.
"And, there have been donations to services which, as in the case of E. James Brotman, were so generous that the administration felt it would be more than appropriate to honor [him] for his continuing interest in the students here," Beron said. "It was determined to be a very nice and appropriate thank you to [Brotman.]"
An 83-year-old physician who retired not to long ago, said Bersi, Brotman served the South Bay area for more than a half a century. He will be back in September to spend more time with the students, Bersi said.
"[Brotman] characterizes himself as just a good physician who made a few good real estate decisions, and feels he should give back to students who really, instinctively have an essence of citizenship," Bersi said.