Jan. 21, 2003
Putting His Marc on a Great Hall
Marc C. Abrahms Endows Marvin Center Addition
By Greg
Licamele
Amid the sounds of cool music and the scent of hot food, the Marc C.
Abrahms Great Hall was officially dedicated at a Dec. 6 ceremony as
the University celebrated this new gathering place at the Marvin Center.
“For years to come, people will come through this space and they
will remark about the Marc C. Abrahms Great Hall and its appropriateness
to the University as a place that embraces the community,” University
President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg said to the estimated crowd of 150.
Abrahms Hall, a 19,000-square-foot addition, offers a large gathering
place on the first floor of the Marvin Center, complete with concierge
service. The addition of Abrahms Hall also permitted an expansion of
the GW Bookstore on the ground level.
“This is a happy time for me,” said Abrahms, a friend of the
University and an insurance executive from West Hartford, CT, whose
gift made the hall possible. “I wish that there are many joyous
and magnificent events that take place in this space and in the lives
of each and every one of you.”
In addition to this contribution to GW, Abrahms also has established
the Abrahms Family Fund, which provides support for The George Washington
University Medical Center. Abrahms’ mother, Phyllis Blumenthal,
earned her BA in education and human development from GW in 1941, and
his late brother, Eliot, graduated from the School of Medicine and Health
Sciences in 1974. Abrahms also is a fine arts and nature photographer
whose images are marked by their intense color, earning him a reputation
as an internationally renowned photojournalist.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
