|
Honoree-
Lillian Huriash Benowitz
  Every
inch a picture of pride and dignity, from the tassel on her mortarboard
to the tip of her toes, Lillian Huriash walked across the stage,
the first of 92 people to receive a diploma in the first graduating
class of Long Island University.
It was 1931. Lillian graduated as senior class secretary, with
honors in German and with fond memories of biology labs in a Montague
Street storefront, dances at the Hotel St. George, gym at the Pacific
Street Y, and excellent professors who “came as new stars to
a new school.”
Lillian went on to receive a master’s degree in German language
and literature from New York University. Teaching jobs in that field
were not to be had given the state of the nation, the economy and
the world. Undaunted, Lillian took an additional program in secretarial
studies at Long Island University and changed the subject of her
teaching. She worked as a teacher at New Paltz State College, various
private schools and as translator at Columbia University’s
Teachers College. In 1936, she married Ben Benowitz. Six years later
they started a family, eventually raising three sons: Paul, now
an architect living in Westchester; Larry, a brain scientist and
professor at Harvard Medical School; and Martin, a teacher in New
York City. In time, Lillian Huriash Benowitz was ready for a new
challenge. She launched the next stage of her career as a teacher
of secretarial studies and eventually became dean of women at New
Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, her alma mater.
Lillian’s son Larry writes that Long Island University has
been integral to his mother’s life. For over 70 years she has
served, at various times, as class agent, member of the executive
board, fund-raiser and secretary of the alumni association. In recognition
of her long dedication to the University, she received the Distinguished
Alumna Award. Caps were literally off to Lillian Huriash Benowitz
as seniors threw them in the air when she walked to the stage to
receive this honor, doing so with a smile, a wink, her usual spirit
and with great pride and dignity.
Back to Honorees List
|
