Ingersoll’s Sam Skurnick Lecture Hall Wins Award for Outstanding Design

Plaque from the June 2019 dedication of the Sam Skurnick Lecture Hall

Last month, Brooklyn College earned a new accolade when it received a 2020 Merit Award from The Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) for the Ingersoll Lecture Hall Renovation, formally known as the Sam Skurnick Lecture Hall. The renovation, by New York City architects ikon. 5, was made possible by a gift of $250,000 by Myrna Gordon Skurnick in memory of her late husband Sam Skurnick ’38 who passed away in 2006. The lecture hall was one of 34 winning projects recognized by SARA for outstanding architecture and design in a virtual event. Myrna, who dedicated the hall in honor of Sam's lively, entrepreneurial spirit, hopes it is where future generations will find inspiration. 

Sam Skurnick graduated from Brooklyn College with a major in mathematics and a minor in physics. In 1940 he went to work for the Army Signal Corps in their engineering lab, earning a patent in weather telemetry. Skurnick decided on a future in investing after speaking with a friend about the merits of stocks, and enrolled in night classes. In 1952 he began his career as a stockbroker and by 1972, he became a member of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In the intervening years, Skurnick met his wife Myrna, while she was moonlighting making calls to recruit clients for The Arthur Murray Dance Studio on Fifth Avenue in New York City (her main job was as secretary at American Cyanamid, a chemical construction company). He liked the sound of her voice and told her he’d like to meet her.

Myrna joined her husband on the NYSE in 1977 making them the first married couple with seats on the exchange. Read more about Sam and Myrna Skurnick at The Brooklyn College Listening Project.