Edward Gersh, Steinhardt Alum and Former Golden Glove Boxer, Gives to Students in Need

By Patrick Lattin

When Edward Gersh (Steinhardt ’43, ’50) was a student in the 1940s, it was a scholarship that made NYU possible for him. More than 60 years later, Gersh is showing his gratitude by supporting a permanent scholarship to benefit current and future generations of deserving NYU students who need help funding their education.
    Gersh first established the Edward Gersh Permanent Scholarship Fund at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development in 2005 and recently, to dramatically increase the number of students who will benefit, he named NYU as the ultimate beneficiary of a charitable remainder trust, which will provide him with income during his lifetime.  
    A native of the Bronx, Gersh, 88, was awarded two full football scholarships when he applied to college—one to NYU and one to George Washington University. He chose the latter, anxious to explore a new city. But by the end of his first semester, Gersh realized he had made a mistake and asked NYU if his scholarship offer was still on the table.
    “NYU offered to give me a scholarship if I went out to prove myself to the team,” Gersh says. “My whole future depended on how I performed in scrimmage, and I was a demon. They put me on the second team right away.”
    Unfortunately, a serious knee injury sidelined Gersh after his first collegiate game.
    “I couldn’t play football anymore, but NYU continued my scholarship,” he says. “I feel that was largely responsible for the success I had in my life, and for that reason I like to pay back a little bit. That’s why I created the scholarship fund—to help other deserving but needy students to achieve what they would like to do.”
    Although his days in football were over, Gersh was only beginning his athletic career. He turned to boxing and, during his senior year, was declared the New York and East Conference champion of the open heavyweight division of the Golden Gloves Championship. He didn’t compete for the national title in Chicago, however, as he chose instead to finish his degree, which NYU granted early in April 1943 to Gersh and others who has been conscripted into the war effort. After returning from military service, he returned to NYU for his master’s degree in education.  
    After working in education in New York City for 15 years, Gersh co-founded three day camps. In 1955, he helped open the West Hills Day Camp, in Huntington, N.Y., which still operates today. Gersh detailed his life story in his autobiography, A Strong Collected Spirit: A Fighter’s Memoir, in 2005.
    “Ed Gersh is a true NYU success story,” says Mary Brabeck, dean of the Steinhardt School.  “Like many of our students, his humble beginnings served to shape his resolve and determination, and it was a scholarship that helped him succeed.  We are immensely grateful that, by supporting scholarships, he is enabling current and future students to have that same opportunity.”
    
At the Steinhardt School Valedictory Ceremony in 2006, Ed Gersh received a Steinhardt Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. Gersh was hailed as a ‘modern day Renaissance man’ for his work in education.