NSU’s Campaign to Preeminence—Making Yours a Healthier World, kicked off the public phase of the campaign this spring with the goal of raising $1 billion—$500 million in philanthropy and $500 million in research—by 2025.
Attorney Martin Press serves as the chair of the Campaign to Preeminence and the leadership cabinet. He is a member of NSU’s Board of Trustees, chairman emeritus of the board of the NSU Shepard Broad College of Law, and a member of the NSU Fellows Society Shark Circle. Press was the first board-certified tax attorney in the state of Florida and currently works at the law firm of Gunster, where he helps businesses with planning, international issues, and tax controversies. He has been one of the leading tax litigators in the country, appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, and is often invited to speak on tax matters at some of the most recognized industry organizations. His connections to NSU run deep, beginning with an ask from the namesake of NSU’s College of Law–Shepard Broad.
“I got involved in structuring the law school in the mid-1980s,” Martin Press said. “Then Shepard asked me, since his name was going to be on the building, to go on the board. I became the chairman or vice chairman of the board for 15 years.”
Press also served as a liaison between the Shepard Broad College of Law and the board of trustees and was eventually nominated to serve as a trustee himself. In 2018, Press and his wife Gail donated to the NSU Health Professions Division library that bears their name. The Martin and Gail Press Health Professions Division Library serves NSU’s medical, dental, and nursing schools as well as other health related colleges.
“To Mrs. Press and I, at this stage in our life, healthcare is the thing that’s near and dear to us,” Press said. “In the healthcare field, NSU has grown so extensively. We will be graduating more physicians in a short period of time than any other school in the United States. We are graduating more dentists than any other school in the United States other than NYU. And we feel that gives NSU a unique position and a unique place in the future of healthcare.”
The library also fulfilled a wish for the couple to focus on education. The couple met in college at Hofstra University when they were just 19 years old. After graduating, Gail Press served as a reading specialist before spending more than 30 years as a full-time professor at Miami-Dade College. The library was an excellent way to continue her personal mission of teaching people. In addition, the gift paid tribute to his grandmother, a Ukrainian immigrant.
Martin Press recalled going food shopping with his grandmother, who came from Odessa, when he was a young child. Picking out fish, chicken, fruits, and vegetables was not a challenge for the duo, but when they would go into the grocery section, they would bring in box tops and match with the colors and logos to buy the correct foods. It’s a memory that came back to him as he was preparing to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It shows what can happen in America in two generations,” he said. “Unfortunately, my grandmother never learned to read or write any language. And to some extent, I wanted to honor my grandmother, who never went into a library in her life because she couldn’t read or write.”
The ability to focus on a particular interest or passion, as he and his wife were able to do, is one of the reasons Press believes in giving to NSU.
“If a donor is interested in pre-inquisition Spain, we have studies for that,” he said. “If they want to learn about Judaic studies, we have that. If they want to help underprivileged children or autistic people, we have programs for that. If they believe in women’s rights under law, we have that, too. We will design something to fit whatever desires donors have.”
Martin Press also noted that donors want to give back to their community, and NSU is committed to doing just that in South Florida through its numerous programs and initiatives.
“I think that is the magic we have,” he said. “My job is to be the cheerleader. The more we can get our donors and our trustees and their friends excited about the university, the more we will be able to fulfill our goal.”
For more information on how to support the NSU Campaign to Preeminence, please contact Alissa Hechter, assistant vice president of development, at (954) 262-2408 or via email at ah833@nova.edu.