In Celebration of Alfred Abraham’s 75th Class Year

Alfred Abraham

In 2017 Al Abraham celebrated the 75th anniversary of his NYU Stern (formerly School of Commerce) graduation in 1941.

Immediately after completing high school, Al started working at a local bank near his home in Tarrytown. Developing an interest in finance and accounting, he enrolled at NYU and commuted to his night classes. Al remembers—perhaps not always fondly—returning home from a day at the bank for an early supper and then rushing off to catch the 4:38 pm train to arrive in time for his first class at 6 pm and returning to Tarrytown after 10 pm.

After Al earned his NYU degree, he worked as an accountant at a major firm and then at Estee Lauder as their first controller after its founding in 1946. Following a career as a financial executive, he accepted a position as treasurer and financial vice president at Congress Financial, an early leader in asset-based lending, later known as CoreStates. He stayed with CoreStates for the remainder of his career.

After his retirement, the company relied on Al’s expertise and retained him as a consultant. He returned to NYU as an adjunct instructor, teaching retail finance management courses, and he was a frequent contributor to finance and accounting journals.

Throughout his career, Al has been a supporter of NYU Stern and its students. He established the Alfred B. Abraham Scholarship Fund to permit future generations of students to benefit from the same opportunities his NYU education provided.

In addition to his annual support for NYU Stern and the scholarship fund, Al has added to the scholarship fund with contributions to the NYU charitable gift annuity, which pays him a high and secure income for life. In this way, his contributions serve as investment for himself as well as for NYU Stern and its students. As Al says, “I try to stay abreast of the latest creative thinking on financial planning, and the charitable gift annuity is the best way I’ve found to make a gift that matters for NYU while helping myself with substantial income and tax advantages.”

As a longstanding and proud member of NYU Stern’s Haskins Giving Society and of the Society of the Torch, Al returns to campus frequently, meeting students, faculty, and other alumni. And during his visits he inspires others with his story of how NYU Stern contributed to his success.

To learn more about how you can support NYU’s students and faculty through your estate plan and through gifts that pay you income, please contact us.

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