Samuel LeFrak died last Wednesday. LeFrak was the father of Richard LeFrak '67. According to the obituary in The New York Times, "the landscape is dotted with his endowed buildings." One of LeFrak's projects is part of the College's athletic complex. President Tom Gerety described LeFrak as "a real character, a wonderful character, straight out of New York."

LeFrak led the LeFrak Organization for 40 years. His organization built commercial and residential buildings designed for middle class families. Under LeFrak's leadership, the company built a number of six-story brick buildings containing comfortably-sized apartments that were rented at relatively low costs. The apartments also had state-of-the-art security systems-each building had security monitors and elevators with closed-circuit television surveillance.

Many of his buildings were built as parts of larger complexes, one of which included retail space and a swimming pool.

In addition to the College gymnasium, other establishments around the country named in his honor include a learning center at a synagogue, a classroom building with an amphitheater at the University of Maryland, a concert hall at Queens College, a meadow in Flushing and a sculpture terrace and art gallery at the Guggenheim Museum.