Remembering Mary M. Lai

Mary M. Lai 1921 – 2020

A LIFE OF SERVICE TO LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY

Her name is synonymous with Long Island University. Since 1946, her signature has appeared on more than three million paychecks, contracts, and college financial aid award letters. She has personally donated – and called upon others – to contribute more than $50 million in scholarships to help college students achieve the American dream. She worked for 74 consecutive years at LIU, her alma mater, until the day she passed away at the age of 99. She held the title as the longest serving female academic business officer in all of private higher education in the United States.

Simply put, Mary M. Lai was the heart and soul of Long Island University, and her influence will be remembered forever.

Mrs. Lai’s affinity for LIU began in her childhood, growing up in Greenpoint nearby the LIU Brooklyn campus. She enrolled at LIU on a full scholarship and served as class president in her sophomore, junior and senior years, received the Dean’s Award for “Outstanding Junior,” and was named the “Outstanding Woman” in her senior year before graduating in 1942 with a degree in accounting. She even met her husband, William “Buck” Lai, at the University, where he was a stellar athlete and would go on to serve as a coach and administrator. Mrs. Lai’s passion and appreciation for the University became clear when in 1946 she agreed to become the business officer at LIU after learning of the University's fiscal struggles during World War II.

“When I learned more about LIU’s dire situation and that the University had been without a business officer for a year, I knew the University needed help desperately,” Lai said. “I thought helping the University could be my way of repaying the full scholarship I had when I was a student.”

At the age of 24, Mrs. Lai was officially hired as the University’s first bursar, equivalent in today’s terms to the chief financial officer and comptroller. During her initial several months at LIU, where she worked diligently day and night to implement a new finance system, something unexpected happened. Thousands of men were returning from the war and clamoring to attend local universities on the new GI Bill of Rights, which would finance their college educations.

“That was some year,” Lai exclaimed. “There were many more challenges than I had anticipated. The enrollment grew from 800 to 5,000 students. Fifty percent of our enrollment were returning veterans. From a staff of three, we grew to 17. Everything was manual in those days.” Despite agreeing to a one-year appointment, Mrs. Lai never left. Her extraordinary tenure would span more than seven decades serving as chief financial officer and treasurer, and most recently as treasurer emerita and special advisor. She was one of the first female chief financial officers in higher education, and she was the first female president of the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

Throughout her career, Mrs. Lai continued to be a groundbreaking

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visionary for both the University and women in the workforce. She was the first female CFO of Long Island University, having worked with 10 presidents across six decades. It was she who signed the $200,000 check that led to the acquisition of LIU’s Brookville campus and the establishment of C.W. Post College. She negotiated the contracts for every building on the Brooklyn, Post, and Southampton campuses, and facilities at all of the commuter campuses. Mrs. Lai also served as a trustee of private Catholic schools, including LeMoyne College, Boston College and

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1. Mary M. Lai checks figures as the University

Treasurer with Budget Director, Robert Pavese. 2. Mary and Buck Lai at LIU graduation. 3. Mary receives an Award of Merit garnered by The

Brooklyn Center's unique pedestrain bridge.

St. Joseph’s College. She was a major financial supporter of the Newman Club and the Catholic Campus Ministry at C.W. Post, which established the Mary M. Lai Model of Faith Award to recognize leaders in all areas of commerce and education. Often, she would make donations to the Long Island University endowed scholarship funds in the name of every employee of LIU and then send handwritten personal notes to all.

As a board member of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Mrs. Lai served on more than 50 Middle States accreditation teams. She also was the first female president of the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers. She was even a board member of several banks, including East New York Savings Bank, M&T Bank and Chemical Bank.

She received an honorary doctorate from Fordham University, where she earned her master’s degree in 1951, and many LIU-bestowed honors including a Trustees Award, a Distinguished Alumna Award, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. In 1996, in recognition of her 50th anniversary with the institution, the structure that houses the University’s financial operation was named the Mary M. Lai Finance Building. No less impressive than Mary’s endless vitality and her unchallenged acumen in handling the most complex and awesome financial affairs was the warmth of her personality. Always cheerful, always helpful, always concerned about the well-being of her colleagues and of the students, she was as popular as a college student until her last day at the University in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced faculty, staff and students to continue processes remotely. Mary never formally retired and spent the past several years fundraising for LIU and making phone calls to friends and alumni from a corner office in the building that bears her name. On her bookshelf is the serenity prayer and three LIU coffee mugs filled with sharpened pencils. She said, “I’ll retire when God tells me to. If my health isn’t good, or something happens that makes it impossible for me to work, that will be God telling me to move on.” Mary passed away on Saturday, August 22, 2020 at North Shore Hospital in Manhasset surrounded by her immediate family. A pioneer and visionary for both the LIU community and women in the labor force, she is greatly missed by all.