Leona Chanin, a graduate of Hunter High School and Hunter College, has long played a leadership role in the life or her alma mater. For more than two decades, she has served as a member of the board of directors of Hunter's Scholarship and Welfare Funds, which grants financial awards to deserving students. When then-President Jacqueline Wexler established an alumni support group, the President's Circle, in 1971, Mrs. Chanin became its first chair. Eight years later, she was elected to the Hunter College Hall of Fame, which recognizes graduates of outstanding accomplishment and service to Hunter and to the community. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chanin are founding board members and trustees of The Hunter College Foundation, Inc. They received honorary degrees from the College in 1994.

Marcy Chanin, a member of the board Town Hall, recently retired as president of Chanin Management, Inc., which managed real estate properties in Manhattan and at other locations. As builders, the Chanin family popularized a streamlined, art deco style of architecture epitomized by their high rise apartment buildings on Central Park West and the Chanin Building at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, the first skyscraper in the Grand Central area. Other Chanin innovations include many legitimate theaters that was also one of the nation's first malls and the first major post-World War II shopping center on Long Island, Green Acres in Valley Stream.

The Chanins are well known for their active role in Jewish philanthropy. Together, they occupy leadership positions with the American Jewish Congress, which honored the couple with its prestigious Stephen Wise Award, its highest accolade. A comprehensive high school and sports center outside Tel Aviv was built through the couple's efforts, as well as The Paul R. and Marcy Chanin Genetic Engineering Building at the Technion University. Mr. Chanin serves as Chair of the Palm Beach County Chapter of Technion, and was a founding board member of the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. The Chanins are original supporters of, and continue their interest in, the development of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and have long been active in U.J.A.-Federation.

The Hunter College Foundation,Inc.

In 1993, Hunter College submitted a grant request to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that asked for support for--among other projects--the establishment of a Hunter College Language Center. Indeed, the NEH awarded the college a $500,000 grant; but this gift was dependent upon a 3:1 match. When approached, Leona Chanin--who was a language major while at Hunter--thought the idea of a state-of-the art language facility an important opportunity for Hunter College and generously donated two-thirds, or $1 million, of the match in support of the project.

Their gift is a tribute, in part, to Hunter's commitment to the study of foreign languages. The language departments have given the college a reputation as a center of excellence at the City University of New York, making Hunter the appropriate site for a modern, up-to-date language teaching and learning center.

Hunter College installed its original Language Lab in 1958. It received a moderate upgrade in 1967 and was completely renovated in 1975. In the Spring of 1999, The Leona & Marcy Chanin Language Center opened its doors offering language resources via cutting edge computer technology. The state-of-the art Language Center is a specially designed space that is the hub for Hunter students who wish to study foreign languages.

The Language Center makes possible total language immersion in an international atmosphere. The Center includes a large club-type multimedia facility used as a lecture hall, a lounge, a library, as well as, a Lab and a multimedia classroom. The space is designed so that students are afforded ample opportunity to practice the foreign language being studied through films, audio and video programs, and lots of interactive computer language-applications available to individual students and classes.

The Hunter College Foundation, Inc.

Revised by The Chanin Language Center staff 12/2000.

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