In memoriam: Eugene Rosenfeld, 90, alumnus, real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist

Eugene S. Rosenfeld, a UCLA alumnus and entrepreneur whose visionary leadership and philanthropic giving over more than 50 years had a transformative impact on the university in areas as widespread as business education, medical care and student support, died July 20. He was 90.

Rosenfeld, who rose from humble beginnings to become a leader in the home building and real estate investment industries, credited his UCLA education with giving him the confidence and tools to succeed. Together with his wife, Maxine, he made giving back to his alma mater one of his life's priorities, endowing student scholarships and academic chairs, as well as supporting programs and capital projectsacross campus, including major initiatives at UCLA Health and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

"The breadth and depth of Gene's impact upon UCLA is truly staggering," said former UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. "His and Maxine's remarkable generosity strengthened our academic offerings, reshaped our physical campus, allowed us to better serve the health needs of our community and helped hundreds of students access and benefit from a UCLA education. More than that, Gene dedicated much of his time and energy to advising and guiding his alma mater, working tirelessly to ensure UCLA could live up to its highest ideals."

Rosenfeld was a steadfast volunteer who freely lent his expertise in business and fundraising to many UCLA campaigns and committees and served as chair of The UCLA Foundation from 1988 to 1990. In 2010, in recognition of his years of service and leadership, Rosenfeld was awarded the UCLA Medal, the university's highest honor.

"The world knew Gene as a titan of the real estate industry, but at UCLA he was so much more," said Antonio Bernardo, dean of UCLA Anderson. "Gene was a leader, an advisor, a patron, a benefactor and a friend deeply devoted to our values and our mission. Put more simply, he was family."

Born in Chicago in 1934 to Russian immigrant parents - his father worked as a janitor and his mother as a seamstress - Rosenfeld was raised in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, where he sold newspapers as a boy and attended Roosevelt High School.

With his mother's encouragement, he applied to UCLA and was accepted. Thanks to a $50 scholarship, he completed his bachelor's in business administration in 1956, becoming the first in his family to earn a college degree.

Following a stint in the U.S. Army - during which he married Maxine - Rosenfeld began working as an accountant. In 1963, he joined Kaufman and Broad, rising within a decade to become president and CEO of the major home building company.

In the years that followed, he set out as an entrepreneur, founding and co-founding a series of highly successful home building and real estate companies. In 2003, he launched Forest Lane Management, LLC, a major investor and developer of commercial and residential real estate in the U.S. and Europe, of which he was the sole proprietor.

Rosenfeld never lost sight of the opportunities UCLA had afforded him. Recalling the college scholarship that changed his life, he made a commitment to ensuring that others had the same chance he did. "If you're fortunate in life," he said, "you should share it with other people."

To that end, in the early 1980s, he and Maxine launched the Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld Scholarship Fund at UCLA, which has since supported the education of hundreds of students. And in 2004, they established the Gene and Maxine Rosenfeld Family Foundation to continue funding undergraduate scholarships for underprivileged and disabled students, among other philanthropic causes.

Over the years, their generosity extended across campus, encompassing the UCLA College, several professional schools, the Chancellor's Greatest Needs fund, the performing arts, libraries, museums, athletics, alumni affairs and other areas, with some of their most significant contributions going to the fields of health care and business management.

Announced in 2018, a major donation from the couplesupported UCLA Health Sciences in developing a state-of-the-art training facility for future and currently practicing health care professionals. The 30,000-square-foot Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld Hall,opened in 2023, houses both the UCLA Simulation Center and the UCLA Health Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology, where new technologies and procedures can be tested and refined by health care personnel before being deployed to serve patients in the UCLA Health System.

Following the emergence of COVID-19, the Rosenfelds made a significant contribution to a UCLA Health program that offers personalized health care for people with complex medical needs who have difficulty traveling to clinics. In recognition of their gift, the service was named the UCLA Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld Medical Home Visit Program.The Rosenfelds' generosity also made possible the launch of the Lung Health Innovation Fund at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the establishment of the Maxine and Eugene Rosenfeld Endowed Chair in Computational Genetics and the Maxine and Eugene Rosenfeld Endowed Chair in Medical Education.

At UCLA Anderson, the couple have been longtime benefactors and volunteers, and their pivotal gift in the late 1980s to assist in the construction of the school's new complex, which was completed 1995, led to the naming of the Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld Management Libraryin their honor. Beyond providing financial support, Rosenfeld also chaired the building oversight committee, helping to bring the project in under budget and in line with his exacting standards.

Rosenfeld devoted his energies to UCLA Anderson in many other ways, serving on the executive committee and as chair of the school's board of advisors, co-founding the board of the Ziman Center for Real Estate, and chairing Campaign Anderson, an ambitious effort that raised more than $100 million between 1995 and 2005. In 2002, he was honored with the UCLA Anderson Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2010 was named one of UCLA Anderson's "100 Inspirational Alumni."

Even considering Rosenfeld's notable track record of business success, philanthropic giving and service, his most impressive qualities were personal ones, said his close friend, fellow UCLA Anderson board of advisors member and UCLA alumnus Kip Hagopian.

"His integrity, as there was no one more honest or trustworthy than Gene," Hagopian said. "His decency, as there was no one more considerate, thoughtful and fair-minded than Gene; his humility: for all his accomplishments, there was no one more thankful and self-effacing than Gene; and, perhaps most important of all, Gene was just 'nice' - not just some of the time, but all of the time."

Rosenfeld is survived by his wife, Maxine; his sons, Dennis and Michael; and five grandchildren.

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