Edward E. Shorin, the genial Topps Chewing Gum executive who became a champion for continuing education on Long Island, died last Monday. He was 86.
The Manhasset resident “was the quintessential gentleman,” said Edward Travaglianti, chairman of Long Island University’s board of trustees. “He blessed us with 13 years of trusteeship, sharing his prodigious intellectual gifts, business acumen and passion for student-centered education with our community. He was a generous benefactor whose wisdom, creativity and commitment to our students knew no bounds.”
A dynamic and successful businessman, Mr. Shorin expanded the international presence of his family’s business, Topps Chewing Gum Company, establishing manufacturing ventures from Australia and Yugoslavia to Nigeria and the Philippines before retiring as the company’s international vice president.
“Ed was successful in life in the broadest sense,” said his son Richard Shorin. “His second career as an LIU trustee was tremendously satisfying, enabling him to touch the lives of thousands of students.”
Mr. Shorin’s association with LIU began when he retired from Topps in 1984 and started taking continuing education courses in the Hutton House Lectures Series at LIU Post, near his home. He found the experience to be so rewarding that he actively recruited friends and neighbors to join him, and he volunteered to help administer the program. Mr. Shorin became chairman of the Hutton House Lectures advisory board in 1995, initiating a vocal advocacy on behalf of lifelong learning initiatives and assisting in the design of various programs intended to benefit adults in neighboring communities.
Under the leadership of Mr. Shorin and Dr. Kay Hutchins Sato, LIU Post’s assistant provost for continuing education, annual Hutton House course enrollments rose from a few hundred to more than 7,000. Most recently, the Hutton House Lecture Series was chosen as a recipient of the Association for Continuing Higher Education’s 2013 Older Adult Model Program Award.
Mr. Shorin was a fixture at campus events and never missed an opportunity to talk to students about what was going on in their lives and how the University could help them to achieve their goals. He was awarded an honorary doctorate at the 1999 LIU Post commencement ceremony.
Born in December, 1926, in Brooklyn, Mr. Shorin graduated from the High School of Music and Art in New York City, served in the U.S. Navy and then attended Bucknell University, earning a B.S. in Economics in 1949 before joining Topps. He and Mrs. Shorin had two sons, Richard (Andrea) of Ambler, Pa. and James (Michelle) of Palo Alto, Calif.
Donations may be made to the Edward and Genevieve Shorin Memorial Endowed Scholarship at LIU Post. All contributions are fully tax-deductible and will be acknowledged by Long Island University. Checks should be made payable to Long Island University with the Shorin Scholarship Fund indicated in the memo portion. Please forward to: Office of Development, LIU Post, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, NY 11548. Attn: Edward and Genevieve Shorin Memorial Scholarship.
