Paul A. Kurzman ’60

Paul was born, lived, and died a New Yorker. He slipped out of town to prepare for Princeton at the Choate School on his way to us. Here, he worked for the Bric-A-Brac and the Prince, joined the French Club and Prospect, helped manage the baseball team, majored in sociology, served in ROTC and played IAA football. After graduation, he spent two years in the Army, in New York, rising to captain in 1962. 

He went back to New York earning a master’s degree in social work at Columbia and a Ph.D. in public administration at NYU. Originally aiming to work in business, Paul became increasingly attracted to social work and the social sciences and eventually found a middle way in working with corporations and nonprofits in employee negotiations, benefits planning, and related areas. He wrote or edited more than a dozen books and numerous articles in the field and was widely honored for his leadership in it.  

Paul was employed at City University of New York and Hunter College starting in 1974 in rising positions, culminating as acting dean of the school at Hunter from 2004 to 2006, retiring in 2023. 

Paul died Oct. 17, 2025. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Margaret; daughter Katherine; son David; and two grandchildren.