Named for Marvin A. Pomerantz, a 1952 graduate of the University of Iowa and a member of the University of Iowa Foundation Board of Directors, the Pomerantz Center functions as a hub for University outreach activities, including the Admission Visitors Center, Academic Advising Center, Alumni Career Exchange, Executive MBA Program, MBA Career Services, and the Marvin A. and Rose Lee Pomerantz Career Center. The Pomerantz Center’s activities focus mainly on the University’s external constituency, a purpose that is expressed in its design, which is emphatically polished and more corporate than its traditionally academic surroundings.
Martin Pomerantz
1930 - 2008
Achievements
- Marvin Pomerantz earned his bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Iowa in 1952
- Mr. Pomerantz started his own enterprise in 1961, the Great Plains Bag Corporation, which manufactured multiwall as well as plastic bags; a sister corporation called Mid-America Group, was also founded to develop industrial building and office parks
- Pomerantz was hired as a consultant in the early 1980s for International Harvester, and months later, he became president of the company's Diversified Group. A year later was promoted to executive vice president of the company
- In 1986, Pomerantz formed Gaylord Container Corporation, which is ranked as one of the top 10 containerboard producers in the country. He served as that company's chairman and CEO until 2002
- From 1987 to 1993 and from 1995 to 1996, Pomerantz was president of the Iowa Board of Regents
- He is a founding member of the Tippie College of Business' Board of Visitors; served for 21 years as a member of the University of Iowa Foundation Board; co-chaired the "Good. Better. Best. Iowa" campaign, where he helped raise more than $1 billion for the university; chaired the Iowa Endowment 2000 Campaign; co-chaired the campaign that resulted in the construction of Carver-Hawkeye Arena; and served as a member of the steering committee for the College of Business Building Campaign
- In 1997, Iowa Governor Branstad appointed Pomerantz to head the Commission on Educational Excellence for the 21st Century to study the state's elementary and secondary schools
- 2001 Horatio Alger Award Winner
- Pomerantz gave substantial gifts to the University of Iowa, where the school's business library is named after him, and he and his wife endowed a professorship. A brother and a sister-in-law joined Pomerantz and his wife in providing a major contribution toward the development of the Pomerantz Family Pavilion. He and his wife also agreed to contribute to the Pomerantz Center, which houses career and orientation activities
Building Information
Street Address
213 North Clinton Street
Year built
2005
Additional building information