  | Ed Deutsch ’68 supports the Convocation Center | ||||||
Profile in GivingBy Jennifer Sherwood ’89 Ed Deutsch ’68 Pitching in for the Convocation Center The University of Rhode Island has a lot to be grateful for in Ed Deutsch. When he was a sophomore in 1966, URI’s baseball team made headlines by beating Brown and winning the state series. Deutsch, who was attending URI on a baseball scholarship, pitched a memorable four-hit shutout game, handing Rhody its first intra-state championship in six years. This was an especially proud moment for URI as, that same season, the University dedicated the Bill Beck Field in honor of the late coach. Deutsch pitched that first game as well, leading Rhody’s win against Providence College. As The Providence Journal noted at the time, “Bill Beck would have admired the tenacious pitching of Rhody’s Eddie Deutsch.” Now, more than 30 years later, Deutsch has again stepped up to help URI realize a proud new accomplishment—the construction of the Convocation Center. Due to open in June, this new facility will transform the life of the campus, providing a regional center for athletic, cultural and arts programming. Deutsch said of his support of URI, “When I was in school I had financial needs, and the school was very helpful to me. I’ve never forgotten that.” Deutsch has fulfilled the extraordinary potential he showed in his undergraduate days. Today, he is the founder and managing partner of a major New Jersey law firm, McElroy, Deutsch & Mulvaney. The tenacity and ability to deliver under pressure that marked his baseball career has been translated into an extremely successful law firm. What started as a two-person operation in 1983 is now the fifth largest firm in New Jersey, employing over 125 lawyers with offices in Morristown and Ridgewood, N.J.; New York City; and Denver, Colo. Deutsch is also the founder and chairman of the board of trustees of The Bank of the Somerset Hills, one of the most successful community banks in New Jersey. After earning his Bachelor’s in Business Administration at URI, Deutsch went on to law school at Seton Hall University, which has just presented him with the Distinguished Graduate Award. He began practicing law in 1971. Although Deutsch lost touch with URI for many years, he retained warm memories of his time there and says that he found the people and the atmosphere of the school to be particularly wonderful. When asked if baseball had taken up all of his time, Deutsch laughed and said that he knew he must have participated in soccer as well because his daughter and niece had both borrowed his varsity letter to wear at costume parties. It’s nice to know that not only is Deutsch an important supporter of URI, his family knows how to show their Rhody pride as well. Jennifer Sherwood ’89 is the director of development and marketing at Young Audiences/New York, one of the oldest and most respected arts-in-education organizations in the nation. |
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