The Scholarship Guy
Stephen R. Ehrlich ’55 established several scholarships, providing a foundation of support that continues to make Brown financially feasible for numerous students.
After graduating from Brown and NYU Business School, Stephen became a successful corporate bond trader. He was a partner at Mabon, Nugent & Co. in 1966 and became CEO in 1972. During his tenure, Mabon became one of the largest securities firms in equity capital. He retired in 1992 and formed private financial investment and consulting businesses in New Jersey and Florida.
He strongly believed in the value of higher education and served as a member of the Brown Board of Trustees of the Corporation from 1979 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1992. He and his wife, Mary Ann, were involved with Brown’s first named fund, the Stephen R. Ehrlich 1955 National Scholarship, and served as cochairs of the National Scholarship Program for eight years. Over the following years, they created scholarships including the Stephen R. Ehrlich Family Medical Scholarship, the Stephen R. Ehrlich Fellowship Fund, and the Stephen R. Ehrlich Brown Annual Fund. The Ehrlichs actively engaged with their scholarship students by hosting dinners and attending functions each year. “What started as an awkward dinner with two strangers freshman year grew into an incredible lifelong friendship. Stephen and Mary Ann Ehrlich have been there for me through many chapters of my life,” says Louella Hill ’03, who met Ehrlich through the National Scholars Program at Brown. Roxanne Vrees ’98, ’03 MD, a Stephen Ehrlich National Scholars Program recipient, says: “I still remember our first dinner at Hemenway’s my freshman year and the many other special moments I have shared with Stephen and Mary Ann over the 26 years of our wonderful relationship.”
Stephen received numerous awards, most notably the H. Anthony Ittleson ’60 Award in 2000 and the Brown Bear Award in 2002. And both he and Mary Ann were honored in 2014 with the Artemis Joukowsky Award for their dedication and commitment to the Warren Alpert Medical School. Stephen also served on the boards of the Newark Museum, New Jersey Historical Society, New Jersey Building Authority, and the Rutgers Business Board of Advisors.
Upon retirement, he split his time between Palm Beach, Fla., and Short Hills, N.J., so that he could remain close with his children and grandchildren. He was an avid sports fan of the Yankees and Knicks and enjoyed playing golf and watching classic movies.
Both Mary Ann and Stephen contracted COVID-19 and were hospitalized. Stephen passed away on Aug. 6 from the virus, the day after Mary Ann was released from the hospital. In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughter Lisa Ehrlich Pearlman ’85; a son and daughter-in-law; and two grandchildren. The Stephen R. Ehrlich Memorial Research Fund has been established at Brown to support pulmonary and COVID-related research.