College mourns the passing of Theatre namesake Julien J. Studley

It is with great sadness that the College shares the news of the passing of Julien J. Studley, namesake of Julien J. Studley Theatre in the Old Main Building and supporter of that venue’s renovation in the early 1990s. He was 88 years of age.

Studley’s family fled Belgium during the Nazi invasion of 1940. He arrived in the United States in 1944 at the age of 16, and served the U.S. Army from 1950-53 during the Korean War. Studley established a real estate brokerage firm, Julien J. Studley, Inc., in 1954, and through his business he became widely known as a thoughtful advisor to commercial tenants across New York City.

Studley was also a philanthropist who served a number of organizations, including the New School for Social Research, from which he received the Distinguished Service Award in 1997, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

It was through the generosity of Studley that the 1992 renovation of the Julien J. Studley Theatre was made possible. The theatre now seats approximately 700 guests and serves as a focal point on the SUNY New Paltz campus for major performing arts events, concerts and lectures.