In the fall 2015 semester, College Council announced the new name of the recently purchased College Board building: Martino Hall. It was known during the summer of 2015 mainly as ‘45 Columbus,’ and now the building has a number of once-disparate campus buildings consolidated under one roof.

Martino Hall houses the department of communication and media studies, the Office of Career Services, International and Study Abroad programs (ISAP) and administration for the Gabelli School of Business, among other programs and offices. 

The building is named after a former vice president of Fordham University and a previous member of the board of trustees, Joseph Martino. Martino and Leon Lowenstein were responsible for acquiring land from Robert Moses for the development of the Lincoln Center campus in the 1950s.

Martino graduated from Pace University in 1922. He worked for more than 50 years at National Lead Co. (now NL Industries), starting as an office boy in 1916 and retiring as board chairman in 1969. He also served as director for major corporations including the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Chase Manhattan Bank and as vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Fordham in 1956.

According to an earlier College Council meeting on Oct. 15, Martino’s name has always been a part of the Lincoln Center campus, though it was a lesser-known name for the Graduate School of Business that has since been unified into the Gabelli program.

“Not many people were aware that the Graduate School of Business was also known as the Martino School of Business,” Robert Grimes,S.J., dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, said while announcing the new name at a College Council meeting.

According to a statement from Joseph McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, “it is more than fitting that we honor Mr. Martino by naming for him our newest building, facing his beloved Lincoln Center campus.”