Dave Greenbaum - Meritorious Service

Drive past Glendale College on Verdugo Rd. or on Mountain Ave. and you get an idea of how this institution has grown since it moved to this location over 85 years ago in 1937. Lush grounds and new buildings including the planetarium show the growth of the college in front of the school and a new parking structure off the freeway show how many things have changed over the years.

But ask Dave Greenbaum, a GCC Foundation Board member since 1987 and an active alumni of the college, and he might say that looking at the college just in those terms does not indicate how valuable the school is to the community.

He calls it the best kept secret in Glendale, a place where thousands of students fill its class rooms in search of fulfilling their own hopes and dreams and faculty and staff working together to help those dreams come true for students of all ages and thanks to tireless volunteers like Greenbaum, a 2013 inductee for meritorious service into the GCC Athletic Hall of Fame.

Greenbaum is a proud alumni of GCC and played tennis for Dave Titchenal in 1958 but shakes his head at the thought of that being enough to be honored for anything.

But what is not a secret is that his dedication to the college started with the tennis court tile campaign he chaired almost 30 years ago and his support of all things GCC including being Foundation President for three years from 1999-01and as a member of the hall of fame committee since its inception in 2001.

“I have served on many boards over the years but my work with GlendaleCollege and the Foundation has been extra special for me. It was like coming home again and to see how the college has grown over the past 25 years has truly been amazing,’’ said Greenbaum. “The opportunity to work with so many people interested in helping the college prosper and achieve goals has truly been inspiring and being inducted into the athletic hall of fame really means a lot to me because of my love of athletics and my work with the committee over the years.’’

Greenbaum was part of the original group college staff, foundation board and community members chosen to create the current hall of fame from scratch in2001 at the request of former GCC Dean of Student J. Walter Smith and former Superintendent/President Dr. John Davitt.

Not only was he the foundation board president at the time, but he brought to the table a wealth of local sports information and made several key suggestions that still remain in place today about potential nominees to consider, how many to consider each year and how often to have the event.