Academic Buildings
FIT’s academic buildings are named for individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of FIT and the industries we serve.
David Dubinsky Student Center
Throughout the eight-story Dubinsky Student Center are arts and crafts studios, a
comprehensive health center, a game room, lounges, the Style Shop (the student-run
boutique on the first floor), student government and club offices, a student radio
station, two gyms, two dance studios, and a state-of-the-art fitness center. Students
are encouraged to take advantage of the full range of services and activities offered
by Student Life, located on the seventh floor. Also in the center are the Counseling
Center, Disability Support Services (FIT-ABLE), Educational Opportunity Program, and
Financial Aid Services; a 17,000-square-foot street-level student cafeteria, featuring
a variety of food stations and a wide range of menu options; and the 8,000-square-foot
Barnes & Noble at FIT bookstore.
Academic facilities located in the Dubinsky Student Center include the Toy Design laboratory, Jewelry Design studios, the Annette Green Fragrance Foundation Studio, the design/research lighting laboratory, and a television studio.
David Dubinsky was a labor leader who was president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) for more than 30 years. He helped create the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions, and was a founder of the American Labor Party and the Liberal Party of New York in the 1930s and 1940s.
Marvin Feldman Center and the Business and Liberal Arts Center
The Marvin Feldman and Business and Liberal Arts centers house academic and specialized
classrooms, cutting and sewing labs, design studios, a multimedia foreign languages
lab, knitting labs, and the Morris W. and Fannie B. Haft Theater. Specialized facilities
include the fabrics and findings lab, which replicates the resources and techniques
used by working fashion designers. Also located in these buildings are the academic
and administrative offices for the Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology
and the School of Liberal Arts.
Marvin Feldman, FIT’s longest-serving president, held the position from 1971 to 1992. During his tenure, the college began offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees, enrollment grew from 5,000 to 12,000, and six new campus buildings were constructed, bringing the total to eight.
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center
The Pomerantz Center houses display and exhibition design rooms; drawing, painting,
photography, printmaking, and sculpture studios; a graphics laboratory; a modelmaking
workshop; and the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre. The academic and administrative offices
of the School of Art and Design are also located here.
Fred P. Pomerantz was founder and former chairman of Leslie Fay, Inc., a leading New York producer of women’s apparel from 1974 to 1982. He served on the Board of Directors of FIT’s Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industries from 1967 to 1978. After his death in 1986, the building was named for him in recognition of a donation by his son, John J. Pomerantz, a former member of FIT’s Board of Trustees and foundation.
Shirley Goodman Resource Center
The Shirley Goodman Resource Center, on Seventh Avenue, houses the Gladys Marcus Library,
The Museum at FIT, and the School of Graduate Studies.
Shirley Goodman came to the college in 1949 to help draft the legislation making FIT part of the SUNY system. She was a key figure in the college’s development and served for many years as executive director of FIT’s Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industries (now the FIT Foundation), a position she held until her death in 1991.