Ceremony marks naming of academic center for Oppenheimers

College administrators and students gathered today for a ceremony naming the academic instruction center the Susan R. and Jesse H. Oppenheimer Center.

“It was nice,” President Robert Zeigler said after the ceremony.

Zeigler said the ceremony was not widely announced in advance because the namesake, Susan Oppenheimer, former chair of the Alamo Community College District board of trustees, wanted a low-key event.

Zeigler said she did not want to make the event a big deal.

“She just said, ‘thank you,’” he said.

The Ranger learned of the ceremony via email after the ceremony had begun, but a reporter and photographer arrived in time for the end of the reception.

Trustees unanimously approved naming the academic instruction center in honor of the Oppenheimers Dec. 13.

The three-story classroom building on the south side of the campus opened in the middle of the fall semester in 2008. It was constructed with funds approved by voters in the November 2005 bond package.

Zeigler said college administrators had always wanted to name a prominent building that paid tribute to her service to the district.

“This was the opportunity to do that,” Zeigler said.

The service, trade and industry center, located on North Main Avenue, was named the Susan R. Oppenheimer Education and Training Center in 2003.

Zeigler said in April that the name of the building on North Main Avenue was temporary until a more suitable building was constructed.

Susan Oppenheimer became the first woman elected to the district’s board of trustees in 1970 and served three six-year terms.

She was elected chair of the board in 1982.

Her husband, Jesse Oppenheimer, was known for his philanthropy and owned a law firm. He died Oct. 9, 2009.

The Oppenheimers donated $1,075,019.15 to the Alamo Colleges Foundation for an endowed scholarship, executive director Jim Eskin said in December.

Nineteen students in the district received the scholarship for the 2011-12 academic year.