Evan Silverstein ’75
Evan Silverstein ’75 credits Brooklyn College—which, among other things, enabled him to secure a key internship—with catapulting him to a highly distinguished 30-year career on Wall Street. Considered one of the most successful hedge fund managers in the utility sector and known as an expert in these fields, Silverstein has testified before Congress and other federal entities numerous times over his career. He retired from the investment field in 2005 and has served on the board of directors of several energy-related companies, including the Edison Electric Institute, Electric Power Research Institute, Reliant Energy, and NRG Energy.
This year, Silverstein stepped down as chair of the Brooklyn College Foundation board but is committed to remaining an active board member and promoter for student success. He and his wife, Renee ’74, maintain a deep devotion to students, many of whom, like themselves, grew up in lower middle-class homes. Together, they established the Renee and Evan Silverstein Internship Fund at Brooklyn College. At the 2023 Commencement, Silverstein received the Brooklyn College Presidential Medal of Honor. We sat down with him to talk about his roots in working-class Canarsie, his time as a college student, his commitment to today’s students, and his hopes for their future.
What are some of your most memorable experiences as a student at Brooklyn College?
Coming from a lower-middle-class family with smart but minimally educated parents, I was armed with reasonable intelligence and great values. The Silversteins were honest, had great integrity, and were willing to work hard. The directive from my father was, you are going to learn to work with your head and not your hands, as he worked 18 hours a day in a taxi to provide us with financial security. I entered Brooklyn College in fall 1971 as a naïve, immature teenager influenced by the hippie generation. As I wandered around campus—the quadrangle being my favorite place—there was a serene halo that included the openly accepted use of marijuana. I soon realized this was the outgrowth of the tumultuous late 1960s/early 1970s student revolts against the Vietnam War, which came to a climax when the National Guard fatally shot four students on the Kent State University campus in 1970.
As directed by my parents, I began my academic journey as a pre-med student with the intention of becoming a doctor. But that first year, a combination of immaturity and lack of interest led to a less-than-stellar academic performance, to say the least, and a reassessment of my future direction.
As a result, I pivoted. In my sophomore year I embarked on a path that included accounting, finance, and economics. It was there where I finally found a match to both my interests and aptitude. Moreover, it was there where I also experienced working with my first-ever mentor.
Something or someone must have changed the arc of your academic career.
Alan Lechner was a finance professor who had just left Wall Street to teach at Brooklyn College. Fortunately, he kept expanding the courses he was teaching, and I was able to follow him all through the rest of my college career. The relationship we developed was critical to my academic and professional success, and my maturity. In my senior year, he began a security analysis program that included bringing in various analysts from Wall Street, culminating in various internship opportunities. Through this that I got an opportunity to prove myself as an unpaid intern at Drexel Burnham.
While my work was well received, the mid-1970s was a very difficult period for Wall Street and the economy in general. There was a job freeze at the company. Luckily, a week before my internship ended, an opportunity opened up to work for the utility analyst, who just happened to graduate from City College. After a seven-question interview in his office, this 20-year-old novice began his Wall Street career. While the climate remained chaotic, a combination of my outstanding values, my academic experience, my drive to succeed, and the influence of my next round of mentors helped me not only survive but also thrive. I became known as an icon in my area of expertise. It was quite a journey for a naïve, insecure kid who barely survived his first year at Brooklyn College. To this day I consider the $56 a term bursar’s fee (that was paid by my parents) by far the best investment return of my life.
You have served on the Brooklyn College Foundation Board of Trustees for 14 years and recently completed a six-year term as chair. Can you talk about what this board service has meant to you?
First and foremost, service has meant giving back. I’ve spent many years on boards during my lifetime, but none provide the emotional connection that the foundation board does. Brooklyn College provided me with the opportunity to achieve professional success and contribute to the future success of our students. Board service has allowed us to meet some of the most outstanding and talented individuals. There have been board meetings where the emotion in the room is overwhelming and board members fight back tears. These students are incredibly talented, outstanding individuals who need mentors to show them the way. These students’ stories are my own, the board’s, and Brooklyn College’s. Nothing is more rewarding than helping them excel and achieve substantial upward mobility. In many cases the financial support they need to graduate is minuscule. There is so much pride in being a first-generation college graduate with tremendous opportunities in the future.
What excites you about the future of the college?
What excites me is building on what we’ve done in the past. Hopefully, we will remain a country that provides tremendous opportunity for upward mobility, and there will be a continued flow of those seeking higher education to help them achieve it. There are many challenges ahead and we will need to adapt, but this college has a long history of success. We provide tools such as the Magner Career Center, mentoring programs, internships, and many other opportunities that enable our students to compete in the marketplace. We as a college are involved in developing a cancer research center along with other initiatives for student opportunity and societal enhancement. My ultimate dream is that one day, families will move to Brooklyn to attend our college because of the attractive opportunities it offers for upward mobility.
