Greenbaum and Altman Honored as Entrepreneurs of the Year

Jerry Greenbaum (BBA ’62), recipient of this year’s Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

The Freeman School honored Jerry M. Greenbaum (BBA ’62) as Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year and Jay Altman as Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2012 Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Award Gala, which took place in April at the Audubon Tea Room.

Ira Solomon, dean of the Freeman School, and John Elstrott, executive director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute, presented the awards.

The Freeman School’s Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship hosts the gala each year to highlight outstanding entrepreneurs in the community. The Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of Year Award honors individuals who embody the true spirit of entrepreneurship and philanthropic generosity, while the Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognizes individuals dedicated to improving the community through entrepreneurial initiatives.

Greenbaum is chairman of CentraArchy Affiliates, a family-owned business that includes upscale restaurants, retail alcohol outlets and industrial real estate companies throughout the Southeast. Last year, he opened his latest restaurant, the acclaimed Chophouse New Orleans steakhouse, to be closer to Tulane and New Orleans.

Greenbaum and his wife, Barbara Axelrod Greenbaum (N ’63), are lifelong supporters of Tulane University. In 2003 they played a pivotal role in the construction of Goldring/ Woldenberg Hall II, and they provided significant support for new facilities for baseball, basketball and football in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In 2011, Greenbaum joined the Board of Tulane and donated the lead gift to develop a hospitality curriculum at the Freeman School. In addition to his business pursuits, Greenbaum is a stand-out golfer with more than 50 Senior Amateur tournament wins to his credit. He has been ranked as high as the No. 2 Senior Amateur by Golf Digest, and in 2004, he was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. Jerry and Barbara Greenbaum have three adult children, Gregory, Tracey and Jeffrey, and eight grandchildren.

Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Jay Altman, left, and John Elstrott, executive director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship.

Altman is co-founder and CEO of FirstLine Schools, a charter organization that seeks to create and inspire great openenrollment public schools in New Orleans. FirstLine currently operates five open-enrollment public charter schools in the city, including Samuel J. Green Charter School, Arthur Ashe Charter School, John Dibert Community School, Langston Hughes Academy, and Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School. Since 1990, Altman has partnered with like-minded parents and educators to provide quality educational opportunities for students in New Orleans public schools. He taught in the city for several years before co-founding New Orleans Charter Middle School. He was also a founder of James Lewis Extension School, New Orleans Outreach, New Orleans Summerbridge and Leading Educators.

He served as director of education for London-based ARK schools from 2005 to 2008, where he helped develop a network of British academies, charter-like schools located in complex urban environments in the U.K. He also was instrumental in establishing two training programs there: Future Leaders, a training program for aspiring principals of openadmission schools, and Teaching Leaders, a training program for mid-level school leadership.