NSU Horizons Winter 2008 - 2009

Sylvia Rubin reaches up to the shelf in her small office where, among pictures of her one grandchild and two great grandchildren, she keeps an unframed photo of herself. It was taken at her 90th birthday party, held in Nova Southeastern University’s Chancellor’s Dining Room six years ago. In the picture, she’s holding a black and white photograph of a much younger Sylvia Rubin. She recounts that the earlier image was captured in the 1940s when she worked as a welder during World War II in Portland, Oregon. “I was never afraid of hard work,” said Rubin, who has worked for NSU’s Health Professions Division (HPD) for decades. Her tone lightens a bit. “But, let me tell you about the birthday party.” Those who know the oldest, full-time staffer at NSU will tell you that she remembers dates, times, and details like they were yesterday. The birthday party, which Rubin described as “a grand affair,” was hosted by her colleagues at HPD’s Office of Admissions and Student Affairs, where she works. She ticked off the specifics, “It was December 21, 2002. Even the newspaper wrote a story about it,” she said. “I remember the headline: ‘90-Year-Old Keeps on Truckin’.” On Christmas Day 2008, Rubin celebrated her 97th birthday, and she’s still truckin’—working Monday through Friday. Her office doubles as a mail room. “I do a little bit of everything,” she said. But, her main task is sorting the mail because, as Rubin puts it, “I know everyone.” She started in the Office of Admissions and Student Affairs almost 28 years ago, shortly after Southeastern College of Osteo- pathic Medicine opened in 1981. Her daughter, Beth, who is now 60 years old, was working at the time as the school’s first secretary to Arnold Melnick, D.O., M.S.C., the founding dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “The dean needed someone to help with a grant they were expecting,” Rubin recalled. She began her career with NSU as a temp, and remembers the day when Melnick asked her if she would like to take on more responsibilities. “I looked at him like he was crazy. I was 70 years old.” After mulling it over, she decided to say yes. “I thought that it would keep me busy, and I could use the money for bingo. Now my daughter doesn’t work here anymore, but I’m still here,” she said, emphasizing the hint of irony. Rubin hasn’t slowed down. She drove herself to work until she was 80 years old, but hung up her car keys when the commute from her condominium in Aventura to NSU’s main campus in Fort Lauderdale got to be too much. Her daughter, Carole, who is now 72 and retired, drives her mother to work each morning. Rubin can’t remember a time when she didn’t work. Her father died when she was 12 years old, and her mother was left alone with six children. “We all had to work,” she explained. She attended City College of New York for just a few years before she became a career secretary for Irving Berlin’s Music Pub- lishing Company. She then worked in a law office, followed by a stint as a secretary to one of the Rockefeller’s executives in the garment manufacturing industry. Rubin has put in countless hours of labor between her early days in New York and her job today at NSU. Marla Frohlinger, M.H.S.A., executive director for student services and professional coordination at HPD’s Office of Admis- sions and Student Affairs, said, “She’s still important to our family here. She sees the vitality of everyone in the department, and she’s part of it. I think that keeps her looking forward to each day.” For those who come to Florida to retire, Rubin said, “good for them. But, I love the university setting. It’s so different from anything I ever did before. I think I just like the action.” n Still Working Full-Time, NSU Staff Member Stays Young at 97 By Michelle Solomon 31 horizons