Dr. Jack Schiff, who was Dr. Mortola's right-hand man, confidant and alter ego during the period of Paces greatest expansion, was a native New Yorker. The son of immigrants, Jack Schiff was convinced that education was the magical key which unlocked the door to success in America. Thus, after graduating from Stuyvesant High School, Dr. Schiff enrolled at City College where he received a baccalaureate degree in 1940. Following four years in the U.S. Army during World War II he enrolled at New York University, where he earned a M.B.A. in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1951. While attending graduate school, Dr. Schiff taught full-time at City College and, beginning in the summer of 1950, part-time at Pace.

     In 1952 Jack Schiff was appointed Professor of Marketing and Chairman of the Marketing Department at Pace College. As a departmental administrator and faculty member, Dr. Schiff broke new ground by introducing programmed instruction and computer simulations to train managerial and marketing personnel. In keeping with a longstanding Pace belief that the best teachers; war practitioners in their chosen fields, Dr. Schiff served as a consultant to such corporations as British Airways, American Oil, GT&E, the Bowery Savings Bank, Lufthansa and General Foods. He was also a prolific author who contributed many tracks to business publications and was a contributing editor of the Handbook of Business Administration and Handbook of Modern Marketing. Author of the first programmed course of instruction in basic selling skills, Salesmanship Fundamentals, Dr. Schiff co-authored with his brother, Dr. Michael Schiff, Strategic Management of the Sales Territory. Dr. Jack Schiff also wrote and appeared in the film "Selling to the Buyer’s Needs," produced by the Bureau of National Affairs.

     His reputation as author, consultant, teacher and administrator made Dr. Jack Schiff the logical choice, in 1963, for Dean of the Lubin Graduate School of Business. Seven years later, he was named Executive Vice President of the University. It was in this capacity that he played a major role in the new Pace which was emerging in the decade of the 1970s. Drs. Schiff and Mortola were a formidable team in American higher education.

     A key ingredient in the dazzling success of the Mortola-Schiff management team was the fine rapport, which existed between these two men. Constantly in touch with each other, most mornings they rode into New York together from New Rochelle and usually spent about forty minutes each day discussing major issues affecting the institution. These conversations set the tone for the day. Following their morning meeting, each man undertook to carry out the specific mission entrusted to him.

     In recognition of his outstanding contributions to Pace, Dr. Schiff was named Provost in 1982. Despite the demands of a position which entailed responsibility for every aspect of the University with the exception of communications, facilities and finances, Dr. Schiff continued to find time for his lovely wife Lillian, who over the years was a popular figure at Pace, and his sons and he managed to relate individually to members of the Pace community. Whether it was his delightful jokes, his handwritten birthday greetings sent to every faculty and staff member, or congratulatory notes to people who had been promoted, Dr. Schiffs unique way of communicating endeared him to everyone he encountered. It was indeed fitting, therefore, that the Park Row Faculty Center was dedicated to him.

     Jack Schiff’s impact on the Pace community is perhaps best expressed by the reaction of Pace people to his untimely death in 1984. Upon learning of Dr. Schiff’s death, Executive Vice President J. William Nystrom said- "He was a guy who had a lot of caring for individual people…and he had range. He was interested in art, music, business - the marketplace. Clarity of thought was one of his great characteristics. He was a man of great restraint." Robert Hoffstein, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Planning, said: "He was a very fair man to work for. You weren’t working for a boss but a friend."

     Dr. Joseph Pastore said: "The first time I met him was on a subway late at night. We had a long talk. I was a Pace MBA student in the early 60s, and he was dean of the Graduate School of Business. He was a fantastic individual, and like a father to me - although he wouldn't want to hear that. But, certainly he was a mentor, a colleague, a friend."

     In his eulogy for Dr. Schiff, his longtime friend, Dr. Edward J. Mortola, summed it all up by saying: "Jack Schiff - a man to admire - a leader to emulate - a friend to treasure - a person to love."