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Mitchel Flaum ’40, who joined the Lafayette College Board of Trustees in 1971 and was elected to emeritus status in 1989, died June 10, 2011.
Mitchel Flaum '40
Flaum was a member of the trustee Committee on Grounds and Buildings from 1971 to 1989, serving as chair from 1979 to 1989. He was also a member of the Committee on Athletic and Student Affairs from 1974 to 1978, serving as vice chair in 1977-78.
After graduating with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, Flaum joined S&S Corrugated Paper Machinery Co., Inc., in Brooklyn, N.Y. as an engineer-in-training and spent the first year as a machinist and assembler. The company manufactured heavy machinery for the production of corrugated paperboard and corrugated paper boxes with worldwide sales. In 1956, he was elected president and guided the company’s growth to seven locations on four continents. Flaum became chair of the board and CEO in 1961, a position he held until he retired in December 1985.
A trustee of Beth Israel Medical Center and Schnurmacher Nursing Home, Flaum  previously served as chairman of the Board of Architectural Review, Scarsdale, N.Y., and was a director of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce from 1960 to 1985.
Flaum established the Mitchel ’40 and Constance Flaum Scholarship Fund at Lafayette. He enjoyed returning to campus for football games in the fall, bringing along his sons and in more recent years, his grandson.
He is survived by his wife, Constance, two sons, and four grandchildren.