Recently the New York Times interviewed Strauss Zelnick ’79, who once ran 20th Century Fox at the ripe age of 32. He has now invested in businesses such as the home and gift catalog company, Lillian Vernon.

These changes, however, have not nearly interested students as much as the new glass enclosure that bears the Zelnick moniker and connects the chapel to the recently renovated ’92 Theater on College Row.

The Zelnick Pavilion was so-named because of his long commitment to the University as a trustee and as a major donor.

“I really like the building,” Zelnick said. “It’s particularly nice at night. Having said that, I had nothing to do with the architecture, so I take no credit for the way it turned out.”

A graduate of Harvard Law School, with a dual degree in business and law, Zelnick gives credit to Wesleyan for his intellectual inspiration.

“Wesleyan changed my life. It was really my first introduction to genuine scholarship. I was able to study what I wanted in great depth, and I think I learned more in four years at Wesleyan than I did in business school and law school combined. I would attribute much of the success I’ve enjoyed to my Wesleyan experience,” he said.

Zelnick double-majored in Psychology and English, and said he found that it was at Wesleyan that he could really excel for the first time. Apart from academics, Zelnick reported news on WESU, the radio station. He was also writing music and performing on the guitar.

Psycology professor John Seamon says he reads about his former pupil in the newspaper from time to time.

“He was one of those students who pass along through the years that if you could buy stock in such people, you would have made a big investment in him,” Seamon said.

Zelnick proved to be a profitable commodity as a sharp businessman. After graduating from Harvard Business School, he began his career in the international television division of Columbia Pictures. He then moved to an independent film company, Vestron Inc., before becoming president of 20th Century Fox, and later, Chief of BMG Entertainment, where he made deals with pop singers like Whitney Houston.

Now Zelnick runs a company called ZelnickMedia that he formed in 2000 with four partners. He is living life in the “slow lane,” as the writer of the recent New York Times article put it, assessing his change in career focus from managing large, glamorous companies to more fiscally conservative ones. But as he was overseas on business when he talked with the Argus, clearly, life in the “slow lane” is a relative term.

Outside of his work, Zelnick enjoys his family, including his wife of fourteen years and their three kids. An active man, Zelnick says he bikes, works out and enjoys skiing, sailing and ice skating.

As an active member of the University Board of Trustees, Zelnick continues to think about the University’s future.

“I see Wesleyan continuing to focus on academic excellence and becoming more and more competitive with the best small colleges in the country,” Zelnick said.

Zelnick is by no means a detached supporter of the Wesleyan community. In fact, he helped the Wesleyan Spirits produce their latest CD, “B’Doink!”

“[Zelnick] is full of energy, and he is inspirational on many levels,” said Wes Pederson ’04, who met Zelnick while they were working on the group’s album. “It’s been refreshing to find someone so successful in the business world who is as balanced and full of good will as Strauss.”