Woodbury University announced the appointment of Los Angeles financier Lawrence Hurwitz as Chairman of the university's Board of Trustees.  Hurwitz, who previously served as vice chair, is CEO and founder of Lawrence Financial Group.  He succeeds longtime board chairman David St. Amant, president and COO of Econolite Group, Inc. of Anaheim.

The Woodbury University Board of Trustees serves as the institution's primary governing body, overseeing policy, academics and appointments.  Trustees serve for a minimum of three years, while the Recent Graduate Trustee serves a single two-year term.  The Board currently includes 28 active members and seven trustees emeriti.

"I'm delighted to turn the chair over to Larry, who has been a mainstay of the board for three years," St. Amant said.  "Woodbury's Board of Trustees reflects the tenor and diversity of the institution, and Larry will bring a keen appreciation of the university's four pillars -- design thinking, entrepreneurship, civic engagement and transdisciplinarity – to his duties as board chair."

"Woodbury University has never been more vibrant, as demonstrated by a recent series of milestones that speak to the university's expanding role in Southern California," Hurwitz said.  "From Woodbury's designation as a College of Distinction to our AACSB accreditation, from formation of the College of Transdisciplinarity to our ongoing growth in San Diego, the university is blending top-flight professional education with an ever-greater embrace of the liberal arts."

Hurwitz's firm, Lawrence Financial Group (LFG), was founded in Los Angeles in 1990 and has assisted more than 1,000 companies to obtain financing for growth, expansion, acquisition and re-structuring.  Lawrence has arranged more than $7 billion in financing, for companies with annual revenues ranging from $3 million to $1 billion, in a wide range of industries.  The firm specializes in providing asset-based financing including loans secured by accounts receivable and inventory, as well as term loans on equipment and intellectual property.  Other areas of expertise include purchase order loans, financing companies selling to offshore customers. Lawrence also arranges subordinated debt, mezzanine and junior subordinated funding, cash flow and DIP loans.

Prior to establishing LFG, Hurwitz served as CEO of Country Junction, a family-owned clothing retailer.  In 1972, when he became CEO, the firm operated three stores with sales of $3 million. He eventually built the firm to 150 stores across 17 states, with annual sales of $80 million, and then oversaw its sale.

Hurwitz also spent a number of years on Wall Street, becoming the youngest member of the New York Stock Exchange and CEO of a member firm broker dealer.  He did his undergraduate work at the University of Texas and earned an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. Subsequently he was admitted into Harvard's doctoral program, and received an appointment to its teaching and research staff.

Hurwitz is an active participant in the Southern California business community.  He established the California Capital Summit; was a co-founder of Business Forum International; is the founder and group leader of the Provisors Capital Markets Affinity Group; is a member of the Executive Committee of the Provisors Mergers & Acquisitions Group; and organized the CEO Round Table of the Harvard Business School Association of Orange County.