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Robert W. Dowling (September 9, 1895 – August 28, 1973) was a real estate investor and philanthropist in the
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
area. Dowling College was named for him.


Biography

Robert Whittle Dowling was born in New York City. His father Robert Emmett Dowling was president of the City Investing real estate firm. In 1915 he made the first recorded swim around
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
(in 13 hours 45 minutes). Following his father's death in 1943, he took over his father's company. Although Dowling had no formal education beyond high school, his advice was sought for the design and establishment of the Parkchester, Stuyvesant Town, and Peter Cooper Village real estate ventures. All three ventures marked a change in the classic New York City grid to create housing developments within a campus setting. Dowling received a Special Tony Award in 1948 for his contribution to theatre as result of his ownership of the Fulton Theatre, Morosco Theatre and Coronet Theatre and Gaiety Theatre In 1957, he was among the developers who transformed the Globe Movie Theatre into a legitimate Broadway theatre now called the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre. He was among the producers of the original ''Sound of Music''. Dowling, who was a friend of Adelphi University dean Allyn P. Robinson, provided a grant of $3 million in 1968, which allowed the Adelphi campus in
Oakdale, New York Oakdale is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet (and census-designated place) in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, situated on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. The hamlet's popula ...
to become independent and it became Dowling College. Dowling College closed in 2016.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Robert W. 1895 births 1973 deaths Philanthropists from New York (state) American theatre managers and producers American businesspeople in real estate Special Tony Award recipients 20th-century American philanthropists Manhattan Island swimmers