{{Short description|American psychologist}} {{Infobox person | name = Gail Furman | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Gail Gorman | birth_date = 1946 | birth_place = Queens, New York, U.S. | death_date = April 17, 2019 | death_place = | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = University of Michigan (BA)<br>New York University (PhD) | occupation = | spouse = Jay Furman (divorced) | children = Jason Furman<br> Jesse Furman | parents = | family = | website = }} '''Gail Furman''' (1946 – 2019) was an American psychologist and political donor. Furman was president of the Furman Foundation, Inc. The foundation is a major donor to the Tides Center and the Media Matters for America, a left-leaning center for journalism founded by author David Brock.<ref>[http://patdollard.com/2007/10/04/once-a-liar-always-a-liar-media-matters-brock-has-zero-credibility/ ''Once a liar, always a liar'']</ref><ref name="JewishDailyForward">[http://forward.com/articles/8199/wesley-clark-jumps-in-with-kosher-style-kickoff/ Jewish Daily Forward: "Wesley Clark Jumps in With Kosher-Style Kickoff - Whirlwind Week Sees General Angling for Dean’s Voters, Dollars" By E.J. Kessler] September 26, 2003</ref>
==Early life and education== Furman was born in 1946 to a Jewish family in Queens, New York, the daughter of Martha and David Gorman.<ref name=MarthaObit>{{Cite web|title=Deaths Gorman, Martha |work=The New York Times|date= October 25, 2001 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/25/classified/paid-notice-deaths-gorman-martha.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Furman--Gail. UJA-Federation of New York mourns the passing of Gail Furman, beloved mother and mother-in-law of our friends Jesse Furman and Ariela Dubler who have long demonstrated leadership and an unwavering commitment to the Jewish community|work=New York Times|date=April 19, 2019 |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=gail-furman&pid=192586534 }}</ref> Her mother was a performer who used the stage name Marny Frances.<ref name=MarthaObit /> She graduated from the University of Michigan and held a PhD in psychology from New York University.<ref name=HRF>{{Cite web|title=Gail Furman Psychologist|publisher=Human Rights First|url= https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/biography/gail-furman |access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Gail Furman - Discover the Networks|url=http://www.discoverthenetworks.com/individualprofile.asp?indid=2795|website=www.discoverthenetworks.com|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref>
== Career == Furman worked as a psychologist at the Fieldston School and the Dalton School from 1973 until 1990.<ref name="HRF" /><ref>{{Cite book|last= Kuper |first= Peter |page=52|title=This Is Your Child |magazine=New York|date=November 24, 1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eegCAAAAMBAJ&q=gail+furman&pg=PA52 }}</ref>
In December 2003, Furman attended a gathering in New York City organized by Erica Payne in order to watch a screening of Democracy Alliance founder Rob Stein's PowerPoint presentation, ''The Conservative Message Machine Money Matrix''. After the presentation, Furman agreed in front of the group to donate more than $25,000 to fund Stein to conduct a research project to determine "what kind of groups the Left needed to fund."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mattbai.com/argument-book |title=''The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics'' p. 37 |access-date=2007-11-18 |archive-date=2007-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116101613/http://www.mattbai.com/argument-book |url-status=dead }}</ref>
At the second meeting of the Democracy Alliance in October 2005, Furman "demanded to know why the alliance wasn't creating a 'nerve center' that could book progressives on TV news shows."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mattbai.com/argument-book |title=op cit, p. 118-119 |access-date=2007-11-18 |archive-date=2007-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116101613/http://www.mattbai.com/argument-book |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Furman along with George Soros and other Democracy Alliance members John R. Hunting; Paul Rudd (co-founder of Adaptive Analytics); Pat Stryker; Nicholas Hanauer; ex-Clinton administration official Rob Stein; Drummond Pike; real estate developer Robert Bowditch; Pioneer Hybrid International-heir and congressional candidate Scott Wallace; Susie Tompkins Buell; real estate developer Albert Dwoskin; and Taco Bell-heir Rob McKay, funded the Secretary of State Project, an American non-profit, 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states, who typically oversee the election process.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Chuck |last=Neubauer |title= Soros and liberal groups seeking top election posts in battleground states |work=Washington Times|date= June 23, 2011 |url= https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/23/section-527-works-to-seat-liberals-as-election-ove/ }}</ref> The Alliance was critical in getting California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie re-elected.
==Personal life== She was married to real estate developer Jay Furman; they had two children: Barack Obama's chief economic advisor Jason Furman and federal judge Jesse Furman.<ref name=NYUMem>{{Cite web|title=In Memoriam: Jay Furman, 1942-2015 |publisher=New York University School of Law News|date=January 5, 2015 |url=http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/memoriam-jay-furman }}</ref> They later divorced.
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604073308/http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=10021&last=FURMAN&first=GAIL Federal campaign contributions]
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furman, Gail}} Category:Living people Category:American child psychologists Category:20th-century American Jews Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:1946 births Category:21st-century American Jews