Celebrating Our Honorees

2009 Honorary Degree Recipients

Mr. Douglas M. Firstenberg
Founding Principal, Stonebridge Associates, Inc., Chair, Montgomery College Foundation

Mr. Douglas M. Firstenberg is a founding principal of Stonebridge Associates, Inc., a real estate investment and management firm. He is widely recognized for his expertise in strategic planning, project conceptualization, and major transaction negotiation. Under his leadership, Stonebridge Associates is sought after by both private and public sector organizations for their critical analysis and project execution.

For more than five years, Mr. Firstenberg has provided Montgomery College with the same unparalleled advice and guidance his clients and partners enjoy. Since being selected in 2007 as chair of the Montgomery College Foundation Board of Directors, he has worked tirelessly toward the successful completion of a number of important Montgomery College initiatives. As the chair of the foundation board’s real estate and entrepreneurial committee, he played a critical role in the bond financing for the development of the property that has been transformed into The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center. He also has contributed his vast experience to the Germantown Campus’s biosciences project, the expansion of our Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, and to the presidential search advisory committee.

Although these substantial efforts speak volumes about his commitment to Montgomery College, Mr. Firstenberg and his wife Suzanne have also generously given of their personal resources on behalf of our students. These meaningful gifts, along with the incredible strategic expertise and talent Mr. Firstenberg has contributed to our most significant initiatives, set a wonderful example to others interested in investing in higher education in our community. Most importantly, they allow Montgomery College to maintain the margin of excellence that has made it one of the top community colleges in the nation.

Mr. Firstenberg also serves on numerous local and national boards and committees. He is on the Board of Trustees of Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE). He was a founding board member and treasurer of the NoMa Business Improvement District in Washington, D.C. He served on the Board of Directors for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. And—as a faithful Duke University alumnus—he has served on the university’s Board of Visitors of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, the Executive Leadership Board of Washington, and the Duke University Club of Washington.

Mr. Firstenberg and his wife Suzanne live in Bethesda. They have three children.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Duke University.