D. Bennett Mazur

Who was D. Bennett Mazur?

David Bennett Mazur was an American Democratic Party politician, who was elected to serve six terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 37th Legislative District from 1982 until he was forced to resign in 1992 following a stroke. Mazur also spent two decades as a professor at Ramapo College.

Born in New York City, Mazur served in the United States Army in Europe during World War II, where he earned a Bronze Star Medal as an infantryman, in addition to three Purple Hearts. He earned his undergraduate degree with a major in economics from Lafayette College, earned a Masters of Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a major in economics and finance and was awarded a Ph.D. Rutgers University in urban planning and public policy formation. Mazur married the former Betty Greene of the Bronx on September 3, 1951. At the time, Mazur was employed by the New York Daily Mirror. Mazur was a longtime professor at Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, where he taught planning and public administration.

Mazur moved to Fort Lee, New Jersey after completing his military service, where he became a tenant activist. He was first elected to the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1964, serving in office from 1965 to 1967 and again from 1975 to 1980. In 1966, Mayor of New York City John Lindsay named Mazur to serve on the Metropolitan Regional Council, where he was chosen to head the organization's committee on the future of the Tri-State region. As Freeholder in 1977, Mazur led efforts to save the Campbell-Christie House, an historic home that had been slated for demolition. With a $150,000 grant, the 200-year-old home was moved two miles from New Milford to a site at New Bridge Landing in River Edge.