By JOEL ELLIOTT
Staff Writer Wednesday, March 14, 2007

College administrators are still working out the details, but New York philanthropist Paul Schupf plans to fund a program that will extend beyond Azad's four-year enrollment.

Schupf had the idea to pay for Azad's education and trip to the United States after viewing an ABC News broadcast that profiled the young Iraqi.

The New York investor started the effort by calling Thomas College President George Spann within minutes of the broadcast.

"Thomas is the perfect place in a perfect town," Schupf said of his choice. "It's a blue-collar town ... and it's an excellent place where somebody new's not going to stand out."

Schupf said Thomas College's relatively small campus would provide a less intimidating environment than other colleges. The much-publicized journey, which required the help of U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, ABC News, developer Joseph Boulos and, of course, funding from Schupf, ended with a happy arrival on the ice-bound Thomas College campus on March 3.

"Dan may be the happiest fellow on campus right now," Spann wrote in a letter to Schupf. "He is acclimating well and making numerous friends."

While the media's glare has hardly left Azad, Schupf has stayed clear of it from the beginning. Schupf, 69, serves as president of Paul J. Schupf Associates, a private investment firm in Hamilton, N.Y., and holds honorary doctorates from both Thomas and Colby colleges. His name appears on several buildings and fixtures on the Colby College campus as a result of his donations, yet in Maine his name has rarely surfaced in print.

That's fine with him, Schupf said.

"It's really not about me at all," he said. "It's about Dan. And it's about the idea."

Schupf describes himself as a "fanatical art collector" who specializes in Alex Katz, an American artist who studied in Skowhegan and spent summers in Lincolnville. Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Schupf said he acquired an international perspective through extensive travel, so deciding to make it possible for a promising Iraqi student to escape the chaos in Baghdad was a natural move for him.

The war in Iraq was a poor idea that has been badly executed, Schupf said.

"I'm violently opposed to the war because ... colonialism is not going to work in the 21st century," he said.

Schupf said he spoke to Azad briefly on the phone for the first time just days ago. The teenager at the time was traveling on a bus to see a Celtics game in Boston.

"He was very easy to talk to; he was pleasant and lively," Schupf said. "And that's why he's here -- he charmed Dan Harris at ABC and everybody who watched it. He's a terrific kid."

Joel Elliott -- 861-9252

jelliott@centralmaine.com