Brenner, Diane
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Diane Brenner, 71, a New Yorker who embraced the Florida lifestyle more than two decades ago, died June 6, 2021, after a relentless five-year battle with ovarian cancer.
Diane graduated from Plainview, Long Island public schools and received her bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from Cornell University.
Following her graduation from Cornell, Diane earned two master’s degrees, one in special education from the University of Albany and one in education from Brooklyn College.
Her affiliation with and love for her alma mater continued for decades following her graduation. She became active with the university’s alumni association, and served as vice president of Cornell’s School of Human Ecology Board of Directors.
Diane worked as a master teacher at both Brooklyn College and the State University of New York in the laboratory preschools for children with special needs.
With a keen mind for business and a heart for social causes, Diane moved to Albany to be nearer the center of government and human service issues. Her professional career in the state capital started in the early 1980s as a legislative associate for the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, a huge state agency that served hundreds of thousands of clients at the time.
She represented the governor and the state agency on important issues such as maternal and child health, the prevention of developmental disabilities and infant mortality.
Diane served as assistant director of Planned Parenthood in Albany for several years before joining the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Northeastern New York as executive director. She successfully lobbied state lawmakers to grant insurance coverage for cystic fibrosis patients over the age of 21.
Diane continued to be invigorated by the challenges of running not-for-profit es of running not-for-profit organizations that improved the lives of New Yorkers.
She became the chief executive officer of the New
York State Psychological Association in 1989, the largest state association of licensed psychologists in the nation.
During her 11 years at the helm, she forged this trade association of 3,300 members into a state and national powerhouse.
Her considerable accomplishments at the psychology association included doubling membership, increasing the membership retention rate to the best in the nation, and establishing an extensive and underwritten risk-management program for psychologists.
Diane was honored by her national peers as the most outstanding executive director of a state psychological association because of her unprecedented success turning around this large trade association. Her work at the psychology association was highlighted in a front-page article in the New York Times.
Always acknowledging the importance of volunteering for local charities, Diane shared her management and fund-raising expertise by serving on the executive boards of the YMCA and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, among other groups in the Albany area.
Building on her 20-year professional career in New York, Diane moved to California to become managing director for educational, professional and business development at Imind Education Systems in San Francisco.
She moved to Palm Beach Gardens in 2000 and became a real estate investor and licensed real estate associate.
Diane is survived by her husband of 15 years, Bruce Shulman of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; her mother, Lillian Brenner of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and a sister, Marlene (Mark) Senders of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. and Long Island.
Survivors also include a daughter, Rachael (Peter) Lapman of Manalapan, N.J.; and a son, Michael (Abbie) Smith of Chappaqua, N.Y.; and stepdaughter Parker (George) Tucci and four grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, TN, 381480142 or to Trustbridge Hospice, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL, 33407.