1951

Melvin Cornfield

November 2, 2024

Cornfield, a graduate of the College, specialized in tax law. He served as tax director at NBC and later at its parent company, and in the later part of his career led the tax institute at New York University. He also collaborated with future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to develop tax strategies that helped the NAACP advance its civil rights efforts. Cornfield was an avid birder and remained civically engaged in retirement, tutoring immigrants and supporting cultural and political institutions. 

Alfred Palfi

November 2, 2024

A graduate of the College, Palfi served in the Indiana National Guard while attending the Law School. He worked in both law and banking and volunteered for many professional, religious, and civic organizations. Palfi lived in Avon, Indiana.

1953

Alexander Polikoff

May 27, 2025

A US Navy veteran, Polikoff held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University. He focused on corporate law at the firm now known as Schiff Harden, and spent significant time representing clients pro bono with the American Civil Liberties Union. His best-known case involved the federal class-action suit alleging racial discrimination in Chicago public housing; Hills v. Gautreaux was decided unanimously for the plaintiffs by the US Supreme Court in 1976 and inspired Polikoff’s book Waiting for Gautreaux: A Story of Segregation, Housing, and the Black Ghetto. He became executive director of the public-interest law firm now known as Impact for Equity, where his other notable cases included one that scuttled plans to build an airport atop a landfill in Lake Michigan. Polikoff lived in Keene, New Hampshire. 

1954

Saul Mendlovitz

January 30, 2025

Mendlovitz, a World War II veteran, was a Syracuse University alumnus. A lifelong peace activist, he held the Dag Hammarskjöld Chair of Peace and World Order Studies at Rutgers Law School. He cofounded the World Order Models Project, developed peace education materials for universities all over the world, and created the United Nations Emergency Peace Service Project. Mendlovitz also wrote extensively on international law and global security, coauthoring The Strategy of World Order. In 1990, he received the UNESCO Peace Prize.

Daniel Reese

March 1, 2025

Reese was a US Army veteran and a graduate of the University of Illinois. For 70 years, he practiced law in his hometown of Taylorville, Illinois. He was the town’s mayor for 16 years and held a number of other civic leadership positions, including director of the Taylorville Co-op Association and director of the Central Illinois Health Planning Council. He also served as county chair of the Republican Central Committee. Reese loved to travel and spend time at his cabin in Canada. 

1956

Kathleen Beaufait

March 11, 2025

Beaufait was a graduate of Reed College. She worked for more than 30 years in the Oregon Office of the Legislative Counsel and was an adjunct professor at Northwestern College of Law. An avid traveler, she was also active in many civic organizations, including the Salem City Club and the American Association of University Women. After retiring, Beaufait did pro bono work for Marion-Polk Legal Aid. 

1957

Herbert Caplan

June 16, 2025

Caplan was a graduate of the College and a veteran of the Korean War. During his legal career, he served as first assistant to the Illinois attorney general and later as corporation counsel for the City of Chicago. He established two writing awards for students at the Law School: the Herbert L. Caplan Prize for Creative Legal Thinking and the Herbert L. Caplan Prize for Reform in Public & Constitutional Law. He was also devoted to his city, founding Protect Our Parks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to Chicago’s public green spaces, and volunteering in Chicago Public Schools.

Carl Frankel

May 5, 2025

Frankel earned his undergraduate degree at the College. After a short time in private practice, he became a trial attorney at the National Labor Relations Board and then joined the United Steelworkers (USW), where he eventually became general counsel. While at the USW, he argued before the US Supreme Court, guided antidumping and subsidy litigation, and supervised the union’s lawsuit challenging NAFTA. He sat on the boards of Kaiser Aluminum and LTV Steel and taught labor law at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.

Nathaniel Grey

April 21, 2025

Grey was an alumnus of the College. As trustee of the Bernard Heerey Family Foundation, he was instrumental in the Law School’s Heerey Fellowship Program, which provides financial support for first- and second-year Law School students pursuing public interest work during the summer break. 

1959

David Holloman

November 6, 2024

A Davidson College graduate, Holloman practiced law in Florida for 48 years. He lived in Arcadia, Florida.

1960

Edward Eberhart

April 18, 2025

Eberhart was an Eagle Scout, a US Army veteran, and an alumnus of the College of Wooster. He practiced in Wooster, Ohio, with the firm eventually known as Funk, Funk and Eberhart, and also served as city solicitor and as judge of the Wooster Municipal Court before finishing his legal career at the firm Kaufman, Eberhart, Cicconetti, and Kennedy. He was active in the Wooster Rotary Club, officiated high school soccer, and loved classical music.

1961

Richard Elledge

April 25, 2025

Elledge enlisted in the US Army after graduating from Carleton College. He practiced environmental law at the Chicago firm of Gould & Ratner, where he was eventually a partner, and from which he retired after 60 years. He spent much of his leisure time sailing and was commodore of the Columbia Yacht Club of Chicago for many years. 

James Hautzinger

April 27, 2025

Hautzinger earned his undergraduate degree at Grinnell College. He specialized in labor and employment law and antitrust cases at the Denver, Colorado, firm now known as Taft Stettinius & Hollister, where he was managing partner. He was part of the inaugural class of fellows of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and was also a Democratic Party precinct captain. He loved travel, birdwatching, and playing the guitar. 

Norman Klein

April 25, 2025

A graduate of Brooklyn College, Klein was a partner for 40 years in the Clifton, New Jersey, firm of Carlet Garrison Klein and Zaretsky before retiring at age 85. He was active in the Passaic County Bar Association and Northeast New Jersey Legal Services, established the Passaic County Contract Mediation Program, and served as an arbitrator. He was also a dedicated volunteer at his synagogue. 

Richard Ogle

March 27, 2025

Ogle held an undergraduate degree from Wittenberg University. He joined Calfee, Halter, and Griswold in Cleveland, Ohio, where he specialized in corporate and business law and mergers and acquisitions. After retiring, he accepted an administrative position at the national office of the United Church of Christ. He was an active member of the Court of Nisi Prius in Cleveland. 

Perry Weed

June 20, 2025

A graduate of Hamilton College, Weed had a widely varied career as a litigation specialist, author, television producer, special assistant to two members of Congress, and vice president of government affairs for the Travel Industry Association of America. In retirement, he focused on writing about economics and published more than one hundred articles. He founded the Economic Club of Annapolis, and enjoyed music, dancing, tennis, and running. 

1962

Alvin Becker

November 30, 2024

Becker was a graduate of the University of Illinois, and after graduating from the Law School earned an MBA at Michigan State University. He spent more than 35 years in banking in Illinois and served on many boards, including those of the United Way, Springfield Memorial Medical Center, Rockford Health System, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples (Florida). Becker lived in Chicago. 

David Earle III

January 18, 2025

Mary Anne Krupsak

December 28, 2024

In 1974, Krupsak became the first woman elected lieutenant governor of New York State. Holder of a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and a master’s degree from Boston University, Krupsak began her career with the New York State Department of Commerce and later served on the staff of Governor W. Averell Harriman. She was subsequently elected to the New York State Assembly and then to the state senate before assuming the role of lieutenant governor. After leaving public office, she was a senior partner in the Krupsak & Mahoney law firm and later cofounded the economic development firm Krupsak, Wass de Czege & Associates. In addition, she served as a director for several corporations and played a key role in developing the wine industry in New York’s Finger Lakes region. 

Morrie Much

April 30, 2025

Much earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He worked in Chicago at Arvey, Hodes & Mantynband and at Raynor Mitchell, where he became a partner specializing in real estate, corporate law, and secured lending. He then cofounded the firm of Much Shelist and oversaw its growth into a major, full-service firm. Much supported numerous Jewish causes and organizations, including the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. 

1963

Alexander Allison

November 23, 2024

An Amherst College graduate, Allison worked at Sidley Austin and then joined the general counsel’s office of the Northern Illinois Gas Company, where he worked for more than 30 years. He served on the boards of Metropolitan Family Services of DuPage County and the Glen Ellyn Public Library, and was a longtime volunteer at his church. Allison lived in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. 

1964

Gilbert Asher

June 9, 2025

Asher was a University of Michigan alumnus, and spent his career as a lawyer and investor in Chicago and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He loved skiing, photography, traveling, sushi, and ice cream. 

James Moreland

February 10, 2025

Moreland held a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and an LLM from Boston University. He practiced law in Florida before working as an eminent domain attorney in the state department of transportation and the Orange County Attorney’s Office. He was a municipal judge and served as a board member of a number of legal and civic organizations; he was also a volunteer high school track coach and donated his time to Junior Achievement, Seniors Against Crime, and the Florida Office of the State Attorney. Moreland lived in Winter Park, Florida.

Martin Wald

November 5, 2023

Wald enrolled in the Law School after graduating from Harvard University and earning an MBA at the University. He spent most of his career at Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis in Philadelphia, and coedited the first edition of ERISA: A Comprehensive Guide. Wald traveled to all 50 states and loved music and reading. 

1965

Marvin Bauer

February 19, 2025

Bauer earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin. He worked in the Office of the California Attorney General before joining a Santa Barbara firm, where he specialized in medical malpractice litigation and received an award for his work with the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Teen Court. Bauer toured the world on a motorcycle and also enjoyed golfing and lap swimming. 

1966

Andrew Klein

November 29, 2024

A graduate of the College, Klein was director of market regulations for the US Securities and Exchange Commission and later became a partner in the firm now known as ArentFox Schiff. Among his many interests were classical music, Bob Dylan, chess, and Roman history. 

Peter Messitte

January 11, 2025

Messitte, an Amherst College alumnus, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil after graduating from the Law School. After 14 years in private legal practice, he became a judge on the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, and was later appointed US District Judge for the District of Maryland by President Bill Clinton. He often advised Portuguese-speaking nations on issues of global jurisprudence, and was awarded the Order of the Southern Cross by the president of Brazil. 

Joe Young

May 17, 2025

Young held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College. His legal career focused on patent law and business law; he also served on many philanthropic boards, including those of Arthritis Patient Services, Parents for Educational Choice in North Carolina, and the Unity Classical Charter School of Charlotte. He loved reading and spending time outdoors, and was a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina.

1967

John Beard

December 22, 2024

Beard worked as a legislative aide for Alaska Governor Keith H. Miller before practicing law in Anchorage for four decades. He served on the boards of the Anchorage Opera Company and Alaska Children’s Service and volunteered at a local food pantry and soup kitchen. An opera lover, Beard sang bass with the Anchorage Concert Chorus and the Basically Bach Festival.

Robert Eastburn Jr.

May 2, 2025

Eastburn was a member of ROTC during his undergraduate studies at the University of Delaware. He served in the US Army during the Vietnam War, became a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and retired from the Army Reserves as a colonel. In civilian life, he practiced corporate law for several defense industry companies. Eastburn was an avid hiker on the Appalachian Trail, and after age 80 became a certified naturalist with the Tennessee State Park Service and a docent at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Charles Pratt

May 30, 2025

After graduating from Harvard University, Pratt spent three years in the US Army as a Russian linguist. In addition to his private legal practice, he was general counsel of the New York Power Authority. Pratt lived in New York City. 

James Williams Jr.

December 7, 2024

Williams was a graduate of Indiana University. While working at the Louisville, Kentucky, firm now known as Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, his clients included the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant Reuse Authority and Greater Clark County Schools. He later joined the firm Middleton & Reutlinger. Williams served on many nonprofit, professional, and civic boards, including those of the Louisville Orchestra, WKPC Public Television, the Clark County Youth Shelter, and the Clark County Public Defender. He also served on the Indiana State Ethics Commission. 

1968 

William Decker

December 17, 2024

Decker was a graduate of DePauw University and also studied at Freiburg University in Germany and the London School of Economics. He served in the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and as legal counsel at Valley Forge General Army Hospital in Pennsylvania. After spending time in private practice in Michigan, Decker became a federal administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration, eventually becoming the chief judge in Grand Rapids. A choral singer, Decker served as president and board member of the Schubert Male Chorus and also loved to travel. 

1969

Gilbert Gildea Jr.

December 27, 2024

Gildea was a Yale University alumnus and taught at Michigan State University before practicing tax law. He lived in Newport Beach, California. 

Allan Horwich

July 1, 2025

Horwich held a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. He spent his legal career at the Chicago firm now known as ArentFox Schiff, and taught securities and corporate law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he was professor emeritus of practice. He published numerous scholarly articles and commented on securities law and corporate governance issues for outlets such as Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, the Los Angeles Times, and PBS. He enjoyed traveling, running, and reading about philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

1970

Philip Wojtalewicz

September 14, 2024

Wojtalewicz was an attorney in solo practice in Walnut Creek, California. 

1972

James Hinchliff

February 20, 2025

Hinchliff held a bachelor’s degree from Drake University. While attending the Law School, he also taught music full-time at Roosevelt University and the American Conservatory of Music. Hinchliff specialized in utilities law, becoming senior vice president of People’s Energy in Chicago. He devoted many hours volunteering and serving as board president of the nonprofit Chase House and supported the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony, and other arts organizations.

James Wright Jr.

December 31, 2024

Wright earned his undergraduate degree at Wesleyan University. He began his legal career at Cahill, Gordon & Reindel in New York City and later practiced civil litigation in Washington, DC. He served on the board of Barracks Row Main Street, a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing the Barracks Row corridor on Capitol Hill, and was also a high-performance driving instructor, a scuba diver, and a world traveler. 

1973

Michele Langer

November 20, 2024

After graduating from Bryn Mawr College, Langer was part of a team that traveled around the US to evaluate the Office of Equal Opportunity’s Legal Services Program. She spent her career in Philadelphia, first at the firm of Mesirov Gelman Jaffe Cramer & Jamieson and later as a named partner at Toll, Ebby & Gough. A voracious reader who enjoyed cooking and studied Italian, Langer lived in Philadelphia.

George Priest

December 17, 2024

An alumnus of Yale University, Priest was the Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law and Economics at Yale Law School, teaching there for more than 40 years and serving as director of John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Public Policy. He cofounded the American Law and Economics Association and served as its first president. Cowriter of the seminal article “The Selection of Disputes for Litigation,” Priest also authored many other articles as well as the book The Rise of Law and Economics: An Intellectual History. Among many other honors, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

1975

Harvey Kurtz

February 3, 2025

Kurtz was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School. A specialist in employee benefits, ERISA, and executive compensation law, he worked at Wisconsin firms including Foley and Lardner, FisherBroyles, and SmithLynch, from which he retired as a partner. Kurtz was also active in nonprofit organizations, including the Shorewood Foundation, Friends of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and Centro Legal por les Derechos Humanos. He enjoyed food, theater, travel, and the outdoors. 

1976

Mark Rosenbaum

July 31, 2025

Rosenbaum was a graduate of the University of Michigan. His legal practice, most recently at Fischel Kahn in Chicago, focused on representing condominium associations and other similar associations. Many of the proposals he worked on as a member of the Chicago Bar Association Subcommittee on Condominium Law were subsequently enacted into state law. A map collector and board member of the Chicago Map Society, Rosenbaum was also a dedicated runner for many years and enjoyed kayaking on Lake Michigan.

1977

J. Lawrence Jr.

April 6, 2025

Lawrence was a Duke University alumnus. He clerked for Judge Malcolm Wilkey of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and was later a partner at the firm now known as Troutman Pepper Locke and at Arnold & Porter. He also taught at the University of Illinois School of Law, Washington and Lee School of Law, and Duke University School of Law, and was well known as a mentor to younger lawyers.

Robert Speiser

October 3, 2024

Speiser earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania and also completed an MBA at the University. After a brief career in corporate law, he worked at Health-Chem Corp. and later was CEO of Union Broach. He then left the corporate world to become a New York City public school teacher, where he created a foundation that organized trips for students to see art in the city. In Provincetown, Massachusetts, he served on a number of civic committees, including scholarship committees, the charter revision committee, and the AIDS Memorial committee. He enjoyed collecting art and gardening. Speiser lived in Amherst, Massachusetts.

1979

Edith Siler

November 6, 2024

Jean Snyder

May 1, 2025

A lifelong Hyde Park resident, Snyder was a graduate of both the Laboratory Schools and the College. She worked in consumer advocacy for the American Medical Association, Planned Parenthood, and other organizations before enrolling in the Law School. Following several years at the firm of D’Ancona and Pflaum in Chicago, she joined the Macarthur Justice Center at the Law School, where she also taught. Her successes at the center, including cases that led to the closure of an Illinois supermax prison, led her to go into private practice defending the rights of the incarcerated and wrongly accused. Snyder loved nature and spent many summers at her family’s western Montana cabin.

1980

John Berringer

March 5, 2025

After graduating from Williams College, Berringer worked in a settlement house in London. He began his career as a litigator and insurance recovery specialist at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, Anderson Kill, and Reed Smith. An active member of Grace Church, he was a volunteer tutor in the church’s GO Project for public school students and was posthumously honored with the Cree Harland GO Champion Award. He was a whiz at crossword puzzles and loved theater, music, and nightlife in New York City. 

1981

Eric Buether

October 10, 2024

Buether was a graduate of the College. He worked at several firms before cofounding the Dallas, Texas, firm of Buether Joe & Counselors, where his practice focused on intellectual property and also encompassed antitrust, class action, and other complex litigation for clients in a wide range of industries. Buether was active in the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Alexis de Tocqueville Society and was a supporter of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Opera. His hobbies included photography and travel.

1985

Stephen Penico

May 3, 2025

Penico was a Stanford University alumnus. He began his career in demand forecasting for consumer products and
practiced law briefly before shifting his focus to computer programming. His interests spanned math, languages, history, political science, and classical music. A voracious reader, Penico was also a lifelong learner who recently learned to play the viola and was a volunteer at his church. He lived in St. Louis, Missouri. 

1986

Shawn Collins

December 15, 2024

Collins earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame and was a certified public accountant before
enrolling in the Law School. He founded the Collins Law Firm in Naperville, Illinois, which specialized in environmental, business, and personal injury law. He loved movies, Bruce Springsteen, and Italian food. 

1991

Keith Nashawaty

November 1, 2017

Nashawaty held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University and began his legal career at Sullivan & Cromwell. He lived in Boston and was an enthusiastic supporter of Boston-area sports teams, especially the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox.

1993

Lawrence Ebert

January 2, 2025

Ebert was also a graduate of the College. 

1997

Jarrod Hanson

January 25, 2025

Hanson held an undergraduate degree from the University of Denver. He practiced public finance law before becoming a high school social studies teacher and then earning a PhD at the University of Colorado. He went on to teach in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado–Denver, where he also supervised student teachers. He was coauthor of the book The Other American Dilemma: Schools, Mexicans, and the Nature of Jim Crow, 1912– 1953, and was a volunteer with his church, HIV Care Link, and Casa de Paz. 

2000

Melissa Bloom-Brand

June 10, 2024

Bloom-Brand was a Stanford University graduate. Over the years she worked at the firms of White & Case and Katten Muchin Rosenman, and for entertainment companies Twentieth Century Fox and Netflix. Most recently, she was vice president and deputy general counsel at the wellness company Calm. Bloom-Brand was a Stanford alumni volunteer and a board member of the family engagement cooperative at Geffen Academy at UCLA. 

2006

Ye Cecilia Hong

January 1, 2025

Hong earned her LLM at the Law School and held a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Laws from China Foreign Affairs University
in Beijing. She was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis and at King & Spalding before joining Baker McKenzie in New York City, where she was a partner and a member of the firm’s transactional practice.

2017

Julius Yam

March 19, 2024

In addition to his LLM, Yam held an LLB from the University of Hong Kong, where he was assistant professor in the Faculty of Law, and a DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford. A scholar of constitutional law and courts, he was particularly interested in the role of courts in strengthening democratic norms. Yam was deputy editor in chief of the Hong Kong Law Journal, and his work appeared in the Modern Law Review, the International Journal of Constitutional Law, and other publications. He held visiting positions at institutions that included the University of New South Wales, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Göttingen.