Dawn Greene, Visionary Benefactor of Law School, Dies at 88

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Dawn Greene, Visionary Benefactor of Law School, Dies at 88
Public Affairs, 212-854-2650
 
New York, Sept. 1, 2010—Dawn M. Greene, who with her late husband Jerome L. Greene, served as dedicated benefactors to generations of Columbia Law School students and faculty, died Monday. She was 88.
 
Greene and her late husband, a member of the Class of 1928, were towering figures in the history of Columbia Law School. To honor their generosity, the Law School named its flagship building—the hub of its intellectual life—Jerome Greene Hall.
 
As president and CEO of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, she supported significant enhancements to Law School classrooms, faculty offices, and community spaces. That included equipping classrooms with interactive technology that enhanced student-teacher dialogue, along with teleconferencing facilities that allowed the Law School to easily connect with the legal community all over the world.
 
“The Columbia Law School family is deeply saddened by the loss of Dawn,” said David M. Schizer, Dean and the Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law. “As a visionary and generous benefactor, her gifts through the Foundation further transformed Greene Hall into an international nexus for legal scholarship.”
 
Greene established the Jerome L. Greene Professorship in Transactional Law—currently held by Professor Victor Goldberg--as well as the Greene scholarships, which have provided financial aid to more than 25 students each year since 1994. She was also a generous supporter of innovations for the Law School’s clinical legal education program.
 
The Greenes were also avid art collectors who donated several works to the Law School, including “Optics (D-70)” by Alexander Calder.
 
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In 2009, Greene received the Law School’s Medal for Excellence, its highest honor, on behalf of her husband, who died in 1999 (from left, John Olivieri '94, Dawn Greene, Dean Schizer, and Steven Epstein '68).
 
“We celebrate the life of a remarkable woman as we mourn the loss of our dear friend,” Dean Schizer said. “We will remember fondly Dawn’s generosity of spirit, her integrity, and her enduring devotion to Columbia Law School.”
 
Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger called Greene an “irreplaceable partner” whose impact “is lasting and so large as to defy easy description.”
 
“We will miss her deeply even as we rededicate ourselves to fulfilling her vision in the years ahead,” Bollinger said.
 
To read a tribute to Dawn Greene from Columbia University, click here.
 
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins its traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, criminal, national security, and environmental law.