Remembering Columbia Law School Professor Harvey J. Goldschmid '65

 

 

 

"I saw him as a man who was tough as steel when it came to principles and soft as he could be when it came to people." — Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the S.E.C 
 

"He understood how important the markets are to all of us, and he endeavored to make them better." — Dean Emeritus David M. Schizer, the Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law and Economics 

 

 

New York, May 12, 2015—Hundreds of Columbia Law School alumni, faculty, and students packed into a Jerome Greene Hall classroom on April 29 to honor the memory of distinguished alumnus Professor Harvey J. Goldschmid ’65, a dedicated public servant who served as a commissioner and the top attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Goldschmid joined the Columbia Law School faculty in 1970 and became the Dwight Professor of Law in 1984. He was a two-time winner of the Law School’s top teaching prize and served as general counsel of the S.E.C. from 1998 to 1999, as special senior adviser to then-Chairman Levitt in 2000, and as a commissioner for the agency from 2002 to 2005. In 1999, he received the Chairman’s Award for Excellence.

 

Goldschmid died on Feb. 12 at the age of 74.

 

In addition to Levitt, several other speakers—Goldschmid’s family, former colleagues, and friends—addressed the standing-room only crowd at the memorial service, which was presided over by Gillian Lester, Dean and the Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law: Robert R. Glauber, former vice chair of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation where Goldschmid was a trustee; Ira M. Millstein ’49, Adjunct Professor of Law and Business and chair of the Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School; Dean Emeritus David M. Schizer, the Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law and Economics; Joel Seligman, president of Rochester University; and Goldschmid’s wife and sons: Mary Goldschmid, Charles Goldschmid ’04, Paul Goldschmid ’05, and Joe Goldschmid ’14.

 

 

Goldschmid will be remembered not just for his devotion to public service and his brilliant mind, the speakers said, but also for his grace, humility, and positive attitude in any situation.

 

““There wasn’t a major business decision in my life that I didn’t use Harvey as a frame of reference,” Levitt said. “In the blood sport that is Washington politics, he constantly saw the better side of people.”

 

Millstein said Goldschmid became his friend after they met in the early 1970s. Though they often disagreed on policy matters—“You name it, we wrangled over it,” Millstein said—neither ever got angry with the other.

 

“He was what he was, and I am what I am,” Millstein said. “He rubbed off on me. He made me a little better.”

 

Schizer said he relied on Goldschmid for advice and leadership throughout his 10 years as dean.

 

“Someone who had achieved what he achieved had a right to a high opinion of himself,” Schizer said. “He never indulged in that.”

 

Each of Goldschmid’s sons—all Columbia Law School graduates—addressed the crowd as well, sharing memories of bedtime rituals, Sunday tennis games, and made-up stories designed to impart life’s lessons and starring Goldschmid’s heroes (including Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Columbia Law School student, and Professors Herbert Wechsler ’31 and William L. Cary, a former SEC chair).

 

“‘Do as Dad would have done’ is my motto and always will be,” Charles Goldschmid said.

 

Mary Goldschmid said she and her husband of 41 years were “each other’s history and each other’s habit.” She spoke of their happiness together and also of the joy Harvey derived from his life at Columbia, where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees and where he taught for 45 years. Like other speakers, she said Harvey’s legacy would live on because of his influence in the classroom and outside it.

 

“He deeply loved this place,” she said.

 

Some of Goldschmid’s former students and colleagues are raising funds to endow a Harvey J. Goldschmid Professorship. Paul C. Hilal ’91 is hosting a reception at his apartment on June 3 to help kick off the effort.