Edward H. Levi

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For those of a similar name, see Ed Levy (disambiguation).
Edward H. Levi
71st United States Attorney General
In office
February 2, 1975 – January 20, 1977
PresidentGerald Ford
Preceded byWilliam B. Saxbe
Succeeded byGriffin Bell
7th President of the University of Chicago
In office
1968–1975
Preceded byGeorge Beadle
Succeeded byJohn T. Wilson
Personal details
Born
Edward Hirsch Levi

(1911-06-26)June 26, 1911
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedMarch 7, 2000(2000-03-07) (aged 88)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseKate Levi
Children3, including David, John
EducationUniversity of Chicago (AB, JD)
Yale University (JSD)

Edward Hirsch Levi (June 26, 1911 – March 7, 2000) was an American legal scholar and academic. He served as dean of the

Whitney Griswold, the greatest of postwar American university presidents.[6]

A native of Chicago, Levi graduated from the

Attorney General
during World War II before returning to the University of Chicago Law School, where he was later named dean. After leaving government service in the Ford administration, Levi returned to teaching in Chicago.

Early life and education

Levi was born in Chicago, the son of Elsa B. (Hirsch) and Gerson B. Levi, a rabbi from Scotland.

Emil Gustav Hirsch, son of the German philosopher and rabbi Samuel Hirsch. He received his A.B. Phi Beta Kappa from the undergraduate college of the University of Chicago in 1932, and later his J.D. at the University of Chicago Law School in 1935. The following year he was named an assistant professor of law at the Law School and was admitted to the Illinois bar. He earned a J.S.D. from Yale Law School,[8]
where he was also a Sterling Fellow in 1938.

Education and political career

During

U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary. He resigned as law school dean and became provost of the university in 1962. That same year, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[9]

He was a member of the White House Central Group on Domestic Affairs in 1964, the White House Task Force on Education from 1966 to 1967 and the President's Task Force on Priorities in Higher Education from 1969 to 1970.

He became the University of Chicago's president in 1968, serving until 1975, when President

Gerald R. Ford
appointed him 71st Attorney General of the United States. Levi was the first Jewish Attorney General of the United States. During his presidency of the University of Chicago he refused to call the Chicago City Police to evict students occupying the university administrative building.

During his term as Attorney General, he issued a set of guidelines (in 1976) to limit the activities of the

Arthur Raymond Randolph.[13]

Levi filed a lawsuit preventing the formation of the Westheimer Independent School District, a proposed school district in Texas that was to break away from the Houston Independent School District, on the grounds of the U.S. Voting Rights Act as his last official action before leaving his post as Attorney General.[14]

Later career

After his term as Attorney General, he returned to teaching at the University of Chicago's Law School and College. He was a visiting professor at

Stanford University Law School from 1977 to 1978. He was the author of An Introduction to Legal Reasoning, which was first published in 1949 and his speeches were collected in Point of View: Talks on Education. He was also a trustee of the University of Chicago and the MacArthur Foundation, and was a chairman and a member of the Council on Legal Education for Professional Responsibility. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society.[15]

Personal life

Levi was the father of three sons, David, Michael, and John.

Duke Law School. John G. Levi served on the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation
.

Levi died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in Chicago on March 7, 2000, aged 88.

Legacy

Edward H. Levi Award

In 2005, the Justice Department commemorated the 30th anniversary of his appointment as Attorney General with a ceremony and creation of the Edward H. Levi Award for Outstanding Professionalism and Exemplary Integrity.[16]

The Award was established to pay tribute to the memory and achievements of Mr. Levi, whose career as an attorney, law professor and dean, and public servant exemplified these qualities in the best traditions of the Department. Friends and former colleagues, including former Secretary of Defense

Robert H. Bork, gathered to honor Mr. Levi.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Peter Lattman (December 28, 2006). "President Ford's Legal Legacy: Edward Levi". WSJ Law Blog. The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ E. J. Dionne Jr. (August 28, 2007). "Calling Ed Levi". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ Peter Lattman (November 9, 2007). "Michael Mukasey's Job: Be Like Ed Levi". WSJ Law Blog. The Wall Street Journal.
  4. ISBN 9780226773254
    .
  5. ^ Neil A. Lewis (March 8, 2000). "Edward H. Levi, Attorney General Credited With Restoring Order After Watergate, Dies at 88". The New York Times.
  6. ISBN 9781412836265
    .
  7. ^ "Levi, Elsa Hirsch : Photographic Archive : The University of Chicago". photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu.
  8. ^ "Award of Merit - Yale Law School". Yale Law School.
  9. ^ "Edward Hirsch Levi". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  10. ^ Tom Curry (December 26, 2006). "Ford's most important legacy: Stevens". NBC News. NBCUniversal.
  11. ^ Richard A. Epstein (April 10, 2010). "The Stevens Legacy: Mixed Verdict". Forbes.
  12. ^ Stuart Taylor Jr. (September 22, 1987). "The Bork Hearings: A Long Parade of Witnesses, Pro and Con; Ex-Officials Praise Bork; Others See Him as a Threat". The New York Times.
  13. ^ David S. Broder (December 28, 2006). "How Ford's Legacy Still Serves". The Washington Post.
  14. ISSN 0148-7736. Start: p. 62. Cited: pp. 62 and 64
    .
  15. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  16. ^ "NEW AWARD CREATED TO HONOR FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL EDWARD H. LEVI". United States Department of Justice. November 3, 2005.
  17. ^ "Justice Department Levi Award". C-SPAN Video Library. C-SPAN. November 3, 2005.

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
George W. Beadle
 President of the University of Chicago
1968–1975 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by U.S. Attorney General
Served under: Gerald Ford
1975–1977 		Succeeded by
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