Columbia Law Professor Harvey J. Goldschmid passed away today at 74. In addition to his long career on the Columbia law faculty, with a focus on corporate law, he served as a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2002-05.
In Memoriam: Harvey Goldschmid
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Loved Harvey Goldschmid. He was an excellent teacher and a great man. His finest hour for me, though, was his kindness, as a young man, along with his wife's kindness, to my 90-plus year old European-born grandmother, who met Harvey at a wedding of a family member, and maybe even a second time at another function. After that meeting, my grandmother was always fondly talking to me about "The Professor Harvey".
I attended last year's Corporate Governance Institute at Columbia, and Harvey was running the show with the same enthusiasm and incredible command of the subject that he had years ago when I was in law school.
Harvey Goldschmid will be very much missed.
I echo the comment of my Columbia Law classmate, Susan Curtis. I had Harvey Goldschmid for Corporations in the fall of 1972 and he was a great teacher. I didn't realize at that time that this was his third year of teaching. He was expert even then. I didn't get to know him personally but he was a perfect gentleman in class. No humiliation of students, just a desire to get us to understand the intricacies of corporate law.
About twenty-five years after teaching Susan and Calvin, Professor Goldschmid taught me. What a wonderful teacher! He loved the materials, brought them to life, and convinced us they mattered. And, while he was always kind, he also expected a lot of us. In particular, he never let an answer stand without getting clarification as to exactly what language in the statute or case made it so. I can't say how many times I've reflected appreciatively on this aspect of the class, both when faced with difficult questions from judges and when posing my own questions to students.
Brief, touching memory of Harvey Goldschmid returns to retired
25 year Commission enforcement lawyer.
Alone in an elevator with a law student intern, door opened,
Goldschmid walked in. I introduced the intern. Goldschmid
conversed gently, interestedly with him til exiting separately,
leaving intern, shaken with pride, honor.
Completely consistent with my retained view of Goldschmid.
Smart, analytical, courageous, fearless, generous, kind.
One reason I loved that career so long.
Mark Kreitman
Washington, DC