JEROME HYMAN

l923 - 2020

HYMAN--Jerome Elliot. Jerome Elliot Hyman, lawyer and Senior Counsel at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, most loving and beloved husband of Isabelle Hyman for nearly 60 years, died on April 4, 2020, at 96. He was a generous philanthropist, an ardent Democrat, a participant in civic affairs, a public-spirited humanitarian, a loyal alumnus, and a noble, compassionate, honorable gentleman gifted with a brilliant mind. Jerome E. Hyman was born in Rosedale, Mississippi on December 26, l923, son of Mose Hyman and Mary Ann Sprecher Hyman. He was brought up in Pace, Mississippi, a small town in the Mississippi Delta where his father served several terms as mayor. He received an A.B. in 1944 from The College of William and Mary, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated first in the class, receiving the Botetourt medal. He received his LL.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1947, graduating first in the class (Fay Diploma) and was Case Editor of the Law Review. In his first year at the Law School he was a recipient of the Joshua Montgomery Sears prize for "students doing brilliant work" and ranked first in the class. Interrupting law school during 1945-46, Jerome Hyman served in Frankfurt and Berlin as a member of the Foreign Funds Control Staff of the United States Treasury Department with the Office of Military Government for Occupied Germany investigating German cartels. In 1947-48 he was law clerk to Judge John C. Mahoney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He became a member of the New York Bar in 1949 and of the Washington, D.C. Bar in 1960. He joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (then known as Cleary, Gottlieb, Friendly and Cox) in 1948, became a partner on January 1, 1959, and had a long and distinguished career there, based in the New York office and focusing on corporate and securities matters until his retirement at the end of 1993, when he became Counsel to the firm. For many years he was the principal corporate counsel for leading companies, including Pan American World Airways, Macy's, and Scientific American. From 1982-84 he also was Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of Pan Am. He was President of the Practising Law Institute from 1986-1996, and then Chairman of its Board of Trustees and later Chairman Emeritus. A founder of the Lexington Democratic Club devoted to reform politics in what was at that time Manhattan's Ninth Assembly District, he served as President of the Club from 1956-58. He was Counsel to the New York Committee for Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and was a Delegate to various Democratic state and judicial conventions. From 1981 he was Trustee of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; from 1991 to 1994 he was Trustee of the Citizens' Budget Commission (and Trustee Emeritus thereafter); and from 1997 until 2003 Trustee of the College of William and Mary Foundation and thereafter Trustee Emeritus. He served as a member of the Visiting Committee for the Harvard Law School from 1986 to 1992 and of the Advisory Board for the Dean of Harvard Law School from 2000, and was on its Executive Committee. From 1985-1986 he was President of the Harvard Law School Association of New York City. He was a Fellow of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and of the American Bar Foundation. He also was a member of the American Law Institute, the New York County Lawyers' Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and from 1984-1987 was Chairman of its Committee on Corporation Law. He was a member of the TriBar Opinion Committee, the Steering Committee for Working Group Legal Opinions and, in 2008, was honored by being appointed to a two-year term as Business Advisor to the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. He was the recipient of the Harold P. Seligson Award from the Practising Law Institute and the Segal-Tweed Founders Award from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. In addition to his wife, he is survived by four devoted nephews whom he cherished and to whom he was close during his lifetime: Richard Feingold, Kenneth A. Feingold, Bruce H. Feingold, Stephen W. Feingold, and their wives and children. He was predeceased by his sister, Shirley Hyman Feingold. He was buried in the Hyman family plot in Greenville, MS. A memorial service will be scheduled at a future date.