Michael Boris Rosen

MICHAEL B. ROSEN, ESQ.

Michael Boris Rosen, attorney and educator, passed away March 5, 2025 in Austin, Texas.

Born September 12, 1940, in New York City, Mike grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston Schools, where he worked on the school newspaper. At family vacations in Nantucket, Massachusetts, Mike became an avid sailor, a passion he retained for the rest of his life.

In 1962, he graduated from Oberlin College where he variously worked as a short-order cook and participated in the staging of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, whose music he would sing any time and any place. Always interested in education, Mike also spent time with civil rights organizations in east Texas and in the South, where he helped register Black citizens to vote. He went on to earn a Master's degree in Philosophy from the University of Michigan and then a Juris Doctor from New York University Law School.

Mike's entire career focused on education and justice. From 1980 to 2011, he served as Associate General Counsel and Adjunct Professor of Law and Education at Boston University, providing legal counsel on faculty and student matters, institutional policies, labor relations and governmental compliance. He also taught courses on education law at both the law school and graduate school of education and served as legal counsel to the Chelsea, Massachusetts, school district.

Prior to his years at BU, Mike served as Assistant Managing Attorney for the Test Case and Appeals Unit of Mobilization for Youth Legal Services representing low-income clients in cases involving education, housing discrimination, and government benefits. From 1971-8 he was Counsel to the Chancellor and Director of the Legal Office of the Board of Education of the City of New York.

Mike was a man of strong opinions, a master of puns, and a lover of many music genres.

He is survived by his son, blues musician Chris Bergson (from his marriage to Judith Bergson which ended in divorce); daughter-in-law Kate Ross; granddaughters Chloe Ross and Sadie Anomalous; sister Elizabeth Reiniger (Klaus), brother Charles Rosen (Dr. Jill Silverman); nieces Nina Reiniger, Julia Rosen, and Andrea Rosen; cousins Ruth Galanter, Frank Gruliow, and Rebecca Gruliow; fourth wife Rachel Rosen; stepsons Max Anomalous and Eli Elkin. His parents, Leo and Lucille Rosen, predeceased him.