Former Law Dean Dies at 70

Albert M. Sacks, a former dean of Harvard Law School, died of lymphoma at the end of last month. He was 70.

Sacks, Dane Professor of Law, was dean of the Law School for 10 years, beginning in 1971 when he replaced President Derek C. Bok.

Colleagues remembered Sacks for his dedication to the Law School and his social concerns.

"He was a warm, supportive, kind man who, for 39 years was a leader at all levels," said James Vorenberg '49, another former Law School dean. "He had an abiding concern for the Harvard Law School and what it represents at its best for the legal profession, for legal education and for the professional development of students," Bok told the Harvard Gazette last week.

Sacks initiated several significant programs at the Law School, according to Vorenberg. "As a dean, [Sacks] instituted the whole clinical teaching program," he said.

Sacks actively attempted to integrate minorities into the University during his tenure, according to Vorenberg.

"He cared a lot about diversity among law teachers," he said. "He was concerned that we should have more women and Blacks on the faculty."

Sacks had a great impact on the study of law, Vorenberg said.

"As a scholar, I think his greatest contribution was his book which he co-authored with Henry Hart, The Legal Process," Vorenberg said. "That has had more influence on the way law is taught than any other single work."

Sacks graduated magna cum laude from the College of the City of New York in 1940. He subsequently served in the military. After receiving a LL.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1948, Sacks served as clerk to Judge Augustus Hand on the U.S. Court of Appeals and Justice Felix Frankfurter on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sacks held a number of positions during his lifetime, including president of the Association of American Law Schools, associate at the law firm of Covington and Burling, and the chair of advisory committees to the Boston city government and the Massachusetts state government.