Harvard's First General Counsel Passes Away at 72

Daniel Steiner ’54, the former vice president and general counsel of Harvard University, died on Sunday at the age of 72.

Steiner was the University’s first general counsel, serving in that position from 1970 to 1992. He was appointed vice president in 1982.

During his tenure, he created the Office of the General Counsel and assembled a talented legal staff, ensuring that Harvard did not have to rely solely on outside counsel from Boston-area law firms.

William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law David L. Shapiro ’54, an undergraduate classmate of Steiner’s, said that Steiner was “a man of outstanding personal and professional gifts.”

“After he left [the Office of the General Counsel], it continued to thrive in large part because of the work he had done in hiring outstanding attorneys and in establishing the vital role of the office during some of the more difficult times the University has faced,” said Shapiro.

A SUPREME ROLE

One of Steiner’s greatest legacies is his significant contribution to a 1978 case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which addressed the use of race in college admissions.

Although Harvard was not directly involved in this case, Steiner played a key role in it through his work on a brief in favor of using race in admissions decisions, according to incoming Interim President Derek C. Bok.

“He was primarily responsible for helping to enlist the best legal minds to assist in preparing the amicus brief that was cited so extensively by the Supreme Court,” Bok wrote in an e-mail.

The amicus brief Steiner put together explained why student diversity is important in educational institutions and how colleges should go about promoting this diversity.

The Supreme Court eventually voted 5-4 that race is a legitimate factor to be considered in college admissions. Justice Lewis F. Powell, who announced the Court’s opinion, used the amicus brief filed by Steiner to support the decision. Powell cited Harvard College’s admissions program as one example of a constitutional affirmative action program.

A HALF-CENTURY CAREER

Steiner graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1954 and from Harvard Law School in 1958. As an undergraduate, Steiner was president of the Signet and a member of the basketball team.

After graduating from law school, he served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Steiner then practiced law in New York for five years before moving to Washington D.C., where he served as the chief of legislative programs for the State Department’s Agency for International Development and later as general counsel and staff director for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Steiner received the public administration award from the William A. Jump Memorial Foundation for his work at the EEOC.

After spending 1970–1992 in administrative posts at Harvard, Steiner worked as an adjunct lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government.

He later moved to the New England Conservatory, where he became the Conservatory’s first non-musician president in 2000. He was planning on stepping down at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year due to chronic lung disease.

During his tenure as president, the New England Conservatory created a joint-degree program with Harvard, increased financial aid, and hired many renowned professors. In his last three years as president, Steiner helped raise $72 million of a $100 million capital campaign.

FOND MEMORIES

Steiner’s colleagues from decades at Harvard have similar memories of Steiner as a man who transformed Harvard through his hard work.

Robert W. Iuliano ’83, Harvard’s current general counsel and vice president, said, “His standards of excellence, integrity, and client service remain the hallmarks of the Office of the General Counsel today.”

Incoming Interim Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles recalled that from his very first days at Harvard, Steiner was both a worthy friend and an astute advisor.

“He guided one through tortuous problems with a calmness that made one secure about the outcome,” said Knowles.

Indeed, Bok, who knew Steiner from his time as President of the University and who relied on him for advice beyond legal issues, believed him to have the “best features of an excellent lawyer:” he was “fair-minded and humane,” “principled and ethical,” and “intelligent and analytical.”

“But more than that,” said Bok, “he loved Harvard and what it stood for at its best in a way that no ordinary lawyer could ever love his client.”

--Staff writer Aditi Banga can be reached at abanga@fas.harvard.edu.