Sam Heyman, RIP
posted by Lawrence Cunningham
Sam Heyman, lawyer, businessman and philanthropist, died this weekend at the age of 70 after complications arose following open heart surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.
Scholars and practitioners of corporate law got to know Sam as a distinctive figure in the shareholder rights movement of the 1980s. Blending his training as a lawyer with his acumen as a businessman, Sam stood out among his peers in that movement by acquiring companies he intended to manage better than incumbent managers, rather than picking them apart to bust up or flip them for a quick buck. In doing so, he accumulated a considerable fortune.
Scholars and friends of Cardozo Law School knew Sam as a philanthropist and benefactor. He co-founded and co-endowed, with his wife Ronnie, The Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance, which I had the pleasure of directing for most of the 1990s. The Heyman Center was Sam and Ronnie’s way of helping to educate law students interested in corporate law and providing a forum to generate ideas on the subject.
The Heyman’s multi-million dollar gift enabled us at Cardozo to award scholarships to students, support students in public interest work, study comparative corporate law at Oxford, fund special advanced courses at Cardozo, bring learned visiting scholars to Cardozo, and hosting of scores roundtables, speaker series, conferences and many multi-day symposia.
The Heymans never influenced any of our activities, but were always ready to support them in any way we asked them to. Among my favorite Heyman Center events, and an example of the Heyman’s willingness to contribute both money and ideas, was Sam’s own lecture in our 1999 speaker series called “Non-Practicing Lawyers.” Sam shared with our students his insights on the value his law degree gave him in thinking about risk, ethics and opportunities as applied to the business context.
Another of my favorite Heyman Center events was our 1997 symposium entitled Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, in which Sam and Ronnie participated, and for which they hosted a delightful dinner party at their home. This was one of many Heyman Center events for which Sam and Ronnie opened their home up to me and the Cardozo community.
Sam was a generous philanthropist, thoughtful and reflective business leader, best friend of Cardozo Law School and abiding supporter of mine and friend to me, plus from all accounts and my indirect observations, a wonderful husband and father.
We all will miss him.
Photo Credit: Norman Goldberg (Sam giving lecture at Cardozo, 1999).
NYT obituary here.
November 9, 2009 at 9:18 am
Posted in: Current Events
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