Pace University - Office of the President

About Stephen J. Friedman

Stephen J. Friedman became president of Pace University on June 4, 2007.

Friedman is a former senior partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLC, commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury, executive vice president at The Equitable Companies Incorporated and the E.F. Hutton Group Inc., and U.S. Supreme Court law clerk. He has been an active leader in the nonprofit world.

Friedman served for three years as dean of Pace University School of Law prior to being named president by the Pace University Board of Trustees. During his tenure as dean, the Law School’s bar pass rate was the highest in more than a decade; the school’s national rankings improved; and in 2006 more than 91 percent of Pace Law School’s recent graduates reported full-time employment within nine months of graduation.

Prior to becoming dean, Friedman was a senior partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he served as cochairman of the firm’s corporate department from 1993 to 2000. Before he rejoined Debevoise in 1993, Friedman was executive vice president and general counsel of The Equitable Companies Incorporated and its subsidiary, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Before joining Equitable in 1988, Friedman was executive vice president of the E.F. Hutton Group Inc. (1986–1988) and a partner at Debevoise.

Friedman also has served as a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1980–1981), deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for Capital Markets Policy (1978–1979), special assistant to the U.S. Maritime Administrator (1964–1965), and law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the United States Supreme Court (1963–1964).

Friedman is chairman emeritus of American Ballet Theatre. He also serves as president and a trustee of the Practising Law Institute, chairman and trustee of the Asian University for Women Support Foundation, and he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition, President Friedman has served as chairman of the Overseas Development Council and chairman of the Securities Regulation Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and as a member of the ABA Special Committee on Lawyers’ Political Contributions. He has served as a board member of CCL Industries Inc., Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, ConRail, The National Association of Securities Dealers, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and Foundation, and United Way of New York City.

Friedman received his AB magna cum laude in 1959 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and his JD magna cum laude in 1962 from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of Harvard Law Review and a recipient of the Sears Prize.

Books	William J. Brennan Jr. An Affair with Freedom: A Collection of His Opinions and Speeches Drawn from His First Decade as a United States Supreme Court Justice (Stephen J. Friedman, ed. Atheneum, 1967).
Chapters	"Arthur J. Goldberg" and "William J. Brennan Jr." In The Justices of the United States Supreme Court 1789-1969: Their Lives and Major Opinions, vol. 4 (Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, eds.) (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1969).
Law Journals	“Make It Practice-Oriented,” National Law Journal, Jan. 18, 2007, at 26.
	"Why Can't Law Students Be More Like Lawyers?," 37 University of Toledo Law Review 81 (2005).
	"The Acquisition of the American Stock Exchange by the NASD," 30 Inst. on Sec. Reg. 181 (1998).
	"A Comment on Judge Selya's Arbitration Unbound?: The Legacy of McMahon," 62 Brook. L. Rev. 1433 (1996).
	"The U.S. Life Insurance Industry – the Next Five Years," 9 Ann. Rev. Banking L. 419 (1990).
	"Regulatory Change: A Step in the Right Direction," 8 Ann. Rev. Banking L. 365 (1989).
	"Capital Formation Alternatives: An Overview," 10 N.C. J. Int'l L. & Com. Reg. 199 (1985).
	"A New Paradigm for Financial Regulation: Getting from Here to There," 43 Md. L. Rev. 413 (1984) (with Connie M. Friesen).
	"Remarks on Mutual Fund Underwriting by Banks," 2 Ann. Rev. Banking L. 87 (1983).
	"Reflections on Carter-Johnson," 13 Inst. on Sec. Reg. 197 (1982).
	"Tender Offer Issues for 1982," 14 Rev. Sec. Reg. 833 (October 21, 1981).
	"Limitations on the Corporate Lawyer's and Law Firm's Freedom to Serve the Public Interest," 33 Bus. Law. 1475 (1977).
	"Mr. Justice Brennan: The First Decade," 80 Harv. L. Rev. 7 (1966).
Reports	American Bar Association Task Force on Lawyer's Political Contributions, Report and Recommendations (July 1998) (member of Task Force).
	"Effect on Capital Formation of Proposed Changes in Regulation," 51 Rec. Ass’n B. City of N.Y. 912 (1996).
	Arbitration Policy Task Force to the Board of Governors, National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., Report: Securities Arbitration Reform (1996) (member of Task Force).
	Special Committee on Shareholder Voting Rights to the Board of Governors, American Stock Exchange, Shareholder Voting Rights Report (February 14, 1991) (author and committee chairperson).
	Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (1976).
Other Publications	"The Corporate Executive's Guide to the Role of the General Counsel," ACCA Docket 58 (May 2000) (with C. Evan Stewart).
	"Resigning from the Board," 20 Directors and Boards 30 (Winter 1996).
	"Demutualization: The Equitable Experience," The Association of Life Insurance Counsel Proceedings (1993) (with Wolcott B. Dunham Jr.).
	"Full Line Bank Brokerage Services," The New York Law Journal 33 (December 12, 1983) (with Helen Garten).
	"Deregulation and Litigation," 8 Litigation 8 (1981).
	"Let's Experiment with Corporate Disclosure Laws," Enterprise 8 (June 1981).
Selected Speeches and Papers	"Convergence - Products or Institutions?" Address at the Fourth Annual Forum on the Insurance Industry (October 22, 1998).
	"M&A in the Insurance Industry: An Overview." Address at the 8^th Annual Insurance Tax Seminar of the Section of Taxation, Federal Bar Association (May 2, 1996).
	Remarks accepting the Brandeis University Public Service Award (April 13, 1994).
	"Corporate Governance in the 90's: Institutional Investors and the Evolution of the Law." Address at the ABA National Institute - Dynamics of Corporate Control V (1991).
	"The Evolving Legal Status of Institutional Investors as Shareholder and Bondholder" (with Pauline Sherman). Address at the Seventeenth Annual Securities Regulation Institute, The University of California at San Diego (January 25, 1990).
	"The U.S. Life Insurance Industry – The Next Five Years." Address at the Morin Center for Banking Law Studies, Boston University School of Law (April 12, 1989).
	"The Evolving Roles of Inside and Outside Counsel." Address at Legal Tech '88, New York, N.Y. (February 23, 1988).
	"The Search for a New Paradigm for Financial Regulation." Address at the Conference on Structural Change in Financial Services in the 1980's, New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, London (September 12, 1983).
	"The Petrified Forest: Litigation in America." Address at the Northwest Securities Institute, Washington State Bar Association (February 14, 1981).
	"The Accounting Provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." Address at the College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky (February 25, 1981).
	"Deregulation: An Approach and a Proposal." Address at the Financial Executives Institute, New York Chapter (March 24, 1981).
	"Consideration of a Proposed Order Requiring the Linkage of the Intermarket Trading System and the NASDAQ System." Separate Statement (April 21, 1981).
	"The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: The Chafee Amendments." Address at the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (April 24, 1981).
	"The Illusion of Intrastate Banking." Remarks to the Policy Committee, Johns Hopkins University Center for Metropolitan Planning and Research (May 5, 1981).
	"An Experiment in Deregulation." Address at the AICPA National Conference for CPAs in Industry (May 7, 1981).
	"The Worthy Lawyer." Commencement Address at Columbus School of Law of Catholic University of America (May 16, 1981).
	"The Future of American Financial Markets." Remarks to the Financial Women's Association of New York (May 20, 1981).
	Remarks at a Farewell Party for Stanley Sporkin (May 20, 1981).
	"Overregulation and Deregulation: The Role of Lawyers and the Private Bar." Address at the First Annual Ray Garrett, Jr., Corporate and Securities Law Institute, Northwestern University School of Law (May 29, 1981).
	"Revolutionary Change in the Financial Industry." Address at the Options Seminar of the Securities Markets Industry Association (June 3, 1980)
	"Policy-Making and Enforcement at the SEC." Remarks to the Securities Law Committee, Federal Bar Association (June 10, 1980).
	"Capital Formation, The Market Economy and the SEC." Remarks to the National Association of Manufacturers Government Regulation and Competition Committee (September 8, 1980).
	"Public Capital for Mortgage Credit: Gift Horse or Trojan Horse?" Remarks to the Board of Governors, Mortgage Bankers Association of America (September 9, 1980).
	"Exploring the Limits of Corporate Accountability." Remarks to the American Society of Corporate Secretaries, New York Regional Group (September 26, 1980).
	"The Foreign Challenge." Remarks to staff of The Housing and Development Reporter of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. and the Institute for Professional & Executive Development, Inc. (October 3, 1980).
	"Transition to the 1980's: Political and Economic Evolution." Address at the Eleventh Congress of the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (October 17, 1980).
	"Consideration of Rule 12b-." 1 Separate Statement (October 22, 1980).
	"Investment Management and the Glass Steagall Act - The Emperor's New Clothes." Remarks to the Association of Bank Holding Companies (November 13, 1980).
	"Financial Regulators and Financial Markets: The Tortoise and the Hare." Remarks to the Public Securities Association (November 15, 1980).
	"The Conservative Regulator as Adventurer." Address at the American Law Institute - American Bar Association Course of Study on Broker-Dealer Regulation (December 5, 1980).
	"How Much Can We Expect from Independent Directors?" Address at the Conference on Investment Company Regulation of the American Law Institute - American Bar Association (December 12, 1980).
	"Pension Funds and Social Responsibility." Address at the The Exchequer Club (December 17, 1980).
	"The Administration's Proposals to Eliminate Interest Rate Controls." Address at the National Mortgage Conference of the National Association of Mutual Savings Banks, Washington, D.C. (September 14, 1979).