Milton Katz

Milton Katz was a scholar of international legal studies, teacher, and advisor. Katz earned his degrees at Harvard before being appointed a professor at Harvard Law School in 1940. Katz briefly left academia to serve in various New Deal agencies, followed by service in the US Marine Corps during WWII. After the war he served as Deputy Chairman of the Commission for European Recovery, later known as the Marshall Plan, assisting in the reconstruction of post-war Europe. He occupied that position from 1948 to 1950, when he became Ambassador and Special United States Representative in Europe. He returned to Harvard Law School as the Henry L. Stimson Professor from 1954 to 1978, during which time he established and directed the program in International Legal Studies. Upon retiring from Harvard, he became the Distinguished Professor of Law at Suffolk University until his death in 1995.

Elected to the Academy in 1954, Katz served as president of the Academy from 1979–1982; his tenure oversaw the completion of the new headquarters in Cambridge. The organization’s bicentennial also occurred during his presidency and took as its theme “The Life of the Mind: Unity and Diversity,” which reflected his scholarly values. A champion of Daedalus, Katz supported and promoted its interdisciplinary approach in crossing professional boundaries.