Alumni Focus

As chairman of International Specialty Products Inc., Samuel Heyman '63 is a leader in business. But his early experiences in the U.S. Department of Justice made him a firm believer in government service.

Traveling across the country, sowing apple seeds and watching them grow sounds like an American folktale. For Linda Singer '91, it's her job.

Paul V. Applegarth J.D./M.B.A. '74 runs a government corporation with a new approach to foreign aid.

Nick Brown '02 gained fame as a contestant on the reality show "Survivor." Today his reality is the Green Zone in Baghdad, where he carries a laptop and a rifle as a U.S. Army JAG officer.

Eliot Spitzer '84 has no time to waste. Instead of hello and a handshake, the New York state attorney general greets a visitor with "OK, let's get to work."

Christopher Cox '76 ('77) and Jane Harman '69 sit on different sides of the aisle, but the urgent threat of terrorism unites them.

A principal at Fish & Richardson in Boston, Charles Hieken '57 has practiced all aspects of intellectual property law for more than 50 years. He and his wife, Donna, recently made a gift to the school to establish the Hieken Professorship in Patent Law.

Katherine Locker '98 knows that children with disabilities who are in the foster care system are some of the most vulnerable people on the planet.

In a nondescript building in suburban Virginia, two subway stops from the Pentagon, a team of a half dozen or so defense lawyers works on what is perhaps the toughest--and most controversial--legal assignment in America.

Last spring, an Oregon attorney named Brandon Mayfield was arrested by the FBI and jailed for two weeks. He was suspected of being linked to the Madrid train bombings, thanks to the FBI's mistaken match of a fingerprint to a print found on a bag of detonators near the scene.

In his recent book, "The Great Game: The Myth and Reality of Espionage," Frederick P. Hitz '64 gives credence to the saying that truth can be stranger than fiction.

Some honors take longer to attain than others. More than 75 years after graduating from law school, 108-year-old Walter Seward '24 ('27) has earned distinction as Harvard's oldest living graduate.

It was December 2002 when House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt called Jamie Gorelick '75 to offer her the last Democratic slot on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

Professor Archibald Cox, 1912-2004, taught the nation what it means to be true to one's principles. Professor Emeritus Archibald Cox '37 died on May 29 at age 92. Tenured at Harvard Law School in 1946, he taught generations of students torts, administrative and constitutional law.

M. Bernard Aidinoff '53 is senior counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City, where he has practiced for nearly 50 years.

Sometimes making the greatest impact on a student's life is as simple as changing his fifth-grade homeroom. That's what Marina Volanakis '99 did for 10-year-old Gabriel, and it was enough to turn him from a disrespectful troublemaker into a dedicated student.

Ken Mehlman '91 was a Republican before law school. But HLS helped make him the Republican he is today. His predominantly liberal fellow students in fact made him "more Republican, more conservative," spurred by his view that rampant elitism drove their ideology, he said.

A restaurant employee is fired. He didn't violate company policy. In fact, he's a good employee, according to his manager. But he is fired because, as the regional manager put it, he is one of "those people."

Attorney Terry Lenzner '64 has made investigation his business.

Best known for his mystery novels and a memoir about his first year at HLS, author Scott Turow ' 78 spoke on campus in mid-October about a weightier issue: the death penalty.

Thanks to Josh Gottheimer '04, the greatest American civil rights speeches are together for the first time, demonstrating the injustices and progress of a growing nation and ultimately, he says, hope for its future.