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| Emanuel Stein (WSC '28, GSAS '30, 33), Ken Stein (WSC '64), and mother Florence G. Stein (WSC '30, GSAS '34) at Ken’s 1964 NYU Commencement. |
Kenneth D. Stein (WSC ’64) is a lawyer whose entire professional career has been spent representing management in complex labor and employment matters — negotiations with labor unions in collective bargaining, putting out potential fires in high-stake mergers and acquisitions, and in other bet-the-company settings. Ken’s career choice probably is no surprise when one considers that his first contract was made when he was under the age of ten. The parties involved? Ken and his father, Emanuel Stein (WSC ’28; GSAS ’30, ‘33).
Ken’s father, for many years a guiding light on campus and a prized professor in the social sciences and humanities, was his mentor. “If I told my dad that I wanted to learn about chemistry, he and I entered into a contract in which he agreed to give me $25 for chemistry equipment provided I completed 25 chemistry experiments,” says Ken. “That’s how I learned the law. A lawyer who lived across the street from me served as my attorney,” he reminisces. Ken’s love of the law was further solidified when he used to skip out of elementary school to go to the City Court, where he was invited by the judge to sit on the bench to hear his comments on cases.
Emanuel Stein was father not only to Ken and his sister Barbara Stein Rowan (WSC ’59), but served as a proverbial father figure to several generations of NYU students. “My father loved teaching freshmen,” says Ken. “People within and outside the University community turned to him for advice. He had an impact on so many lives.” He served as the Chair of the NYU Department of Economics, was a nationally known labor arbitrator, and served on President Kennedy’s Emergency Board for Trans World Airlines.
Emanuel Stein also had a significant impact on the lives of his grandchildren. David A. Stein (LAW ’98) and Deborah Lynn Stein (LAW ’99) are practicing attorneys, David in New York City and Deborah in Los Angeles. “My father was silly over his grandchildren,” says Ken. “He taught them how to do the Sunday New York Times crossword in ink,” he adds. Ken’s wife, Andrea M. Amster (ED ’65) and David’s wife, Christine Dokko, (LAW ’98) also are NYU graduates.
Ken admits that he probably had an easier time raising his own children than his father did with him. Ken, an accomplished photographer, set up his own commercial photographic business when he was just 14. As his dad traveled for arbitration hearings, Ken had power of attorney on his father’s checking account by the age of 14 and managed many household expenses. Of course, this self-sufficiency led to some unique adventures. Ken recalls opening up charge accounts at oil companies in his father’s name, as well as unexpectedly joining his parents on their trips to Baltimore and Puerto Rico.
For Ken, all of his history, his diverse life, and his continued pursuit of his many interests are attributable to the strong influence of his father. Ken recalls when his graduation from NYU was upon him, he wanted more than anything for his father, who was still on the NYU faculty, to walk with him in the processional. His dad agreed. It was a day Ken will never forget.
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