Mark Green Joins School of Law as Distinguished Visitor

Mark Green, New York City’s first Public Advocate, will spend 2002 as a Distinguished Visitor at New York University’s School of Law and its Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Mr. Green’s appointment was effective Jan. 1, 2002. His duties include giving a series of lectures on public affairs at the Law School, participating in faculty colloquia, counseling students, and hosting student discussions on government and public service issues. He will also participate in student discussions at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service.

John Sexton, Dean of the Law School and President-designate of the University, said, “Because of Mark’s stature as an author, commentator, public interest lawyer, and public official, I join my colleagues in welcoming him to the NYU community this year. The Law School has long sought to encourage a dialogue among students, faculty, and other members of the community about the uses of the law. Mark’s arrival will undoubtedly add value to these discussions about how to use the law creatively in the public interest.”

Over the years NYU Law School has welcomed many Distinguished Visitors, including Alexander Boraine, Vice Chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Justice Richard Goldstone of the South African Constitutional Court; former White House Counsel Abner Mikva; and former Solicitor General Kenneth Starr.

Mr. Green said, “I’m honored that Dean Sexton has invited me to join one of the best law schools in the in the country this year and to be able to return to lecturing, writing and commenting on legal and public affairs. Thirty years ago, I began my career as a public interest lawyer, and now will be participating in a law school that has probably produced more public interest law graduates than any other, in large part because of Dean Sexton’s innovative leadership."

Green, a native of Brooklyn who now resides in Manhattan, was educated at Cornell University and Harvard Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. He was recently the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City.

During the last three decades, Green wrote or edited 16 books – including the best-selling Who Runs Congress? (1972, 1975, 1979 and 1984 editions), Verdicts on Lawyers (1976), Reagan's Reign of Error (1983 and 1987), and Changing America: Blueprints for the New Administration (1993), an 800-page anthology for incoming President Bill Clinton. His most recent book is The Consumer Bible, published in 1995 by Workman Publishing and completely revised and re-released in November 1998.

Green was elected New York City’s first Public Advocate in 1993 and served two terms. As Public Advocate, he investigated issues of police conduct and championed campaign finance reform.

From 1990 to 1993, Green served as New York City's Commissioner of Consumer Affairs. His initiatives included efforts to prevent and reduce smoking among young people, and publishing Poor Pay More… For Less, a series of investigative reports on how minority consumers pay more for groceries, auto insurance and home improvement contracts.

From 1970 to 1980, he served as a public interest lawyer with Ralph Nader in Washington, ultimately running the Public Citizen's Congress Watch. Following his stint with Nader, he founded and ran the Democracy Project, a public policy institute in New York from 1980 to 1990.

He has also been a popular TV commentator with a reputation as a skillful liberal debater, who has appeared frequently on CNN’s Crossfire, PBS’s Firing Line, and many other programs. Aside from his participation as a Distinguished Visitor, Mr. Green will continue his writing, commentaries, and advocacy of issues he has long been identified with.

01/15/02