David N. Dinkins ’56

David N. Dinkins ’56, the 106th mayor of New York City, died Nov. 23, 2020, at age 93. Born July 10, 1927, in Trenton, N.J., Dinkins served as the city’s first Black mayor from 1990 to 1993. While leading the city during a time of unrest and upheaval, he also introduced many of the initiatives and programs that led to the city’s revitalization.

As mayor, Dinkins instituted a comprehensive plan to reduce crime and expand opportunities for the children of New York. His administration, the most diverse in the city’s history, initiated the revitalization of Times Square and established cultural staples such as Fashion Week, Restaurant Week, and Broadway on Broadway. It also successfully negotiated to keep the U.S. Open Tennis Championships in New York for the next 99 years.

At the Law School, Dinkins was a longtime member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. He was honored as Alumnus of the Year in 1990 and was named an Icon of the Law School in 2015. Dinkins also was an active member of the Black Law Students Association, which, in 2018, presented him with the inaugural David N. Dinkins Award.

“In 1953, Brooklyn was one of the few schools that would admit you if you had to work,” remembered Dinkins, who worked in his father-in-law’s store in Harlem while attending law school. “I will forever be grateful for what Brooklyn Law School did for me.”

Dinkins began his public service career in 1966 as a member of the New York State Assembly. He was president of the New York City Board of Elections and served as city clerk for 10 years before his elections as Manhattan borough president in 1985 and mayor in 1989.

In 2003, the David N. Dinkins Professorship Chair in the Practice of Urban & Public Affairs was established at Columbia University, where he was a member of the faculty. Dinkins received numerous awards and accolades throughout his career and was associated with a variety of civic and charitable organizations that assist children and young people.

Dinkins graduated with honors from Howard University in 1950 and received an LL.B. from Brooklyn Law School in 1956. He was a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal for his service as a Montford Point Marine in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.

Dinkins was predeceased by his wife, Joyce Burrows Dinkins. He is survived by his two children, David Jr. and Donna Dinkins Hoggard; two grandchildren, Jamal Hoggard and Kalila Dinkins Hoggard; and his sister, Joyce Belton.

To learn more about the historic life of Mayor Dinkins, listen to NY1’s “The Making of a Mosaic,” a three-part podcast hosted by Errol Louis ’05: www.brooklaw.edu/dinkins

Professor Emerita Mary Falk

Professor Emerita Mary Ruth Falk, a longtime member of the legal writing faculty, died March 21, 2021. She was 78.

Falk joined the faculty in 1987, where she taught a variety of legal writing courses, including the Law School’s first advanced legal writing seminar. She served as chair of the Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Selection Committee and as supervisor of the Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition. She retired from teaching in 2016 but continued to write and publish articles.

She coauthored several widely used textbooks for law students, including Appellate Advocacy: Principles and Practice (5th ed., LexisNexis, 2012), with Professor Emerita Ursula Bentele and Eve Cary. She coauthored two books and numerous articles on cognitive theory and language and the law with Professor Elizabeth Fajans.

Before joining the faculty, Falk served as associate appellate counsel for the Legal Aid Society Criminal Appeals Bureau.

Falk was born in 1942 in Queens, N.Y. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1963 and received a master’s degree in French literature from Yale University. After a career in publishing, she earned her law degree at New York University School of Law.

She was predeceased by husband Omar K. Lerman, and is survived by stepson Dion Lerman and Alanna Campbell, whom she considered a daughter.

Grace Gribetz Glasser ’53

Grace Gribetz Glasser ’53, who served as director of placement at the Law School from 1985 to 1993, died Dec. 16, 2020. She was 93.

She graduated from Cornell University in 1950 before attending law school. There, she met her husband of 68 years, I. Leo Glasser ’48, U.S. District Judge of the Eastern District of New York, who was a member of the Law School faculty before serving as dean from 1977 to 1981.

Glasser worked for District Council 37’s prepaid legal services and earned her master’s degree in social work from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University while raising four children and maintaining an active involvement in her community. She also taught art in the New York City Public Schools system.

Fondly remembered by longtime faculty as a “smiling presence,” Glasser served the Law School not only with distinction, but with joy. She and her husband were dedicated members of the Law School community. Her father, Louis J. Gribetz ’17, was one of Brooklyn Law School’s earliest graduates.

In addition to her husband, Glasser is survived by children Dorothy, David, James ’85, and Marjorie; grandchildren Sasha, Louis, Joshua Jacob, Nathaniel, Sarah ’20, Juliana, Elizabeth, Annie, and Jesse; and great-grandchildren Lev, Misa, and Theodore. The Glasser family legacy at the Law School also continues with her nephews David ’77 and Kenneth ’03, and niece Rachel ’14.

Mohammad Malik ’10

Mohammad Malik ’10, an associate at Olshan Frome Wolosky in New York, died Oct. 28, 2020, at age 35, along with his wife, Dr. Noor Shah, a surgeon, in a swimming accident while honeymooning in Turks and Caicos Islands in the Bahamas.

Malik was a corporate attorney focusing on shareholder activism, proxy contests, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. Prior to joining the firm, he was an attorney in the Legal and Compliance Department at BlackRock, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, board governance, public company reporting, and registered funds compliance. Malik graduated from Cornell University before attending law school.

He is survived by his parents, Col. R. Maqbool and Najam Malik, his brothers Salman, Ahmad, and Murtza, and his sister Saadia.

Murray Schisgal ’53

Associated Press

Playwright and screenwriter Murray Schisgal ’53, creator of the Oscar-nominated comedy Tootsie and the Tony Award–nominated farce Luv, along with more than 50 Broadway and off-Broadway productions, died Oct. 1, 2020, at age 93.

Born Nov. 25, 1926, in Brooklyn, Schisgal left high school at 17 to enlist in the Navy during World War II. After attending law school under the G.I. Bill, he practiced in New York until 1956, then taught high school English in Harlem before turning to writing.

Following the 1961 London success of three of his one-act plays, Schisgal debuted off-Broadway in 1963 with The Typists and The Tiger (the latter adapted for film), starring Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson. Schisgal had a Broadway hit (and a Tony nomination for Best Play) with 1964’s Luv, starring Wallach, Jackson, and Alan Arkin, and directed by Mike Nichols.

Among Schisgal’s plays, Jimmy Shine (1968) launched a decades-long artistic relationship with actor Dustin Hoffman, who directed Schisgal’s All Over Town (1975) and starred in Tootsie (1982). With co-writer Larry Gelbart, Schisgal won several screenwriting awards for Tootsie, including the New York Film Critics Circle Award.

He also wrote for television and was a producer for such films as A Walk on the Moon (1999) and A Separate Peace (2004), as well as writing the 1980 novel Days and Nights of a French Horn Player.

Schisgal is survived by his son, Zach Schisgal; daughter, Jane Schisgal; sister, Diane Troy; and four grandchildren. His wife, Reene, died in 2017.

Ralph K. Winter Jr.

Ralph K. Winter Jr., former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a member of the Board of Trustees for 27 years, died Dec. 8, 2020. He was 85.

Winter served as a trustee from 1986 to 2013, a time of significant growth for the Law School, including expansion of the main campus building at 250 Joralemon Street and construction of Feil Hall. He also contributed to the intellectual life of the Law School by speaking at academic symposia and events.

Winter was appointed to the Second Circuit in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan. From 1997 to 2000, he served as chief judge of the Second Circuit, attaining senior status in 2000. In 2017, he received the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award, the highest honor awarded by the federal judiciary.

Born in Waterbury, Conn., in 1935, Winter received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1960. He clerked for Second Circuit Judge Thurgood Marshall, who would become the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court as well as Winter’s lifelong mentor.

Winter taught at Yale Law School for 20 years. During that time, he successfully represented the plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Buckley v. Valeo, alongside future faculty member Joel Gora and former U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy.

He served as a mentor for generations of young lawyers. His former law clerks include Professor Brian Lee, as well as Jodi Golinsky ’98, Kelly Gilmore ’07, Shannon Haley ’08, Megan Overgaard ’09, Rachel Green ’10, Stanton Gallegos ’11, Shawna MacLeod ’12, and Kiran Sheffrin ’13.

Winter was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Kate, in 2012. He is survived by his son Andrew, his daughter-in-law Kimberly, and his granddaughter Kiersten.