Abraham Goldstein, 80; Criminal Law Scholar, Yale Law School Dean
Abraham S. Goldstein, 80, a criminal law scholar who became the dean of Yale University’s law school in 1970, died after a heart attack Saturday at his home in Woodbridge, Conn., Yale announced.
“He had high standards and steered the school through very troubled times with success,” said Bruce Ackerman, a Yale professor of law and political science.
Goldstein’s five-year term as dean was marked by the turbulence of the time, including protests against the Vietnam War and students’ demands for a greater say in the curriculum.
In 1978, he was named Yale provost, the top educational and academic officer after then-university President A. Bartlett Giamatti, but resigned amid charges that he had overspent for renovations on the Yale-owned provost’s house.
Until May, he remained a full-time law professor and was known for his crisply written and provocative books, including 1967’s well-received “The Insanity Defense.”
Goldstein was born in New York City to Ukrainian immigrants and served in the Army in Europe in World War II. After graduating from Yale’s law school in 1949, he practiced in Washington, D.C., before joining the Yale faculty in 1956.
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