Bernard Wolfman (July 8, 1924 – August 20, 2011) was the Dean of the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

as well as its Gemmill Professor of Tax Law and Tax Policy, and the Fessenden Professor of Law at

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Biography

Wolfman was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, to Nathan and Elizabeth (Coff) Wolfman, and was Jewish. In the Second World War, in December 1944 he fought in Germany. He earned an A.B. in political science from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

in 1946, and a J.D. from the

in 1948. After graduation, he was a lawyer for 15 years at the firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen in Philadelphia, from 1948 to 1963, and was the firm’s managing partner from 1961 to 1963. In 1963 Wolfman started teaching at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was the law school’s Gemmill Professor of Tax Law and Tax Policy, and was Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1970 to 1975."Bernard Wolfman"
/ref> In 1976, he became the Fessenden Professor of Law at

in 1976, holding that position until 2007. Wolfman was an expert in tax, ethics, and lawyers' professional responsibility. Wolfman wrote a great number of articles and essays. His also authored four books, including ''Dissent Without Opinion: The Behavior of Justice William O. Douglas in Tax Cases'' (1975). He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studi ...

in 1971, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830, and later was associated with that synod's successor, the Ame ...

in 1990. He was married first to Zelda Bernstein Wolfman, and after her death to Toni Wolfman, and had five children. Wolfman resided in

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the northern suburbs outside of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly from Ce ...

, as he and his family attended Beth Sholom Congregation there, and

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

.From dimes to dialogue: why civil discourse matters - Opinion - The Intelligencer - Doylestown, PA
/ref> He died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at 87 years of age in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.

References

External links

"IN MEMORIAM: BERNARD WOLFMAN,"
125 ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

'' 8 (June 2012) *United States Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System
"Testimony of Dean Bernard Wolfman, University of Pennsylvania Law School,"
''Hearings Before the Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System: Second Phase'', Persuant to Public Law 92-489 as Amended, Public Law 93-420, Volume 1, p. 85 (1975) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfman, Bernard University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty Deans of law schools in the United States Deans of University of Pennsylvania Law School Lawyers from Philadelphia Lawyers from Cambridge, Massachusetts 2011 deaths University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty 1924 births American military personnel of World War II Jewish American academics Jewish American attorneys Scholars of tax law 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American Jews