Arthur Lehman Goodhart

Arthur Lehman Goodhart
File:Arthur Goodhart.jpg Arthur Goodhart in the Master's Garden at University College, Oxford
Born	March 1, 1891 New York City
Died
Residence	London
Nationality	American
Education	Yale University Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation	Jurist and Lawyer
Known for	Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford
Spouse(s)	Cecily Carter
Children	Philip Goodhart William Goodhart Charles Goodhart
Parent(s)	Hattie Lehman Goodhart Philip Goodhart
Family	Mayer Lehman (grandfather)

Arthur Lehman Goodhart, KBE, KC (1 March 1891 in New York City – 10 November 1978 in Oxford) was an American-born academic jurist and lawyer; he was Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford, 1931–51, when he was also a Fellow of University College, Oxford. He was the first American to be the Master of an Oxford college, University College and was a significant benefactor to the College.

Early life and education

Arthur Goodhart was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the youngest of three children born to Harriet "Hattie" (nee Lehman) and Philip Julius Goodhart. His siblings were Howard Goodhart and Helen Goodhart Altschul (married to Frank Altschul). His maternal grandfather was Mayer Lehman, one of three brothers who cofounded the investment banking firm Lehman Brothers. Goodhart was educated at the Hotchkiss School, Yale University and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Yale, he was an editor of campus humor magazine The Yale Record. After returning to the United States, he practiced law until World War I. Following the war, he started to pursue an academic career in law, initially at Cambridge University and later at Oxford University where he became Professor of Jurisprudence and subsequently the Master of University College. He was editor of the Law Quarterly Review for fifty years.

Career

Rejected for service with British forces in World War I, in 1914, he became a member of the American forces when USA joined the war in 1917; he became counsel to the American mission to Poland, in 1919.

He was called to the bar (Inner Temple), 1919, and became a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and university lecturer in jurisprudence; he edited the Cambridge Law Journal, 1921–5, and the Law Quarterly Review, 1926. In 1931 he moved to Oxford to become professor of jurisprudence. He gave up that chair when he became Master of University College, Oxford, 1951–63.

As a member of the Law Revision Committee, he helped to promote improvements in various branches of the law.

Personal life and legacy

He was married to Cecily Goodhart (née Carter) who was of English heritage. They had three children: Sir Philip Goodhart; William Goodhart, Lord Goodhart of Youlbury; and Charles Goodhart (after whom Goodhart's law is named).

Students during Goodhart's Mastership of University College included Bob Hawke, matriculated 1953, who was later Prime Minister of Australia.

The Goodhart Quad and the Goodhart Building (to the east, overlooking the quad and used for student accommodation) at University College, Oxford, off Logic Lane, are named in his memory. Cecily's Court, a small open area containing a fountain, located between the Goodhart Building and 83–85 High Street, is named in memory of Goodhart's wife.

Honours and titles

• 1938 Honorary bencher, Lincoln's Inn
• 1943, King's Counsel
• 1948, KBE
• 1952, Fellow of the British Academy
• He received honorary degrees from twenty universities
• Honorary Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge

Sources

• Concise Dictionary of National Biography.
• Who was Who.
• Flade, Roland. The Lehmans: From Rimpar to the New World: A Family History, 2nd enlarged ed., 1999.

Academic offices
Preceded by J. H. S. Wild	Master of University College, Oxford 1951–1963	Succeeded by John Redcliffe-Maud