John C. Pittenger (May 23, 1930 – December 6, 2009) was an American lawyer,

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

and former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving two non-consecutive terms in the State House. He was appointed the Secretary of the

Pennsylvania Department of Education The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with publicly funded preschool, K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed ...

from 1972 until 1976. Pittenger served as the

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of the Rutgers University School of Law - Camden from 1981 until 1986.

Biography

Early life

Pittenger was born in

Philadelphia 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 ...

on May 23, 1930, to parents, Nicholas Otto and Cornelia VanDerveer Chapman Pittenger. He attended public school in the suburb of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, before enrolling in Phillips Exeter Academy in

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

. He was a member of the Society of Friends, also known as the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. Pittenger graduated summa cum laude with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1951. Following his graduation from Harvard, Pittenger attended the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

as a Frank Knox Fellow. He simultaneously enlisted in the United States Army from 1952 until 1955, serving as a first lieutenant in the army's

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

and

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units. He earned his cum laude law degree from Harvard Law School in 1958.

Career

Pittenger moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1958 and practiced law in the city until 1965. He first joined the law firm, ''Barley, Snyder, Cooper, and Mueller'', before establishing his own private law firm in Lancaster.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Pittenger served two non-consecutive terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. After becoming active in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Pittenger was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing his district from 1965 to 1968. During his first term, Pittenger was the principal sponsor of the Mental Health/Mental Retardation Act of 1966 and drafted the bill for Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

program. Pittenger was defeated for re-election to the Pennsylvania State House. Following his election loss, Pittenger worked as the director of research for the Democratic minority Caucus of the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1968. However, he campaigned for and was re-elected to the Pennsylvania State House in the newly created 96th district, serving once again from 1969 until 1970. He served as a member of the Joint Legislative Data Processing Committee and the state Democratic Policy Committee. Pittenger was the first member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to have high school seniors serve as legislative pages in the state House of Representatives. He advocated for increased powers for the Pennsylvania Board of Education. Pittenger also supported a controversial bill which would have charged graduated tuition for students at the colleges of the

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that oversees 10 state-owned universities. Collectively, it is the largest provider of higher education in the commonwealth. All ...

based on

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...

Legislative Secretary

Pittenger became a member of the Commission on School Finance after leaving the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1970.

Pennsylvania Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the head of state and head of government of the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforc ...

Milton J. Shapp Milton Jerrold Shapp (born Milton Jerrold Shapiro; June 25, 1912 – November 24, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. H ...

appointed Pittenger as his legislative secretary, as well as the

liaison Liaison means communication between two or more groups, or co-operation or working together. Liaison or liaisons may refer to: General usage * Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship * Collaboration * Co-operation Arts and entertainment * Li ...

between the governor and

in January 1971. Pittenger helped to guide Pennsylvania's first

personal income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

bill through the Pennsylvania General Assembly as legislative secretary. He shepherded a successful bill which created the

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. ...

. He also guided reforms to the Workmen's Compensation and Unemployment Compensation Acts.

Secretary of Education

Governor Shapp appointed Pittenger as the Secretary of the

in 1972. Pittenger established the state government

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

program for in-state college students and the Pennsylvania

Governor's School for the Arts The Governor's School for the Arts is a regional secondary arts school sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education and the public school divisions of Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, ...

. He championed mandated equal athletic programs for female athletes in Pennsylvania public schools. Pittenger guided the first complete rewrite and modernization of the Pennsylvania school code in more than thirty years. He also supported the adoption of achievement and attitudinal testing for students in fifth, eighth and eleventh grade. Pittenger also served as the chairman of the National Council of Chief State School Officers for three years.

Later political career and academia

Pittenger resigned as Pennsylvania Secretary of Education in 1976 in order to take a position as a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He remained at Harvard as a visiting lecturer from January 1977 until June 1978. He returned to Pennsylvania state government in 1978 when then Pennsylvania House Speaker K. Leroy Irvis recruited Pittenger as the chairman of a commission to reform the House of Representatives. The final report issued by Pittenger's committee led to the formation of the Bi-Partisan Management Committee. In 1979, Pittenger announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat being vacated by Republican

Richard Schweiker Richard Schultz Schweiker (June 1, 1926 – July 31, 2015) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 14th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan from 198 ...

. However, he withdrew from the Democratic primary race in 1980 after

Pittsburgh Mayor The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh. This article is a listing of past (and present) mayors of Pittsburgh. ...

Pete Flaherty announced his intention to seek the seat as well. Republican

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

went on to narrowly defeat Flaherty in the 1980 Senate election. Pittenger was appointed as the dean of

Rutgers School of Law–Camden Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. p ...

in 1981. Under Pittenger, the law school added programs specializing in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and

taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

. He persuaded Rutgers to build its first dormitory at the Camden campus and introduced a law faculty exchange program with Karl Francis University in

Graz, Austria Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

. Pittenger resigned as dean of Rutgers in 1986 and moved to his family's Pittwillow Farm in

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53 ...

. He continued to teach law at Rutgers until his official retirement in 1994. In 1982, Pittenger won the Judge Edward Finch prize from the American Bar Association for the outstanding Law Day speech. He was appointed to the Pennsylvania State Board of Education from 1991 until 1996. Pittenger also worked as the pre-law advisor and adjunct professor of government at

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Fran ...

in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, during parts of his career. He also worked as F&M's first squash coach in the college's history. Among his many works, Pittenger authored his memoir, ''Politics Ain't Beanbag'' and co-authored a high school textbook on

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...

titled ''The Pursuit of Justice'' with Henry W. Bragdon. He moved to Homestead Village, a

retirement community A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves; however, assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socializ ...

in Lancaster, in 1997, but remained active in Democratic politics. The Lancaster County Democratic Committee awarded him with its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. He died of complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

at Homestead Village in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on December 6, 2009, at the age of 79. Pittenger was survived by his wife, Pauline Miller Pittenger; stepsons, Josiah Leet and Matthew Leet; and his sister, Jane Kellenberger. A memorial service attended by more than 300 people, including Pennsylvania Governor

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philad ...

, was held at Franklin & Marshall College's Barshinger Center on January 13, 2010. The service was moved from the college's smaller Nevin Chapel to accommodate the large number of attendees.

References

External links

Obituary of John C. Pittenger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittenger, John 1930 births 2009 deaths Secretaries of Education of Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania lawyers Rutgers University faculty Harvard University faculty Franklin & Marshall College Harvard Law School alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania People from Chester County, Pennsylvania Politicians from Philadelphia American Quakers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers