Julian L. Lapides (September 17, 1931 – July 14, 2021) was an American politician who served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1963 to 1967 and in the Maryland Senate from 1967 to 1995. Known to his friends and colleagues as "Jack", Lapides was often called the conscience of the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

. He later served as a member of the Maryland State Ethics Commission.

Early life and education

Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, on September 17, 1931, Lapides attended Baltimore public schools and graduated from the

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

high school in 1949. He attended Johns Hopkins University and then Towson State College (now Towson University) where he earned his B.S. degree in 1954. After two years in the United States Army, Lapides was accepted at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, where he earned his LL.B., in 1961. Lapides was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1965. Forty years after receiving his law degree, Lapides earned a Masters of Liberal Arts degree (MLA) from Johns Hopkins University.

Career

left, 100px, Lapides in 1986 Lapides was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1962, in 1966 he won his seat in the Maryland Senate, where he served until 1994 when redistricting caused him to lose the district he had served for 28 years. While in the Senate, he chaired the Joint Budget and Audit Committee and the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. He was a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee and the Public Safety, Transportation, Economic Development & Natural Resources Subcommittees. Lapides was also a member of the Capital Budget Subcommittee, Pensions Subcommittee, the Legislative Policy Committee, and several other subcommittees and task forces. Lapides was a contributor to and a member of the Maryland State Arts Council, past president o
Baltimore Heritage
the American Antiquarian Society, the Peale Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum and Victorian Society in America. He was a life member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, past President of the Maryland Kidney Foundation, Regional vice-president of the National Kidney Foundation (1970–72). He died of cancer on July 14, 2021, in Baltimore, Maryland, at age 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapides, Julian 1931 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American legislators Baltimore City College alumni Deaths from cancer in Maryland Democratic Party Maryland state senators Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Towson University alumni Politicians from Baltimore Military personnel from Baltimore 20th-century Maryland politicians