Arthur Lehman Goodhart (1 March 1891 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– 10 November 1978 in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) was an American-born academic

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and lawyer; he was Professor of Jurisprudence at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, 1931–51, when he was also a Fellow of

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

. He was the first American to be the Master of an Oxford college, and was a significant benefactor to the college.

Early life and education

Arthur Goodhart was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in New York City, the youngest of three children born to Harriet "Hattie" (née Lehman) and Philip Julius Goodhart. His siblings were Howard Lehman Goodhart and Helen Goodhart Altschul (married to

Frank Altschul Frank Altschul (April 21, 1887 – May 29, 1981) was an American financier at General American Investors Company,Krebs, Albin (May 30, 1981)New York Times: "Frank Altschul, A Banker and Noted Philanthropist."''New York Times''. and founder of the ...

). His maternal grandfather was Mayer Lehman, one of three brothers who co-founded the investment banking firm

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

. Goodhart was educated at the

Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a coeducational University-preparatory school#North America, preparatory school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States. Hotchkiss is a member of the Eight Schools Association and Ten Schools Admissions Organization. It i ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. At Yale, he was an editor of campus humor magazine '' The Yale Record''. After returning to the United States, he practised law until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Following the war, he started to pursue an academic career in law, initially at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and later at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

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

, in 1914, Goodhart became a member of the U.S. forces when the U.S. joined the war in 1917; he became counsel to the U.S. mission to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, in 1919. Goodhart was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

1919, and became a fellow of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, and university lecturer in jurisprudence; he edited the ''

Cambridge Law Journal ''The Cambridge Law Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic law journal, and the principal academic publication of the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge. It is published by Cambridge University Press, and is the longest established university ...

'', 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

, 1951–63. Subsequently, he was an Honorary Fellow of the college until his death in 1978. In 1952 he delivered the Hamlyn Lectures. As a member of the Law Revision Committee, Goodhart helped to promote improvements in various branches of the law.

Personal life

Arthur Goodhart was married to Cecily Goodhart (née Carter), a devout Anglican. They had three children: Sir Philip Goodhart; William Goodhart, Lord Goodhart of Youlbury; and Charles GoodhartThe Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History: "Arthur Lehman Goodhart" edited by William D. Rubinstein
p. 354 (after whom

Goodhart's law Goodhart's law is an adage often stated as, "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure". It is named after British economist Charles Goodhart, who is credited with expressing the core idea of the adage in a 1975 article on mon ...

is named).

Legacy

Students during Goodhart's Mastership of University College included

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

d 1953, who was later

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

. 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 __NOTOC__ Logic Lane is a small historic cobbled lane that runs through University College in Oxford, England, so called because it was the location of a school of logicians. It links the High Street at the front of the college with Merton Str ...

, are named in his memory. The largest lecture theatre in the Sir David Williams Building, which houses the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge, is also named "The Arthur Goodhart Lecture Theatre" after him. 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 The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

* 1943,

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

* 1948, Honorary

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE). As a US citizen, an honorary knighthood, and name not prefixed "Sir" * 1952, Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

* He received honorary degrees from twenty universities * Honorary Fellow,

* Honorary Fellow,

References

Sources

* ''Concise

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. * '' Who was Who''. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodhart, Arthur Lehman 1891 births 1978 deaths American legal scholars English legal scholars Members of Lincoln's Inn 20th-century American lawyers American people of German-Jewish descent English Jews English people of German-Jewish descent English philanthropists Jewish American attorneys Hotchkiss School alumni Yale University alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of University College, Oxford Masters of University College, Oxford Academic journal editors Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Lawyers awarded knighthoods Members of the Inner Temple Professors of Jurisprudence (University of Oxford) American emigrants to the United Kingdom Lehman family Fellows of the British Academy British King's Counsel