Trautman, Law School Professor, Dead at 69

Donald T. Trautman, Henry Shattuck professor of law at Harvard Law School, died on Saturday. He was 69.

Trautman, a Cambridge resident, was a specialist in the areas of conflict of laws and accounting and admiralty law. He was a leader in the use of computers in legal education and served as faculty adviser to the school's Education Technology Department, which produces legal interactive video lessons for schools, industry, government and law firms.

"We at Harvard Law School are all extremely saddened by the passing of Don Trautman," said Law School Dean Robert C. Clark in a statement.

"He was a leading scholar in the fields of conflict of laws and admiralty law and he played a very important role in pioneering use of computer technology in legal education," Clark said. "He will be very much missed as a friend, colleague, teacher, and scholar."

Law School Professor David West-fall said in a statement that "Knowing [Trautman] for over 40 years as a close friend and valued colleague was a great privilege for me. He was a truly remarkable human being."

Professor Arthur von Mehren, a long-time Law School colleague, said Trautman contributed to the fundamental rethinking of the field of conflict of laws occurring in the United States after World War II.

Von Mehren said Trautman's writings "deepened our insight into the basic issue of whether, and to what extent, the relationship between the purposes served by a legal rule should lead to its application in situations that are significantly connected with more than one legal order."

Trautman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June6, 1924. He received an A.B. in Economics fromHarvard College in 1946. He received the J.D. in1951 from Harvard Law School, where he was caseeditor of the Harvard Law Review. Heclerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice FelixFrankfurter from 1952 to 1953.

Trautman was appointed Assistant Professor ofLaw at Harvard Law School in 1953, Professor ofLaw in 1956, Charles Stebbins Fairchild professorof law in 1980, and Henry Shattuck professor oflaw in 1981. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1969.

He was coauthor of Materials onAccounting (with Harvard Law School ProfessorDavid Herwitz) in 1959 and Law of MultistateProblems (with Harvard Law School ProfessorArthur von Mehren) in 1965.

Trautman was president of the Center forComputer Assisted Legal Instruction from 1982 to1986, vice president and editorial chair from 1986to 1989, and a member of the organization's Boardof Directors since 1989. He was a member of theAmerican Foreign Law Association and a member ofthe State Department Advisory Committee on PrivateInternational Law.

Trautman is survived by a wife, Susanah Bailie;children William of Washington, D.C., Ann of NewYork City and Benjamin of Berkeley; and twograndchildren, Sarah and Alexander. The cause ofhis death was not released.

Memorial services for Trautman will be heldMonday, September 27 in Memorial Church

Trautman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June6, 1924. He received an A.B. in Economics fromHarvard College in 1946. He received the J.D. in1951 from Harvard Law School, where he was caseeditor of the Harvard Law Review. Heclerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice FelixFrankfurter from 1952 to 1953.

Trautman was appointed Assistant Professor ofLaw at Harvard Law School in 1953, Professor ofLaw in 1956, Charles Stebbins Fairchild professorof law in 1980, and Henry Shattuck professor oflaw in 1981. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1969.

He was coauthor of Materials onAccounting (with Harvard Law School ProfessorDavid Herwitz) in 1959 and Law of MultistateProblems (with Harvard Law School ProfessorArthur von Mehren) in 1965.

Trautman was president of the Center forComputer Assisted Legal Instruction from 1982 to1986, vice president and editorial chair from 1986to 1989, and a member of the organization's Boardof Directors since 1989. He was a member of theAmerican Foreign Law Association and a member ofthe State Department Advisory Committee on PrivateInternational Law.

Trautman is survived by a wife, Susanah Bailie;children William of Washington, D.C., Ann of NewYork City and Benjamin of Berkeley; and twograndchildren, Sarah and Alexander. The cause ofhis death was not released.

Memorial services for Trautman will be heldMonday, September 27 in Memorial Church