Allan D. EMIL

New York law firm of Rosenman Colin Kaye Petschek Freund & Emil • Senior Partner

Allan D. Emil (1898 – 1976), a noted US lawyer, philanthropist, patron of the arts and business man, became attracted to aviation when he and aviation were both young.

One of the young attorney’s earliest clients was Paul Kollsman, whose pioneering work on the altimeter paved the way for instrument flight. The collaboration soon led to others, and in turn to Emil becoming one of the foremost lawyers in the field of flight.

He was to become counsel to the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, and the only member of its board of directors who was not an engineer. Emil played a crucial role in designing the merger which joined the Institute with the American Rocket Society to form the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As the technology of flight expanded to include space, so did Emil’s interests.

The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award in his memory reflects these interests along with his deep commitment as an internationalist, humanist, and man of peace. His commitment translated to a multitude of activities: He was active in the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies for 30 years, and was Vice-Chairman of its board of trustees. He had been Vice-President of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Treasurer of the American Federation of Arts, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, a founder of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a trustee of Bennigton College, a trustee of the American Friends of the Tate Gallery in London, and a patron of the Museum of Modern Art and a fellow in perpetuity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At his death, he was a senior partner in the New York law firm of Rosenman Colin Kaye Petschek Freund & Emil.

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