Oliver, Covey T. 1913-2007 (Covey Thomas Oliver)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born April 21, 1913, Laredo, TX; died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, February 22, 2007, near Easton, MD. Attorney, educator, diplomat, and author. Oliver was a retired law professor and expert on international law who also was a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia. Graduating from the University of Texas in 1933, he remained there for his law degree, which he completed in 1936. He was admitted to the Bar of the State of Texas that year and proceeded to teach at the University of Texas. During World War II, he worked for the U.S. Board of Economic Warfare, and part of his duties included travel to Spain as part of the U.S. Foreign Service Reserve, where it was his job to divert raw materials from enemy hands. Oliver remained with the State Department after the war and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. In 1949, he joined the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley, where he was Johnson Professor of Law until 1956. Next, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania. His knowledge of international law, as well as of Spanish and Portuguese languages, made him an ideal candidate to serve as ambassador to Colombia from 1964 until 1966; from 1967 to 1969 he also was assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs and U.S. coordinator of Alliance for Progress. Returning to the University of Pennsylvania, Oliver was Hubbell Professor of International Law until his 1978 retirement. Afterwards, he taught at Rice University for three years and was a visiting professor at various other universities. A former editor of the American Journal of International Law and former president of the American Society of International Law, Oliver was a highly respected legal scholar. He published many articles and a few books in his field, including TheInter-American Security System and the Cuban Crisis (1962), and the cowritten Cases and Materials on the International Legal System (1973).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, February 28, 2007, p. C17.

Washington Post, February 25, 2007, p. C6.