HANDLER, MILTON

HANDLER, MILTON (1903–1998), U.S. attorney. Handler was born in New York City. He graduated from Columbia Law School (1926) and served on its faculty from 1927. A specialist in trademarks and antitrust law in both private and public practice, Handler held posts on the National Labor Board, serving as special adviser to the Department of Agriculture (1933–34), U.S. Treasury Department (1938–40), Lend-Lease Administration (1942–43), Foreign Economic Administration, of which he was special counsel, and the U.S. attorney general's national committee to study antitrust laws (1953–55). In 1955–56 he was the chairman of the Special Commission to Study n.y. State Antitrust Legislation.

During the movement for Israel's independence, Handler was chairman of the American Jewish Conference's Palestine Committee, member of the American Zionist Emergency Council (1944–48), and co-author of a report on Palestine submitted to the United Nations in 1947. In 1969 he was appointed chairman of the American Friends of the Hebrew University.

He retired from teaching at Columbia in 1972 and was named professor emeritus. In his honor, the Milton Handler Chair in Trade Regulation was established in 1974 at the Columbia University School of Law. Other honors accorded Handler include the Scopus Award from the American Friends of the Hebrew University (1963), the Medal of Excellence awarded by Columbia Law Alumni (1976), the Outstanding Research in Law and Government Award from the Fellows of the American Bar Association (1977), the Human Relations Award of the Lawyers' Division of the Anti-Defamation League Appeal (1979), and the John Sherman Award from the Antitrust Division of the U.S Justice Department (1988).

Handler's books and articles include Antitrust in Perspective (1957), Cases and Materials on Trade Regulation (ed., 1967⁴), and Twenty-five Years of Antitrust (1973).

His wife, miriam handler, was active in American Jewish support for Israel. She served on the U.S. Manpower Commission Training within Industry (1943–45), was a member of the Hadassah National Board from 1947, and held other leadership positions with the American Friends of the Hebrew University and the American-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1975 the Handler Auditorium on Mount Scopus at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was dedicated in their name.

[Ruth Beloff (2^nd ed.)]