The Council has selected Donald J. Rapson to become the third recipient of the ALI’s John Minor Wisdom Award. Mr. Rapson, who retires this year from The CIT Group, Inc., Livingston, New Jersey, after 15 years during which time he was Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, will receive the Award for his outstanding contributions to the Institute’s work in the field of commercial law. It will be presented on May 17 at the opening session of the 76th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Unlike the Institute’s Henry J. Friendly Medal, which is awarded for lifetime achievement in the law, the Wisdom Award is given from time to time in specific recognition of a member’s contributions to the work of the Institute. ALI Reporters, Officers, and Council members are not eligible for the Award, the primary purpose of which is to recognize members who do not have an official role in Institute projects.

Mr. Rapson’s contributions include more than 15 years’ service as an ALI representative on the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code, during which period he spearheaded and oversaw the development of a series of PEB Commentaries aimed at clarifying and improving the understanding of various provisions of the Code. He has also served as an ALI representative on several Drafting Committees engaged in updating and revising the UCC, including the recently completed Article 9 (Secured Transactions), as well as Articles 3 (Negotiable Instruments), 4 (Bank Deposits and Collections), 4A (Funds Transfers), and 6 (Bulk Sales). He has written numerous articles on aspects of the Code and for the past 10 years has been the Planning Chair of ALI-ABA’s annual program on the “Emerged and Emerging New Uniform Commercial Code.” Mr. Rapson was also a key Adviser for ALI’s recently completed Restatement of the Law of Suretyship and Guaranty after having been instrumental in persuading the Institute’s leadership that the project needed to be undertaken.

A graduate of both Columbia College and Columbia Law School, Mr. Rapson is an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University and a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia. He has been a member of the Institute since 1968 and a life member since 1993. He recently received the Homer Kripke Award of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers.

The Wisdom Award was established by the ALI’s Executive Committee to honor Emeritus Council member John Minor Wisdom, Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Award was endowed in 1990 by Judge Wisdom’s present and former law clerks in celebration of his 85th birthday. Its previous recipients were W. Loeber Landau in 1993 for his contributions to the Institute’s Principles of Corporate Governance and its Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers and M. Bernard Aidinoff in 1995 for his contributions to the Institute’s work in the field of taxation.