‘Completely Incomplete’

The spring issue’s “100 Change Agents” cover story and related content were a hit among readers, but the ambitious issue was not without its shortcomings.

As forecast by the subtitle, “A Completely Incomplete List of UVA Lawyers Who Changed the World,” the article indeed committed some sins of omission. Readers suggested we could have included Eugene Meyung ’51, who was head of GEICO; M. Caldwell Butler ’50, a Republican congressman from Virginia who famously voted to impeach President Richard Nixon, despite having previously been a loyalist; and Alan S. Boyd ’48, who served as the first U.S. secretary of transportation.

A few alumni also weighed in critically on the inclusion of Linda Fairstein ’72 on the list, stating that her role in the controversial Central Park Five case should have been mentioned in order to provide balance to her uncontroverted accomplishments.

There were also some inaccuracies: John Bassett Moore 1880 (p. 32) should have been listed as serving as a judge, rather than a justice, on the Permanent Court of International Justice, the correct predecessor to the International Court of Justice; Christopher Brearton ’98 (p. 55) should have been listed by his more recent job title, chief operating officer of MGM; and the graduation years of three alumni should have been listed as David Carr ’83 (p. 45), Judge Brian Kenney ’83 (p. 63) and Thomas Boyd ’71 (p. 83).

Also, as you will read later in this issue (p. 54), Margaret Gordon Seiler ’51 (mentioned last issue on pps. 76-77) was not the first female board member of the Virginia Law Review, a mistake the Law School has repeated for a number of years now.

In addition, although the Law School indeed only educated two U.S. Supreme Court justices (p. 62), Justice Howell Edmunds Jackson 1854 also attended UVA.

—Eds.