Kampelman, Max M., 1920-2013

Max M. Kampelmacher was born to Jewish Austrian immigrant parents on November 7, 1920. He grew up in the Bronx, New York, attending Jewish parochial schools and the Talmudical Academy High School. He graduated from New York University in 1940. In 1941, just before entering law school, he changed his surname to Kampelman. He achieved a J.D. from the School of Law at New York University in 1945 and earned his M.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota in 1946. He taught at the University of Minnesota from 1946 through 1947 and then at Bennington College (Bennington, Vermont) in 1948.

In January of 1949 he took a three-month leave from Bennington to help Hubert H. Humphrey, whom he had met while attending the University of Minnesota, set up his Washington, D.C., office. Kampelman stayed with Humphrey as his legislative counsel until 1955 and remained a lifelong friend and advisor to Humphrey. In 1956 Kampelman completed a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Minnesota. Kampelman joined the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris & Shriver in 1957, moving to their Washington, D.C., office.

In 1980 Kampelman was appointed an ambassador by President Jimmy Carter and assigned the co-chairmanship of the United States Delegation to the Madrid Meeting of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). President Ronald Reagan reappointed him as chairman in 1981. Kampelman also served as head of the United States Delegation to the Negotiations on Nuclear and Space Arms from 1985 to 1987. Kampelman retired from public service in January 1989. His retirement was short lived; he returned to act as a delegate to the CSCE Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension (June 1990), the CSCE Geneva Meeting of Experts on National Minorities (July 1991), the CSCE Moscow Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension (September-October 1991), and the CSCE Helsinki Summit (July 1992).

Additional biographical information can be found in box 1, in the paperwork submitted to the United States Department of State for the presidential commission that appointed him ambassador (box 14), in his diary and book files (boxes 12 - 13), in the newspaper clippings contained in his scrapbooks (boxes 37 - 39), and in Kampelman's autobiography: Entering New Worlds: The Memoirs of a Private Man in Public Life (1991), which is in the MHS book collection.

From the guide to the Max M. Kampelman papers, 1935-1999., (Minnesota Historical Society)

Max Kampelman (1920-), lawyer (J.D. New York University), diplomat and educator, wrote The Communist Party vs. The C.I.O: A Study in Power Politics (1957), and served from 1949 to 1955 as legislative counsel to U.S. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey.

Max M. Kampelman was from 1980 to 1983 Ambassador to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and from 1985 to 1989 Counselor of the Department of State and Ambassador and Head of the United States Delegation to the Negotiations with the Soviet Union on Nuclear and Space Arms in Geneva, before rejoining the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, which he joined in 1955 and where he is now "Of Counsel." He serves as Chairman Emeritus of the American Academy of Diplomacy, Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Freedom House. He also serves as Counselor of the American Bar Association Committee on Law and National Security and ABA's Special Committee on the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative, designed to provide assistance to the emerging democracies of Europe. His book, Entering New Worlds: The Memoirs of a Private Man in Public Life, was published in 1991 by HarperCollins. An earlier book, The Communist Party vs. The C.I.O: A Study in Power Politics, was published in 1957 by Proeger Press.

On August 11, 1999, President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the nation. On January 18, 1989, President Reagan awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal, which recognizes "citizens of the United States who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens." He has also been the recipient of the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In April 2000, he was among those receiving the first Library of Congress "Living Legend" award.

He was appointed by President Carter and reappointed by President Reagan to serve as Ambassador and Head of the U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which met in Madrid from l980 to l983. He subsequently served as Ambassador and Head of the U.S. Delegation to the CSCE Copenhagen Conference on the Human Dimension in June 1990, the CSCE Geneva Conference on National Minorities in July 1991, and the CSCE Moscow Conference on the Human Dimension in September 1991. He previously was a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations and served from 1949 to 1955 as Legislative Counsel to U.S. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey. He served as Vice Chairman of the United States Institute of Peace by Presidential appointment from 1992 to 2001. From 1989 to 1993, he was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United Nations Association; and is now Honorary Chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation and Honorary Governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

An educator, he received his J.D. from New York University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, where he taught from l946 to l948. He has also served on the faculties of Bennington College, Claremont College, the University of Wisconsin, and Howard University. He lectures frequently here and abroad and has written extensively in scholarly and public affairs journals. He served on the governing boards of a number of universities and has received thirteen honorary Doctorate degrees. He now serves on a number of corporate and non-profit boards.

Ambassador Kampelman was a founder and moderator of the public affairs program on public television, "Washington Week in Review." He was chairman of the Washington public broadcasting radio and television stations from l963 to l970. From 1958-1960, he was the founding Chairman of the Friends of the National Zoo. He and his wife, Marjorie, live in Washington, DC and have five children and five grandchildren.

Sources:

From the guide to the Max M. Kampelman Research Files on Communist Influence in the Labor Movement, 1941-1951, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)