American Friends of The Hebrew University is honored to present Robert J. Katz with the George A. Katz Torch of Learning Award, given annually to a member of the legal community who exemplifies the model of engaged, dynamic community leadership and philanthropy embodied by the life and deeds of the late George A. Katz, co-founder of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Mr. Katz became a partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 1988 and a member of its Management Committee in 1992. He served as the firm's General Counsel from 1988 through 2000, and is currently Special Counsel and an Advisory Director. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he was a partner of Sullivan & Cromwell from 1980 to 1988. Mr. Katz is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Cornell University 's College of Arts & Sciences. He attended the London School of Economics and served as a clerk for the late Irving R. Kaufman, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, before joining Sullivan & Cromwell in 1974.

A noted community leader and supporter of numerous philanthropic endeavors, Mr. Katz was a 1997 recipient of the ADL Lawyers Division's Human Relations Award, and is a past co-chair of the AFHU Torch of Learning Award Luncheon. He is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Horace Mann School as well as a member of the boards of Cornell University , the Harvard Law School Association of NYC, Prep for Prep, Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation and the Achilles Track Club, and a trustee emeritus of The Allen-Stevenson School. He is a member of the Dean's Advisory Board of Harvard Law School and the Dean's Advisory Council of the Cornell University College of Arts & Sciences, and is a past President of the Institute for Judicial Administration.

Mr. Katz and his wife, Jane Lisman, have a son, James (Brown '03) and daughter, Emily (Brown '05). They reside in New York City .