A List
9/24/07

LIFE, CAREER OF DR. HARRY REIFF CELEBRATED AT SLU

CANTON - The St. Lawrence University career of the late history and government Professor Harry Reiff, which spanned 38 years (1928-1966), will be celebrated with presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 9 and 10, by his two sons. Both are open to the public, free of charge.

"St. Lawrence University Architecture, 1856-1956: Style and Meaning" will be presented on Tuesday, October 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Herring-Cole Hall, by Daniel D. Reiff. Daniel Reiff attended Canton schools and graduated from Phillips Academy; he holds a bachelor's degree, master's degree and Ph.D. from Harvard and has done graduate work at Université de Liege, Belgium. He was a professor of art history at SUNY Fredonia, retiring in 2004 as distinguished service professor emeritus. Daniel Reiff is co-founder of the Fredonia Preservation Society and received an Architectural Heritage Honor Award in 1986 from the Preservation League of New York State. He is the author of numerous books, including Washington Architecture, 1791-1861 (1971); Small Georgian Houses in England and Virginia (1986); and Houses from Books, 1738-1950 (2000).

"Tax Law and Estate Planning" will be presented on Wednesday, October 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Herring-Cole Hall by Jonathan D. Reiff. Jonathan Reiff also attended Canton schools and graduated from Phillips Academy. He holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard and law degrees from Wake Forest Law School and Southern Methodist University School of Law. Jonathan Reiff served as an airborne ranger in the U.S. Army and captain in the Army Reserve Special Forces. He worked for several international firms as well as in a private law practice, specializing in estate planning, taxation and business in Oklahoma City and is the author of many published articles.

Harry Reiff was a professor of government and history at St. Lawrence, influencing generations of students. He was an expert on international law and is considered to be one of the shapers of the United Nations and a creator of the Model U.N. program. A Harvard graduate, with master's degrees from Harvard and the University of Michigan, he earned the Ph.D. from Harvard in 1934. He was a Fulbright Lecturer in Cairo and a specialist lecturer for the U.S. Information Service, and retired from St. Lawrence as the first Munsil professor of government, emeritus, in 1966. Harry Reiff's former students endowed a scholarship in his honor upon his retirement and he was awarded an honorary degree by the University in 1972. His portrait is included the Law Window of Gunnison Memorial Chapel on campus, and he is memorialized in the First-Year Program's Reiff College and Hepburn Hall's Reiff Lounge. Harry Reiff passed away in 1983, at age 84.

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