Lewis B. Kaden, Longtime Human Rights First Board Member, Dies After Fall

WASHINGTON — Human Rights First announced today the death on June 28 of longtime board member Lewis B. Kaden who died at age 78 after being injured in a fall.

Mike Breen, president and CEO of Human Rights First said, “A brilliant attorney and advisor to many, Lew served on our Board for more than 30 years. His commitment to building a more just and humane world was profound, and we will remember him as a loyal, generous, and cherished friend to many. We are deeply grateful for his many years of leadership.”

Lewis Kaden had been a John Harvard Gregory Lecturer on World Organization and Harvard Law School since 2014. He retired as vice chairman of Citigroup Inc. in 2013, where he was a member of Citigroup’s executive committee. He joined Citigroup in 2005 from Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he was a partner. Before joining Davis Polk & Wardwell in 1984, he was a professor of law at Columbia University and director of Columbia University’s Center for Law and Economic Studies.

Kaden was the lead independent director of ArcelorMittal and chairman of the Markle Foundation. He was the chairman of the United States Government Overseas Presence Advisory Panel, the Industrial Cooperation Council of the State of New York, and NY Governor Mario Cuomo’s Commission on Competitiveness.

He was the moderator of the Business-Labor Dialogue, a group of chief executive officers and trade union presidents organized by John F. Welch and John Sweeney. He was a member of the Trilateral Commission and the Council of Foreign Relations.

From 1974-1976, he was counsel to the governor of New Jersey. He has served as a moderator for the Public Broadcasting System’s Media and Society Seminars, including the Ethics in America series, which won a Peabody Award.

Kaden was a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.