Ted Ruthizer graduated with honors in history in ‘69 and considers Lafayette to have had one of the strongest undergraduate history departments in the country. Ted went on to Columbia Law School, ‘72, and to a long career as an prominent immigration lawyer and law professor at Columbia. He retired at the end of 2019 as a partner and head of the business immigration group of his 400 lawyer law firm, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, based in its New York office. He also taught an advanced seminar on immigration law and policy at Columbia Law School for 20 years. He served as president and later as general counsel of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the national bar association for immigration lawyers and teachers.
While at Lafayette, Ted was a McKelvy Scholar for two years and considered that experience life changing. As a history major, Ted was particularly influenced by Professors Richard Welch and Jacob Cooke, both of whom were not only first rate scholars, but also wonderful teachers of history. Professor Welch used to have students come to dinner at his house, a tradition that Ted continued while a professor at Columbia Law School. Ted returned to Lafayette a few years ago to deliver a lecture to students and faculty on immigration policy and to speak to McKelvy Scholars.