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University Counsel Jeffrey Brandwine, who joined Mason in 1989, died Sunday from complications of pneumonia. He was also an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law where he taught education law.
Brandwine's funeral was held on June 1 in Royal Oak, Mich. The family has asked that no flowers be sent. Donations in his memory may be made to the George Mason University Foundation for the Jeffrey A. Brandwine Scholarship Fund.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, June 7, at 3 p.m. in the Johnson Center Cinema at Fairfax. The entire university community is welcome.
"Jeff had a passion for life," says Maurice Scherrens, senior vice president. "He was a man of his word. I trusted him with the most confidential information possible, and he never broke that trust. His integrity and character were always beyond question. He gave consistently outstanding legal advice, but more importantly, he had street-smarts. His advice was not theoretical, it was the kind of advice that one could implement immediately, if necessary. He was a critical thinker in the true Socratic sense.
"I will miss most the long after-work conversations that we had discussing and debating 'the side of right.' I always knew that once we reached an agreement with Jeff at our side, we would prevail. If convinced that the university did indeed need to take a certain course of action, Jeff could find a way to make it happen."
Brandwine served as assistant vice president for human resources at Mason from 1989-1995.Then he became assistant vice president for legal affairs; and in 1998, associate vice president for legal affairs. His primary legal responsibilities for the university were in employment matters, student issues, and domestic and international contracts. He was an adjunct associate professor and taught undergraduate, graduate, and law courses at Mason, as well as at Oxford University in England during the summer.
Brandwine was also assistant attorney general/special counsel for the Commonwealth of Virginia and had the legal responsibilities for Gunston Hall, which was George Mason’s plantation.
Before joining Mason, Brandwine was director of personnel/employee relations for the State University College at Buffalo, N.Y., and employee relations representative at Michigan State University.
Brandwine earned his BS in labor and industrial relations and his MA in collective bargaining from Michigan State University. He received his JD degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich.