Robert Lerner, who passed away on Friday, was an NAS original. Original in the sense that he was one of our very first members, joining along with his father Monroe and wife Althea, just as the National Association of Scholars, in expanding beyond its home base in
Bob was an original in yet another sense. He was one of
Bob’s work in dissecting the harmful results of racial and ethnic preferences was of landmark consequence. Most of this was done in collaboration with the Center for Equal Opportunity, but he was also of great help to our organization, among other things, in shaping its responses to the Gratz and Grutter cases. This, and additional politically incorrect research, put him on various blacklists. Thus, when President George W. Bush nominated him to be the Department of Education’s Commissioner of Education Statistics, Senator Kennedy blocked his permanent appointment. Needless to say, he was never offered the distinguished faculty position that he deserved.
I always enjoyed talking with Bob. He had a philosophic good humor about his plight, and the larger predicament it represented, which never failed to boost my spirits. I, with a great many others, will miss him and his work dearly.