{{Short description|Federal Trade Commission chair (1929–2018)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Robert Pitofsky | image = Robert Pitofsky.jpg | caption = | office1 = Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission | president1 = Bill Clinton<br />George W. Bush | term_start1 = April 11, 1995 | term_end1 = May 31, 2001 | predecessor1 = Janet Dempsey Steiger | successor1 = Timothy Muris | office2 = Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission | president2 = Jimmy Carter<br />Ronald Reagan | term_start2 = June 29, 1978 | term_end2 = April 30, 1981 | predecessor2 = Calvin J. Collier | successor2 = George W. Douglas | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|12|27}} | birth_place = Paterson, New Jersey | death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|10|6|1929|12|27}} | death_place = Chevy Chase, Maryland | party = Democratic | education = New York University<br />Columbia Law School }}
'''Robert Pitofsky''' (December 27, 1929 – October 6, 2018) was an American lawyer and politician who was the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States from April 11, 1995, to May 31, 2001.<ref>[https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/attachments/commissioners/commissioner_chart_november_2018_0.pdf List of Commissioners, Chairwomen, and Chairmen of the Federal Trade Commission: 1915–2018 (as of November 2018)]. Ftc.gov</ref> He had previously been Dean of the Georgetown University Law Center from 1983 to 1989, and was Dean Emeritus at the time of his death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/from-dean-emeritus-robert-pitofsky-to-joseph-simons-l83-georgetown-law-celebrates-tradition-with-federal-trade-commission-hearings/|title=From Dean Emeritus Robert Pitofsky to Joseph Simons (L'83), Georgetown Law Celebrates Tradition with Federal Trade Commission Hearings {{!}} Georgetown Law|website=Law.georgetown.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-09}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey,<ref>Kang, Cecilia. [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/obituaries/robert-pitofsky-dead.html "Robert Pitofsky, Champion of Consumer Protection, Dies at 88"], ''The New York Times'', October 11, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2021. "Robert Pitofsky was born in Paterson, N.J., on Dec. 27, 1929, to Morris and Sadye Pitofsky. His father fixed textile looms, and his mother sold dresses."</ref> Pitofsky attended Eastside High School.<ref>[https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/robert-pitofsky-obituary-fqj9vkvpm "Robert Pitofsky obituary Quietly determined chairman of the US Federal Trade Commission who challenged some of the most powerful companies in the world, including BP"], ''The Times'', November 24, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2021. "Robert attended Eastside High School, on the wealthier side of Paterson, and had a series of part-time jobs: selling potatoes and bananas, working as a lifeguard at the lakes in northern New Jersey, and even becoming a Sunday school teacher."</ref> Pitofsky was educated at New York University and the Columbia University School of Law.
== Federal Trade Commission (FTC) == Before becoming chairman of the FTC on April 12, 1995, he previously held positions with the FTC as a Commissioner (1978–1981) and as Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (1970–1973).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/biographies/robert-pitofsky|title=Robert Pitofsky|date=2013-07-18|work=Federal Trade Commission|access-date=2018-10-09|language=en}}</ref> Pitofsky was the primary author of one of the most widely used casebooks in the area of trade regulation, now in its sixth edition.
== Personal life == Pitofsky was married and has three children and seven grandchildren. He died at the age of 88 on October 6, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/in-memoriam-dean-emeritus-robert-pitofsky/|title=In Memoriam: Dean Emeritus Robert Pitofsky – Georgetown Law|website=Law.georgetown.edu}}</ref>
==Publications== Books: *''Cases and Materials on Trade Regulation'' (Foundation Press 5th ed. 2003) (with others). *"How the Chicago School Overshot the Mark" (Oxford Univ. Press 2008) (Pitofsky, ed.).<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4867&context=penn_law_review|title=THE POLITICAL CONTENT OF ANTITRUST|author=ROBERT PITOFSKY|website=Scholarship.law.upenn.edu|access-date=October 28, 2021}}</ref>
Articles: *"Antitrust at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: the Matter of Remedies," 91 Geo. L.J. 169 (2002). *"Antitrust and Intellectual Property: Unresolved Issues at the Heart of the New Economy," 34 Intell. Prop. L. Rev. 643 (2002), reprinting 16 Berkeley Tech L.J. 535 (2001). *"The Essential Facilities Doctrine Under United States Antitrust Law," 70 Antitrust L.J. 443 (2002) (with others). *{{cite journal|title=Challenges of the New Economy: Issues at the Intersection of Antitrust and Intellectual Property|url=https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1313&context=facpub|volume=68|journal= Antitrust Law Journal|page=913|year=2001}} *"The Political Content of Antitrust," 127 U. Penn. L. Rev. 1050 (1979).<ref name=autogenerated1 /> *"Beyond Nader: Consumer Protection and the Regulation of Advertising," 90 Harv. L. Rev. 661 (1977).
== See also == * List of former FTC commissioners
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/in-memoriam-dean-emeritus-robert-pitofsky/ Georgetown University memoriam for Robert Pitofsky] *[http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/pit1.htm FTC page listing speeches and testimony by Robert Pitofsky] *[http://www.ftc.gov/os/ar96/commissi.htm Biographies of FTC commissioners as of 1996] *{{C-SPAN|2822}}
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{{FTC Chairs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitofsky, Robert}} Category:1929 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Georgetown University Law Center faculty Category:New York University alumni Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Scholars of competition law Category:Deans of law schools in the United States Category:Federal Trade Commission personnel Category:American legal scholars Category:Carter administration personnel Category:Reagan administration personnel Category:Clinton administration personnel Category:George W. Bush administration personnel Category:Lawyers from Paterson, New Jersey Category:Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey) alumni Category:Deans of Georgetown University Law Center