Joel Kaufman, FCC associate general counsel and chief of the administrative law division, died Oct. 29, according to the FCC. He was 53.
Kaufman had served in that post since 2005, but was a veteran of over two decades of service to the FCC. He joined the commission in 1993 from Cadwalader, Wickersham, and Taft, in Washington. He was a graduate of Providence College and Duke Law School.
Survivors include his wife, Debra Tropp, and mother, Bernice.
"I am deeply saddened by the recent passing of Joel Kaufman," asid FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, himself a former member of the FCC general counsel's office. "Joel devoted most of his professional life to public service at this agency, including many years in the Office of General Counsel. It was in that Office that I and almost every member of my staff had the privilege of working with and getting to know him. With his administrative law acumen and encyclopedic recall of precedents, Joel personified the phrase 'institutional memory.' More importantly, he was a great man and a good friend. Whether I was up or down, he always had a kind word and a warm smile. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Debbie, and his family."
Kaufman's funeral will be Oct. 31 at 11 a.m. at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, 7727 Persimmon Tree Lane, Bethesda, Maryland. Donations can be made to the congregation, the American Brain Tumor Association, Musella Foundation or Southern Poverty Law Center.
