Stephen J. Friedman

Stephen J. Friedman (born March 19, 1938) is the former commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. He was the president of Pace University from 2007 to 2017. 

Before that, Friedman has served as dean of the Pace Law School, and senior partner and co-chairman of Debevoise & Plimpton.

Friedman was born on March 19, 1938. 

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1959. After graduating from Princeton, Friedman studied law at Harvard Law School, graduating with a JD degree in 1962. While at Harvard, he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a recipient of the Sears Prize. 

After law school, Friedman served as a law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. of the United States Supreme Court, in 1963-64. He then became an Associate and Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton law firm in New York (1965-1978.)

In 1978-79, Friedman served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Capital Markets Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In 1981, he returned to working with Debevoise & Plimpton as a Senior Partner. 

From July 2004 to July 2007, he was the dean of Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, and from July 2007 to July 2017, the president of Pace University.

Currently, Friedman is the President of Open Mind Associates—an executive coaching and consulting firm based in New York.

In addition, Friedman has been a trustee at Beacon Institute, American Ballet Theatre, and United Way of New York City and has also served as Vice Chairman and Director at NYC Board of the Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution).