Richard M. Cummings ’59

Richard died June 18, 2014, of prostate cancer.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he came to Princeton from Midwood High School as Richard Cohen. He majored in politics and ate at Key and Seal. He attended Columbia Law School, where he edited the law review and graduated with highest honors. He later earned a master of letters degree in international law at Cambridge.

Richard’s eclectic pursuits following Cambridge included law, activism, politics, academia, theater, and literature. After a brief stay with the law firm of Breed, Abbott in New York, he taught at the University of Louisville Law School and then had a visiting professorship at the University of Addis Ababa.

Upon his return to the United States, Richard took a visiting professorship in political science at Southampton (N.Y.) College. He opened a law practice in Southampton and entered politics, running unsuccessfully for the Suffolk County (N.Y.) legislature (and later for Congress), serving on the Southampton Town Democratic Committee, and carrying McGovern delegate credentials to the 1972 Democratic Convention. His later years were interspersed with other professorships and prolific writing. Numerous “letters to the editor” in PAW reflected his deep affection for Princeton.

Richard is survived by Mary, his wife of almost 50 years; two sons, Benjamin and Orson; and his brother, James Cohen ’58. The class sends its sympathy.