Stephen John Brademas Jr. (March 2, 1927 – July 11, 2016) was an American politician and educator originally from Indiana. He served as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives for the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1981 at the conclusion of a twenty-year career as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In addition to his major legislative accomplishments, including much federal legislation pertaining to schools, arts, and the humanities, he served as the 13th president of New York University from 1981 to 1992, and was a member of and subsequently the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition he was a board member of the New York Stock Exchange and the Rockefeller Foundation. Early life and career The oldest of four children, Brademas was born in 1927 to Stephen John Brademas, a Greek immigrant father, and the former Beatrice Goble, an American mother, in Mishawaka, Indiana. His father ran a restaurant and his mother was an elementary school teacher. He spent summers with his maternal grandfather, who was the state superintendent of schools in Canada, and possessed a large library. Brademas graduated as valedictorian from Central High School in South Bend, Indiana. He served two years in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Harvard University, from which he graduated with an A.B. magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and where he was affiliated with Adams House. His Harvard thesis, The Sinarquista Movement in Mexico: Its Implications for the United States, was published in April 1949. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Brasenose College, Oxford, from which he received his D.Phil. in Social Studies. Congressional service Brademas served as United States Representative in Congress from Indiana's 3rd congressional district for 22 years (1959–81), the last four as House majority whip. While in Congress he was a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, where he played a leading role in writing most of the federal legislation enacted during that time concerning schools, colleges and universities; services for the elderly and the handicapped; libraries and museums; and the arts and humanities. Brademas holds the distinction of being the first Greek-American member of Congress, preceding, among others, Olympia Snowe, Paul Tsongas and Paul Sarbanes. Cosponsor of the 1965 legislation creating the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities