Harold Oscar Levy (December 14, 1952 – November 27, 2018) was an American lawyer and philanthropist who last served as the executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Having previously held leadership roles as a corporate attorney, venture capital investor and as a manager in the financial services industry, Levy is best known for having served as Chancellor of the New York City public schools, the largest school system in the U.S., from 2000 to 2002. Early life and education Levy's parents were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. His father, a former textile merchant in Trier, Germany, owned a hardware store on East 59th Street, and the family lived in the Washington Heights neighborhood. A student leader throughout his education, he graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1970. He earned a B.S in 1974 from Cornell University's School of Industrial & Labor Relations. During his time at Cornell, he resided in the Telluride House. He then earned an M.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 1978 from Oxford University, and J.D. in 1979 from Cornell Law School. Wall Street career (1985–2000) During the first period of his career, Levy worked on Wall Street providing legal advice to Citigroup, Inc. and its predecessors, Traveler's Group, Inc., Salomon, Inc. and Philipp Brothers, Inc. He was the associate general counsel and handled special assignments, including serving as Citigroup's director of global compliance, Salomon Brothers' senior litigation counsel, and serving as liaison to community groups, including Reverend Jesse Jackson's Rainbow / Push Wall Street Project. During this time, he also began his advocacy for public education, becoming a one-man lobbyist for the public schools. He served as President of University Settlement, New York's oldest social settlement, located on New York's Lower East Side. He was also chair of the City Bar Association's Committee on Education and pro bono counsel to a number of community organizations. Chancellor Ramon Cortines appointed Levy chair of the New York City Commission on School Facilities and Maintenance Reform. The commission concluded the schools needed billions in new investment, drawing Levy further into the struggle to improve education in New York City. The Commission's lobbying led to a massive infusion of funds to rehabilitate the city school buildings, as a result of which the school system ended its reliance on coal-fired boilers. The New York State Legislature subsequently elected Levy to be a member of the