BPI Loses a Great Friend in Abner Mikva

BPI was saddened to learn of the passing on July 4 of its great friend—and a great friend of democracy—Abner Mikva, who died at the age of 90.

Abner was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1956, followed by five terms in the U.S. Congress and 15 years as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, including four years as Chief Judge. In 1994 he became White House Counsel to President Clinton. In 2014 President Obama honored Ab with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ab’s association with BPI through the years began long before BPI was BPI: Ab and Alex Polikoff were friends at the University of Chicago Law School. It was Abner who engaged Alex in pro bono work for the ACLU.   And it was Ab’s wife Zoe who, in 1966, brought Alex and others together to explore the rampant racial discrimination at CHA—an introduction that ultimately led to the Gautreaux case. Zoe, a BPI education staffer for nearly a decade, originated BPI’s School Policy Forum Series. Ab and Zoe were honored with BPI’s “40 Who Made a Difference Award” in 2009.  There will be a public memorial service for Abner in early August.

You can read more about Abner in today’s Chicago Tribune and yesterday’s Washington Post, and in this tribute on the Mikva Challenge page.  In April, David Axelrod interviewed him for his CNN podcast.

“Democracy is a verb” is the theme of the Mikva Challenge—the Mikvas’ public interest organization focused on youth participation in government. These four words sum up the life of this extraordinarily dedicated, principled, versatile, and effective public servant whom it was BPI’s privilege to call a friend.

Rest in peace, Abner.