About Oscar M. Ruebhausen

Oscar M. Ruebhausen ’37 was born in New York City in 1912.  A Dartmouth College graduate, he received his LLB from Yale Law School with distinction in 1937 and was awarded the Law School's Citation of Merit in 1978.  He was a loyal friend of the Law School, serving as the chair of numerous committees and reunion gift campaigns, as president of the Yale Law School Association from 1960-1962, and as Honorary Chair of the Yale Law School Fund.  He also served as Class Agent for the Yale Law School Fund for decades. 

Ruebhausen was a distinguished member of the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP for almost fifty years, serving as its presiding partner from 1972 to 1981 and nourishing the firm from its roots to its place today among preeminent law partnerships.

He was president of the Bar Association of the City of New York, a key adviser to former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, general counsel to the Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II, and chairman of the boards of the Russell Sage and Greenwall Foundations.

Ruebhausen passed away in 2004 at age 92, fourteen years after the death of his wife Zelia.  He left in his will a bequest to Yale Law School creating the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund; the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professorship of Law; the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Visiting Fellows Program, which brings renowned legal figures to the Law School; and the Zelia P. Ruebhausen Student Fund, named in honor of his wife, which supports student organizations at the law school.