Because Lynn preferred to work behind the scenes and not shed light on herself, and at the request of her family, the Work Remote Room is simply known as the Lynn Room. She passed away in May 2021.
Lynn was Director of Career Services at NYU Law in 1983 and hired me as associate director based on my response to a New York Times ad. I lacked the credentials for the position and was terrified to interview with someone whose education and experience was so formidable. In addition to Lynn’s leadership role at NYU Law, she served as Director of Placement at Boston University School of Law, New York Law School, and Barnard College. As a zealous advocate, she participated in the Mississippi Summer Project, a program to register and educate Black voters in the Delta, served as a research assistant at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and co-edited a book on disaster assistance. Lynn also volunteered on the Board and as President of the Women’s Counseling Project at Barnard College, as president of the National Association for Law Placement, on committees of the ABA and NYC Bar Associations focused on career planning, professional development, and continuing legal education, on the Board of Soroptimist International (NY) and at the New York Public Library.
When I interviewed with Lynn in June of 1983, she was about to extend a job offer to the head of career services at another law school — he had a law degree and I did not. He had law school career services experience, and I did not. Based on my cover letter, she invited me to meet with her, yet told me that I didn’t have a “prayer’s chance” of getting the position. And then she took a chance on me! For 38.5+ years, I led the NYU Law Office of Career Services based on many of the lessons Lynn taught me.
Implicit in my hiring was the belief that job descriptions were wish lists, and should not constrain candidates from applying for jobs — I told this to our students and graduates every day! Lynn was the consummate writer — and all of us whose documents she redlined were better for it. As I grew as a manager, I made writing a top priority in my hiring and coaching of students, a firm believer that the strongest writers will rise to recognition. And no one was more student-centered than Lynn – when you coupled her passion for helping students with her dogged research skills, it was job search poetry-in-motion — behind the scenes, she was making calls to potential employers in order to connect a struggling student with opportunities. Mentored by Lynn, I also learned to focus my energy on the students and alumni — in the trenches – rather than being consumed by pleasing those in management (sorry, deans!)
I not only owe my career to Lynn, but my counseling philosophy was extensively shaped by working under her direction for six years –she taught me to: take a chance on, and invest in, colleagues; look beyond job descriptions and work history in hiring; write clearly and succinctly, and get one’s satisfaction from serving those in the trenches, not those in the ivory tower. When I posted my NYU Law retirement on LinkedIn, over 75,000 people read my message and sent heartfelt expressions of gratitude. Those thanks also belong to Lynn, and I live every day knowing that a part of her is with me and with the legions of law school career services professionals that came after us.
April 2023