Murray Schwartz, retired UCLA Law School dean

Murray Schwartz, a Philadelphia lawyer who moved to California and began a teaching career at the University of California at Los Angeles and became the law school's third dean, died of heart failure Feb. 15 at the age of 87.

Schwartz was a highly regarded teacher at UCLA, where he was an expert on criminal law and legal ethics. He wrote frequently on the subjects.

The UCLA graduating class of 1986 elected him Professor of the Year, and he received the university's Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching. He served as dean of the UCLA Law School from 1969 to 1975.

He was vice chancellor from 1988 until 1991, when he was granted emeritus status.

Schwartz was born in Philadelphia and earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Penn State.

He worked for Standard Oil as a chemist before joining the Navy.

He served as commanding officer of a submarine chaser during World War II.

After the war, he studied industrial relations at Penn's Wharton School. He received his law degree from Penn in 1949.

He clerked for U.S. Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson and served in the Office of the Solicitor General from 1952 to 1954. He practiced law in Philadelphia until 1958, when he went to UCLA as a teacher.

"Murray's passing will be a great loss to our community," said Michael H. Schill, dean of the UCLA Law School.

"He was a man of enormous wit and intelligence, and he was dedicated to our school and our profession.

"He was beloved by his colleagues and friends and we will miss him greatly."

Murray received distinguished- alumnus awards from Penn State and from Penn.

He was author of "The Reorganization of the Legal Profession," co-authored "Lawyers and the Legal Profession: Cases and Materials," and edited "Law and the American Future."

He is survived by his wife, Audrey; a daughter, Deborah; two sons, Jonathan and Daniel, and five grandchildren.

Donations may be made to the UCLA Foundation School of Law, attention Donna Colin, Box 951476, Los Angeles CA 90095. *