In Memoriam – Michael Goldstein

Managing Director   

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• mgoldstein@tytonpartners.com
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Mike Goldstein passed away on April 26th, 2025 after a brief illness. Mike was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, a source of immense pride, where he developed an early fascination with urban planning, a deep love of reading, and a penchant for stickball. Mike was part of a tight-knit family group that included eight first cousins in the leafy precincts of East 17th Street, near Avenue H. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School, Cornell University, and New York University School of Law, Mike began a career of remarkable breadth and impact. He was a pioneering education leader and a foundational leader of numerous educational and artistic endeavors in New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Mike was the founding Director of New York City Urban Corps, the nation’s first large-scale student intern program designed to support access for less affluent students through the use of the Federal Work Study Program. He went on to lead a Ford Foundation-supported effort to establish similar programs in cities across the U.S. He returned to New York City government as Assistant City Administrator and Director of University Relations. From there, Mike joined the then-new University of Illinois Chicago campus as Associate Vice Chancellor for Urban Affairs and Associate Professor of Urban Sciences. In 1978, Mike joined the Washington, DC law firm of Dow Lohnes to establish a new legal practice focusing on higher education. By 2014 when his firm merged with the global law firm Cooley LLP, the higher education practice he headed was the largest and one of the most highly regarded in the country.

Mike was a pioneer in the development of alternative mechanisms and institutional structures for the delivery of high quality postsecondary education to expand access and opportunity, including helping to accomplish substantial regulatory reforms that made telecommunicated and then online learning broadly available. The world of online learning that we know today was enabled in great part by Mike’s achievements. At the time of his passing, Mike was a Managing Director at Tyton Partners, where he led complex transactions in the higher education and distance learning fields.

Mike’s impact extended well beyond his professional achievements. He served as a Board Director of The Washington Ballet for nearly 40 years, including a significant tenure as pro bono general counsel. He served as a trustee and former Board Chair of both the Fielding Graduate University and Vermont College of Fine Arts, a founding member of the Board of Directors of The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, and a board member of the Cleveland Park Historical Society, the DC Fire & EMS Foundation, and the Friendship Fire Association, the volunteer arm of the DC Fire Department. In this latter role, he volunteered with the DC Fire & EMS Department Rehab Unit for over 30 years, providing support to first responders at major incidents including the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

He is the recipient of the WCET Richard Jonsen Award, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning Morris Keeton Ward, the President’s Medal from Excelsior College, and is an inductee into  the U.S. Distance Learning Association’s Distance Learning Hall of Fame Award, as well as a recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Fielding Graduate University for his contributions to the field of adult learning.

Even more important than these accomplishments, Mike was a kind, loving person with an infectious smile and an open heart, who gave his time and counsel generously. He is survived by his wife of over fifty years Jinny, brother William, son Eric, daughter-in-law Marielle, grandchildren Aria, Layla, and Jonah, and nephews Andy and Marc.