Walter H. Diamond, who in partnership with his surviving wife Dorothy B. Diamond became the most renowned author and journalist in the fields of International Taxation, Trade, and Economics, passed away Friday, May 23, of natural causes at the age of 95.

Services were held in New York on May 29, and Thomas Jefferson School of Law Assistant Dean William Byrnes IV, who was very close to Mr. Diamond delivered the eulogy. 

See Assistant Dean Byrnes' Eulogy for Mr. Diamond

Mr. and Mrs. Diamond were the benefactors of Thomas Jefferson School of Law's Walter H. and Dorothy B. Diamond International Tax and Financial Services Program, the school's first LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree program.

"He was a giant in his field and he will be missed," said Thomas Jefferson Dean Rudy Hasl. "He and his wife Dorothy were internationally known through their consultations and their publications. I was pleased to be able to honor them with honorary juris doctor degrees at our December 2007 graduation."

Dorothy and Walter Diamond

Over his nearly seventy year career, Mr. Diamond and his wife co-authored 81 tax and trade books and more than 100 investment booklets. His books included such industry staples as Foreign Tax and Trade Briefs covering current tax laws of 120 countries since 1950, Diamond's International Tax Treaties of All Nations, Global Guide to Investment Incentives and Capital Formation, International Trust Laws & Analysis, and Tax Havens of the World (Matthew Bender).

Most recently, he published an autobiographical account of his nearly seventy year journalism career of interviewing world leaders: One of a Kind: Learning the Secrets of World Leaders. Mr. Diamond delivered over 500 speeches covering the international scene. His weekly and monthly columns appeared in The Financial Times and Offshore Investment magazine.

At the start of his career, he was an economist for the Public National Bank, and a National Bank Examiner in the Second Federal Reserve District, having been in charge of liquidation of foreign banks and businesses for the Alien Property Custodian during World War II. He also experienced battle in both the Pacific theater and in the Normandy invasion.

As a United Nations and U.S. AID Advisor, he has handled assignments for more than 50 countries involving taxation, investment, trade development, free trade zones, treaties, export insurance and offshore banking. Mr. Diamond received citations for his assistance in this work from Chief Executive of Honduras and former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Sr., while former President Eisenhower appointed him to the French Trade Mission to handle investment and tax problems. As a Foreign Analyst of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mr. Diamond helped to prepare foreign exchange recommendations for Bretton Woods.

He also served as Director of the Economics Department of McGraw-Hill International Corporation and Editor of the McGraw-Hill American Letter. Thereafter, he rose to become a Director of International Taxation and Manager of International Taxes for Deloitte Touche and KPMG Peat Marwick respectively.

Mr. Diamond was a graduate of Syracuse University and the American Institute of Banking with post-graduate work at Syracuse and New York Universities in international finance.

Mr. Diamond at December 2007 Graduation

Thomas Jefferson School of Law sends its heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Dorothy B. Diamond in this time of sadness. As mentioned previously, the director of the Diamond Program at Thomas Jefferson, Assistant Dean William Byrnes, attended the services on behalf of the law school.

Posted on May 23, 2008