Philipp von Türk – 50th Reunion Essay

Philipp von Türk

320 Riverside Drive, Apt. 9G

New York, New York 10025

pvonturk@aol.com

212-316-1889

Spouse(s): Susanne (1987)

Child(ren): Julia (1991); Christopher (1994)

Education: Harvard Law School, JD 1972

Career: Practiced law with a firm in New York, a Federal agency in Washington, DC, and most recently, with the Legal Department of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Avocations: Reading, Running

College: Davenport

While working in Washington with the US government, I met my future wife, Susanne, who was doing a clerkship with a law school classmate of mine at the time. We were married in 1987. My wife, a German national, is admitted to the bar both here and in Germany. She is engaged in a cross-border practice and is happily ensconced in a small firm here in New York.

We had two children, Julia and Christopher, whom we raised bilingually. I vividly remember watching them enter the world. Now they are adults pursuing their own careers in New York, Julia with a law firm and Christopher with a financial institution. Our daughter just married. Time flies.

My professional life has taken a relatively straight line. After law school, I practiced law with Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts in New York, doing mostly corporate transactions. I then moved to Washington, DC, to work with the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation, a Federal agency established by President Carter during the energy crisis of the late 1970s. This was also the time that I met my wife. It was an exciting three years. Washington is a great place to live and work. However, New York felt like my true home, and after my stint in Washington, I returned to New York to join the legal department of what would eventually become JPMorgan Chase. I worked there for 28 years, initially on Glass-Steagall matters, but then with an increasing focus on anti-money laundering, sanctions, anti-corruption, and, after September 11, 2001, anti-terrorist financing. For many years, I represented the bank in the Wolfsberg Group, a group of international financial institutions dedicated to combatting financial crime, and I served as co-chair of the group for a number of years. This role provided me with the opportunity to travel throughout the world. During the financial crisis, I felt like a had a ringside seat to the events threatening the financial system—or perhaps it was more like being in the ring. I found JPMorgan a great place to be, and I was fortunate to have been able to work with wonderful, congenial colleagues.

At Yale, I was in Directed Studies and majored in history, the arts, and letters. I found that the interests I acquired in my undergraduate studies stayed with me, and I continued to read widely in history, literary criticism, psychology, and theology. I eventually felt a need to do something more. That feeling of unfinished business eventually caught up with me, and a few years ago, I decided to enroll in the Master of Divinity program at Union Theological Seminary, which is within walking distance of where we live. It has been an intense experience, not unlike being an undergraduate again, and it has been a stimulating place to reflect on questions of ultimate concern. The answers are inherently elusive, but I think it is more about the journey than the arrival. I plan to finish the program by the time of our reunion.