Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 70) Supreme Court Triumph Oscar Persons brings engineering approach to the practice of law By Gary Goettling Photography: Stanley Leary I f Lyman Hall hadn’t been so cold and drafty, the Atlanta legal community might have been denied the contributions of one of its most distinguished litigators, whose recent U.S. Supreme Court victory is widely regarded as the most important securities law ruling in a generation. “I wanted to be a chemist,” says Oscar Persons, a 1960 industrial engineering graduate. “I was very interested in science and started out in chemistry. But when I did those six-hour labs in the winter in the old chemistry building, that was enough for me — I switched to industrial engineering after the first year.” But an engineering career wasn’t in the cards either for the Columbus, Ga., native. After graduation and a two-year tour of duty with the Navy, Persons joined Southern Bell’s management training program while working toward a law degree at night. “I’d always had a bent for things that weren’t just engineering,” says >>> Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Spring 2008 70
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