Edward S. Cabot, 80, of Harpswell, Maine, died on May 15, 2018.
Ned dedicated his career to ensuring that the foundational institutions of our society – law, government, business and politics – served the interests and needs of all citizens. Born in New York City, he graduated from Yale magna cum laude and from Harvard Law School. He spent much of his early career in government service and politics, mostly in New York. At Equitable Life, he developed voluntary privacy guidelines that were a model for those later adopted by the Carter Administration. He served as president of the New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In 1991 Ned succeeded Archibald Cox, the former Watergate prosecutor, as National Chairman of Common Cause,
where he championed campaign finance reform nationally and in Maine. As a pro bono attorney for Sanctuary for Families in New York, he represented victims of domestic violence and immigrants facing deportation.
He taught at Yale College, New York University and, from 1999-2015, at Trinity College in Hartford. As adjunct professor, he helped to found the public policy and law program, which quickly became the fastest growing major at Trinity. The College awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in 2004. He moved permanently to Maine in 2015 , where he taught a course this spring at Midcoast Senior College. He is survived by his wife, Jane Fenderson Cabot; his three children, their spouses, and six grandchildren. A memorial service celebrating his extraordinary life was held at 3 p.m., Sunday, June 24, at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Brunswick.