George Leitmann: University of California's First Ombudsman

George Leitmann, the inaugural Ombudsman for UC Berkeley, passed away on May 19, 2025 just shy of his 100th birthday. Born in Austria, Leitmann lived a rich life. His family fled the Nazi regime and, after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and shipped out to Europe in 1944. His unit was attached to the First French Army and for his reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines, France awarded him the Croix de Guerre. Later, his unit participated in the liberation of the Kaufering concentration camp near Munich. After the end of the war, he became the youngest special agent of the U.S. Army’s Counterintelligence Corps which included service as an interrogator at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials. 

After the war, Leitmann earned a Bachelor's and Masters at Columbia University, and a PhD from Berkeley. He joined the faculty and was a highly productive researcher, in addition to holding several administrative positions. Leitmann George also was named the first ombudsman at the University of California during the tumultuous 1960s. He never really retired; after becoming a professor emeritus in 1991, he served as chair of the Engineering Faculty, Associate Dean for International Relations and Special Adviser to the Dean through his 90s. In about 1967, Leitmann emerged as an informal Ombudsman for students during campus protests against the Vietnam War. Eventually, he was formally named to the position and served with other faculty until 1970. (Berkeleyside; Springer; Berkeley Grad Div News.)