Mack was born on July 19, 1866, in San Francisco, California,[1] the son of William Jacob and Rebecca (Tandler) Mack.[2] His father, who came from Bavaria in about 1849, was a Jewish merchant, engaged in business successively in Cincinnati, Ohio, Terre Haute, Indiana, San Francisco, California, and again in Cincinnati.[2] Mack received his early education in the public schools of Cincinnati,[2] then received a Bachelor of Laws in 1887 from Harvard Law School.[1] He graduated at the top of his class, and was selected as the class orator for graduation in 1887.[2] Encouraged by Harvard law professors, Mack and several of his classmates founded the Harvard Law Review.[2] He served as its first business manager and as a member of the editorial board.[2] He received a Parker Fellowship from Harvard University and attended the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Leipzig in the German Empire from 1887 to 1890.[1] He entered private practice in Chicago, Illinois, from 1890 to 1895.[1] He was a Professor of Law for Northwestern University from 1895 to 1902.[1] He was a Professor of Law for the University of Chicago from 1902 to 1911.[1] He was a Judge of the Illinois Circuit Court for Cook County, Illinois, from 1904 to 1905.[1] He was a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court from 1905 to 1911.[1]
Social reform and charity
Mack was an active participant in many of the social reform movements which emerged in Chicago and the nation during the 1890s and early twentieth century.[2] Mack worked at Hull House and taught social workers at the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, and later became President of the National Conference of Charities and Correction.[2] In 1904, he became President of the National Conference of Social Workers.[2] He helped organize the Juvenile Protective League, forerunner of the Child Welfare League of America, and lobbied on behalf of protective legislation for minors and immigrant rights.[2] He was an early supporter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union.[2] He served as secretary of the United Jewish Charities, the association responsible for overseeing and funding Chicago Jewish philanthropic activities.[2]
Mack was President of the American Jewish Congress of 1918, the first American Jewish Congress.[2] The permanent successor organization by the same name was founded in 1922.[2]
Honor
Kibbutz Ramat HaShofet, founded in Israel in 1941, was named in his honour.[4]
