hen two Pingry Upper Schoolers approached him in the O’Connor Board Room last November, their admiration was visible—palpable, even. Andrew Goldstein ’92, a hand-picked member of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation and former Chief of the Public Corruption Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, had just shared weighty remarks for the School’s annual John Hanly Lecture on Ethics and Morality. Other students, faculty, and staff, who made their way to the large conference room to chat with him afterwards, had dispersed. The boys took the opportunity to introduce themselves. Mr. Goldstein immediately remembered their father, whom he had worked with years before, and was attentive and jovial in exchanging pleasantries. Having just months earlier concluded a nearly two-year federal probe, amidst roiling media fanfare, into Russian interference in the 2016 election, he could be forgiven for lackluster repartee with teenagers. But he was on.
His ease with students can be traced back to the late 1990s, just after his graduation from Princeton, when then-Headmaster John Hanly invited him back to Pingry to teach AP Government. One of his favorite classes, it was taught by one of his favorite teachers, and mentors, Joe LaValley, who had died the year before. Returning to his alma mater to lead the class was an honor, he recalls. Mr. Goldstein stayed at Pingry for three years—his final year, at Mr. Hanly’s invitation, he became Dean of Students—until a summer internship at Time magazine led him down a different path. On the following pages, a Q&A that reveals a bit of that journey— from former Pingry varsity athlete, Peer Leader, and Vital Signs writer, to a high-profile federal prosecutor and central figure in one of modern America’s most tumultuous political events.
Andrew Goldstein ’92 on Storytelling, Respect, and the Merits of Not Always Pleasing Others 26
THE PINGRY REVIEW | SUMMER 2020