- 1918 Born June 19 in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to Sam and Irene Cohen Abram
- 1934 Enters the University of Georgia (UGA)
- 1938 Graduates from UGA summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; awarded Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford to begin in the fall term the following year
- 1939 Rhodes Scholarship program suspended on the eve of World War II; enters University of Chicago Law School
- 1940 Earns law degree from University of Chicago; accepts position at the Atlanta law firm Howell and Post
- 1941 Enters the U.S. Air Force as a second lieutenant at Fort McPherson, Georgia
- 1944 Marries Jane Isabella Maguire
- 1945 Birth of daughter Ruth
- 1945 Completes military service with the rank of major; awarded the Legion of Merit
- 1946 Moves to Oxford, England, with Jane and Ruth; enrolls in Pembroke College
- 1946 Spends the summer in Nuremberg, Germany, working on the U.S. prosecution team of the International Military Tribunal for Nazi war crimes
- 1948 Earns Oxford degree
- 1948 Returns to Atlanta and joins the law firm of Heyman, Howell, and Heyman
- 1948 Birth of daughter Ann
- 1950 Files first lawsuit challenging Georgia’s county unit system of voting
- 1950 Birth of son Morris Jr.
- 1953 Becomes partner in the law firm of Heyman, Abram, and Young
- 1954 Runs unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District
- 1955 Birth of son Jonathan Adam
- 1958 Appointed by Mayor Hartsfield to chair the Atlanta Citizens Crime Commission
- 1961 Serves as the first general counsel of the U.S. Peace Corps
- 1962 Appointed by Pres. John Kennedy to the position of U.S. Member, UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
- 1962 Argues Sanders v. Gray case before U.S. Circuit Court panel, which declares Georgia’s county unit system unconstitutional
- 1962 Joins the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison as a partner
- 1962 Birth of son Joshua
- 1963 Argues Gray v. Sanders case before U.S. Supreme Court on January 17; on March 18 the court upholds the Circuit Court ruling and establishes by a vote of 8–1 the constitutional standard of “one person, one vote”
- 1963 Selected as the youngest president in the history of the American Jewish Committee (serves until 1968)
- 1965 Appointed by Pres. Lyndon Johnson to co-chair the planning committee for the White House Conference on Civil Rights
- 1965 Appointed UN Representative to the UN Commission on Human Rights and Senior Advisor to UN Ambassador Arthur Goldberg
- 1965–81 Serves as chairman of the Field Foundation
- 1968 Inaugurated as the second president of Brandeis University
- 1969 Leads the university’s response to the eleven-day student takeover of Ford Hall
- 1970 Resigns the presidency of Brandeis; rejoins Paul, Weiss
- 1971–80 Serves as chairman of the United Negro College Fund
- 1973 Begins treatment for acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City
- 1974 Divorced from Jane Abram
- 1975–76 Heads the Moreland Commission’s investigation of New York State’s nursing home industry
- 1976 Marries Carlyn Feldman Fisher
- 1979 Receives final treatment for AML; declared cancer free
- 1979–83 Serves as chairman of the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, following appointment by Pres. Jimmy Carter
- 1983–86 Serves as vice-chairman of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, following appointment by Pres. Ronald Reagan
- 1983–88 Serves as chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry
- 1987 Leads the mass Soviet Jewry rally on the Washington DC mall on Freedom Sunday, December 6
- 1987 Divorced from Carlyn Abram
- 1986–89 Serves as chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
- 1989–93 Serves as ambassador to the European Office of the UN, following appointment by Pres. George H. W. Bush
- 1990 Marries Bruna Molina in his summer cottage on Cape Cod
- 1993 Begins tenure as the Founding Chairman of UN Watch
- 1999 Receives AJC’s National Distinguished Leadership Award
- 2000 Dies on March 16 in Geneva; funeral and burial on March 19 in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts