An original leader: Trustee Adrian DeWind left an indelible mark. Courtesy of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

Adrian "Bill" DeWind, the beloved chairman of NRDC's board of trustees from 1982 to 1992, died on August 7, 2009, at his Manhattan home. He was 95.

DeWind joined the board in 1980 and two years later succeeded NRDC's founding chairman, Stephen Duggan. During the next decade, he oversaw the transformation of a small band of environmental litigators into a highly disciplined organization with significant political clout.

By the time he joined NRDC, DeWind, a partner in the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, had already established a national reputation as a lawyer and tax expert. He had advised presidents, Congress, and several governors. In the mid-1970s he served as president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and he was one of the founders of Human Rights Watch.

DeWind saw things in black and white with not a lot of gray in between, remembers John Adams, NRDC's founding director. He took unwavering stances on issues such as nuclear nonproliferation and environmental health, in which he saw no moral middle ground.

DeWind was instrumental in raising NRDC's international profile. He loved travel, adventure, and a challenge. All three converged in 1986, when he journeyed to the Soviet Union and personally drafted a groundbreaking agreement between NRDC and the Soviet Academy of Sciences, which created the framework for the United States and the Soviet Union to observe each other's underground nuclear tests through an on-site monitoring system. The historic agreement paved the way for further communication between the two nations and, ultimately, a nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

After retiring as chairman of NRDC in 1992, DeWind continued to actively support the organization's work on climate and energy, and he remained a trustee until he died. His wife, Joan, was also a passionate supporter of NRDC, as was his longtime companion, Judith Gutman, whom he met after Joan's death.

"The bigger the problem, the more you could count on his help," Adams says. "He was a great leader, deeply admired by all our board and staff, and we will miss him."