IN MEMORIAM
Ron Rotunda By Catie Kovelman ’19 A nationally known authority on constitutional law and legal ethics, Fowler School of Law Professor Ron Rotunda passed away March 14. He was 73. Rotunda was the Doy & Dee Henley Chair and Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law, where he had taught since 2008. “Ron Rotunda is one of the most recognizable names in constitutional law and professional responsibility,” said Donald Kochan, an associate dean and Parker S. Kennedy Professor in the Fowler School of Law. “He was constantly advancing the reputation of the law school by being so present in the intellectual debate.” A magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Rotunda clerked for a federal appeals court judge before becoming a prominent figure in Washington, D.C., where he became known for his legal acumen and his affinity for
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bowties. During the Watergate era, Rotunda served as assistant majority counsel to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. He began teaching at the University of Illinois College of Law in 1974 and later moved to George Mason University. In addition to widely used textbooks, Rotunda authored more than 500 articles. “Professor Rotunda’s publications have been cited more than 2,000 times by law reviews. His work has also been translated into French, Portuguese, German, Romanian, Czech, Russian, Japanese and Korean. To say that Professor Rotunda was prolific would be a great understatement,” wrote Chapman Provost Glenn Pfeiffer. Chapman President Daniele Struppa also has fond memories of Rotunda. “I remember how proudly he showed me an article from a Pakistani newspaper in which he was credited for helping shape the constitution of that country. His passing is a tremendous loss for the Fowler School of Law,
for Chapman University and indeed for the entire country,” Struppa said. Among his friends and colleagues, Rotunda was famous for his wit, work ethic and appetite for knowledge. “Ron soaked up knowledge like a sponge,” said his friend and former wife, Kyndra Rotunda, executive director of the Military and Veterans Law Institute at Chapman. “He went to bed reading string theory and woke up reading the Wall Street Journal. Ron expected much of himself, and of his students. His classes were difficult, yet he was a beloved teacher who cared deeply for his students. Ron was a bright light in this world. He was deeply loved, and he will be dearly missed.” Rotunda was mourned on campus with a memorial service in the Wallace All Faiths Chapel of the Fish Interfaith Center on April 18. In addition to his former wife, he leaves behind his son, Mark; daughter, Nora; twin brother, Don; and three grandchildren, Nicholas, Penelope and Simon.