Beloved U of Chicago Law Prof Dies
David Currie, a longtime law professor at the University of Chicago known both for his constitutional law scholarship and his gifts as an inspiring teacher, has died. He was in his early 70s.
Currie had been ill and suddenly took a turn for the worse, Dean Saul Levmore said today in an e-mail to the law school community. A similar post was made on the University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog. It offers links to an address by Currie concerning the law school’s centennial and an audio recording of his reading of the U.S. Constitution.
Currie, who had taught at the U of C for about 45 years, enjoyed acting in dramatic productions and applied his theatrical skills in law classes. Many a student undoubtedly remembers fondly from first-year contracts class, for instance (as does the author of this ABAJournal.com post), Currie’s dramatic recitation of the facts of a case about a barren cow, in verse.
“David Currie represented all that was good about us. He was a fabulously successful teacher who made his mark not by making things too easy for his students (or colleagues) but rather by holding us all to the same high standards to which he held himself,” says the faculty blog. “That he did this with warmth and a twinkle and an occasional reference to Gilbert & Sullivan make his passing especially sad, or perhaps inspiring.”
