U. Hawaii Law School alums - comes this devastating news from Dean Avi Soifer:
Dear Members of the William S. Richardson School of Law Community;I have the awful task of informing you that Professor Jon Van Dyke passed away earlier today while at a conference in Australia.I am personally so very sorry to have to give you this news.Jon was admired, loved, and vitally important throughout a remarkable number of different circles of people stretching far beyond our Law School, but we were particularly and truly blessed to have the direct benefit of his many years of inspirational teaching and scholarship, remarkable public service, and deep and abiding friendship.There is and will be no other like him.Jon apparently died in his sleep and we are awaiting further details about memorial arrangements.Tomorrow we will gather for an All School Memorial during what would have been his Constitutional Law 1 class, beginning at 1:30pm in Classroom 2, and there will be another Evening Memorial beginning at 5:30 pm, also in Classroom 2, when his evening Constitutional Law 1 class would have been held.
Throughout the day, members of the community are invited to come to the Moot Courtroom to share memories, to mourn, and to comfort one another.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Sherry Broder, and with their children and family.
A book for condolences will be available.
Any students who feel that they cannot attend other classes or meet other obligations will be excused. We are in the process of arranging counseling and making appropriate adjustments for his classes and for Law School exams.
Like so many others, I find it virtually impossible to think about the Law School and our community without picturing Jon working away and bringing his extraordinary array of different skills to bear on all kinds of genuinely important projects and commitments.
Jon Van Dyke will certainly not be forgotten, but he will be hugely missed.
Aloha,
Avi
More here from the Star-Advertiser.
Professor Van Dyke ("JVD" as we knew him) taught at least three generations of Hawaii's lawyers Constitutional Law and International Law, me included. Ask practically any alum of U.H. Law from whom they learned Con Law, and their answer would be JVD. I use the tools he taught me every day in practice. He was also an expert in the Law of the Sea. He was a committed advocate for native Hawaiian rights. We had some differences there, but we never lost our respect, or ability to talk to each other and share ideas. Recently, he made a presentation to our firm's lawyers about his work for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and his efforts for sovereignty. We had no clue this would be his last visit.
Those of us who consider JVD a teacher, a mentor, and a colleague are not prepared to lose him so soon, and so suddenly.
