Spring Break
Chemerinsky reflects on four years at Duke
By: Hon Lung Chu
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: News
Last update: 4/22/08 at 6:53 AM EST
Last update: 4/22/08 at 6:53 AM EST
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Erwin Chemerinsky, Alston & Bird professor of law and professor of political science, will leave Duke after this semester to become the founding dean of the Donald Bren School of Law at the University of California-Irvine.
"We just got out of our last class and he received a standing ovation at the end," said Kathy Choi, a junior in his political science class.
The constitutional law and civil procedure expert came to Duke in 2004, after 21 years at the University of Southern California Law School. Chemerinsky has also been involved as an attorney in high-profile cases, including representing Valerie Plame Wilson, the CIA agent whose identity was leaked to the press in 2003.
Reflecting on his time at the University, Chemerinsky said his most memorable experience is teaching a class this semester that his son, a second-year student in the School of Law, is currently taking.
"It's a large class, and it's been so wonderful to-four times a week-look up and see him in the room," he said.
He added that other unforgettable experiences at Duke include receiving the University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 2006 and sitting in the first row behind the basket in the Duke-Maryland men's basketball game in February.
But Chemerinsky said he will miss most the brilliant minds he has taught over the past four years.
"It's a really special place, and the students are really dazzling," he said. "The quality of the discussion in my undergraduate classes is just incredible."
The one lesson he said he hopes to impart to students before he leaves for California is to find a career they are passionate about.
"It's really about enjoying the journey and finding ways of enjoying all the stages of life. To me, the saddest thing is when I hear a student say, 'Well I am unhappy now, but when I get past this, then I will do something that will make me happy,'" he said. "Life is too unpredictable and you don't know what's going to come next. I think it's so important at each stage to enjoy the process, really find a way of enjoying college to make it the best experience and look for a career that makes you excited and happy all along the way. I feel lucky that I found that. I love it just as much as I started in 1980, and I wish the same for my children and my students."
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 13
watt
posted 4/22/08 @ 8:38 AM EST
I am sure that Chemerinsky is a very nice man, but has he ever explained why he, as a "civil procedure expert", failed to be among those LOUDLY questioning Mike Nifong's multiple abuses of civil procedure in his attempt to frame Duke students for a crime that never took place? Has he?
And I don't want to hear that he voiced concerns about Nifong to his closest confidences. (Continued…)
watt?
posted 4/22/08 @ 9:32 AM EST
What Mike Nifong did was an abuse of CRIMINAL Procedure. It's a different area of law. Check facts first.
watt??
posted 4/22/08 @ 9:44 AM EST
Watt is an idiot, but in all fairness, there is some overlap between criminal procedure and contitutional law. That fact, however, is beyond Watt's little, myopic, meaningless, and clueless life. (Continued…)
huge loss
posted 4/22/08 @ 10:40 AM EST
The departure of Professor Chemerinsky is a staggering loss for Duke Law School, just one of a number of huge losses campus-wide during the Brodhead years. (Continued…)
the exodus
posted 4/22/08 @ 10:41 AM EST
The departure of Professor Chemerinsky is a staggering loss for Duke Law School, just one of a number of huge losses campus-wide during the Brodhead years. (Continued…)
annonymous
posted 4/22/08 @ 11:02 AM EST
Everyone but Lax groupies are moving on with their lives. Good luck to all.
moving up
posted 4/22/08 @ 12:52 PM EST
I can't speak to the genomics people, but your criticism of Brodhead for Chemerinsky, Fisk, Johnson, and Schlesinger leaving is ignorant. Chemerinsky left to become Dean of a major new law school. (Continued…)
moving up - more
posted 4/22/08 @ 2:51 PM EST
I know whose married to whom. I know where Johnson and Schlesinger went. We got a brain drain going on, and the reason is Duke's management is not creating opportunities and atmosphere for its own talent to flourish. (Continued…)
Trinity '85
posted 4/22/08 @ 3:58 PM EST
The departure of Chemerinsky will leave a great mystery unsolved: his abject silence during the lynching of the Duke Lacrosse players by the DPD and the Group of 88. (Continued…)
All hail Brodhead!!
posted 4/22/08 @ 4:47 PM EST
Hey moving up. Let me get this straight. We are supposed to sing brodhead's praises if something goes right. If he finds money for international scholarships, that's to his credit. (Continued…)
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