Death of Dick Speidel

Richard Speidel (San Diego) died on September 6 at the age of 75 after a long bout with cancer.  From the San Diego press release:

As one colleague put it, Dick was “a towering figure in the field of contracts,” one of the leading scholars of his generation. He was also one of the nation’s leading experts on arbitration. He authored numerous influential books and articles, and he also played a central role in several law reform projects related to his field.

Dick began making annual, one-semester visits to the University of San Diego in the spring 2000 semester, and he became a member of our tenured faculty in 2006, holding a half-time appointment. Dick joined the Northwestern Law School faculty in 1980, and in 1987 became the Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law at Northwestern. Prior to his time at Northwestern, Dick had been the Grace N. and Henry L. Doherty Professor of Law at the University of Virginia and the dean of the Boston University School of Law.

Dick earned his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1957 and was an influential member of our Board of Visitors for many years.