Corwin Johnson (1917-2004)
Professor Johnson joined the UT Law faculty in 1947 (before air-conditioning, which, he said, made those April and May classes in jacket-and-tie a bit uncomfortable!), and although he officially retired in 1988, he continued to teach one or two courses every year since. A distinguished expert in the law of property and water law, he may have been best-known for the leading property treatise he wrote with John Cribbet of the University of Illinois. He was also an exceptionally warm and gentle man, who will be dearly missed.
I shall share one of my favorite stories Corwin told me several years ago. His first teaching job was at the University of Iowa, right after WWII. The town was swamped with returning vets, and housing was scarce. So for his first few months on the job, Corwin actually had to live in his office, and bathe in the restrooms before the crack of dawn, before the faculty and students arrived! Only once during that time did he encounter a colleague as he emerged with towel in hand from the restroom, at which point his "secret" became known.
And to think today's new faculty hires are worried about the size of their budget for research assistants! Things change...
UPDATE: Here is an obituary of Professor Johnson: Download file. My colleague Douglas Laycock notes:
"When I first arrived as a young professor, Corwin Johnson was many years my senior, but he was one of the very first to greet me, take me to lunch, and invite my wife and me to his house. He was a leading expert on Texas water law, and co-author of a leading property casebook. He was part of the first generation of faculty who came to the Law School from other parts of the country, with no prior connection to Texas -- the generation that made this a national law school instead of a very good regional law school. He was also part of the transition from racially segregated to racially integrated legal education at Texas, a change he enthusiastically supported. He served this law school well for nearly sixty years."
UPDATE: The Law School's memorial notice is here. It includes a lovely picture, which evokes the man's warmth and kind nature.
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