Dedication to Professor Josiah H. Blackmore II

• Author: Jim Beattie
• Pages: ix-xiv

DEDICATION TO PROFESSOR JOSIAH H. BLACKMORE II

JIM BEATTIE

This issue of the Capital University Law

Review is dedicated to the memory of Josiah

H. Blackmore II, who died on September 26,

2007. During the course of his 37 year

association with Capital University, Josiah

Blackmore held the positions of Professor of

Law, Dean of the Law School and Graduate

Center, President of the University, and

Professor Emeritus of Capital University Law

School. Joe’s impressive litany of academic

titles, even if you did not know the man, speaks

for itself. And once you met the man, you

knew you were dealing with someone special.

Joe never met a person or a topic that was wholly foreign to him. His mind

was too open and his heart too deep to be cut off from greeting a new

acquaintance or engaging in a new discussion. Simply put, it is difficult to

envisage another single individual who has so significantly influenced and

guided the ongoing life force at Capital University Law School.

Joe’s affiliation with the Law School began in 1969 as an adjunct

professor of law. The following year, he left private practice and joined

the faculty as a full-time professor. For the next ten years Joe would earn

his reputation as an excellent teacher, teaching courses in Evidence, Civil

Procedure, Legal Systems, Professional Responsibility, Seminar in Justice,

and Conflicts of Laws. Although engaging students in discussion was

always the central focus of his academic career, Joe was called to serve as

acting Dean of the Law School in 1979. He began his distinguished tenure

as Dean of Law and Graduate Center a year later, and held this position

until 1988. Joe’s impact on the Law School’s growth, both in its

intellectual rigor and in its physical size, was tremendous. After his

successful deanship at the Law School, Joe was called again to service at

Capital. This time he would serve as interim President and then as the 12th

President of Capital University. He retired as President in 1998 after

overseeing ten successful years as the driving force of the University. It

was our great fortune that Joe returned to the Law School after his

presidency and served on the law faculty as Professor Emeritus until his

retirement in 2006.