Foreword Symeon C. Symeonides: A Tribute

• Author: Arthur T. von Mehren
• Position: Joseph Story Professor of Law, Emeritus, Harvard University
• Pages: 1035-1036

Joseph Story Professor of Law, Emeritus, Harvard University.

This issue of the Louisiana Law Review honors Symeon C. Symeonides. Born in April 1949 in Cyprus, he received an LL.B. in Private Law in 1972 and an LL.B. in Public Law and Political Science in 1973, both summa cum laude, from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki Law School (Greece).

I first met Symeon in 1973 at Harvard University Law School from which he was to receive an LL.M. in 1974 and a S.J.D. in 1980 and supervised his theses for both degrees. His S.J.D. thesis-An Outsider's View of the American Approach to Choice of Law: Comparative Observations on Current American and Continental Conflicts Doctrine-is an outstanding work that demonstrated a remarkable grasp of the subject and perceptive use of the comparative method.

In 1976, after three years at Harvard, Symeonides returned to Thessaloniki as Assistant Professor of Law. In 1978 he was called to Louisiana State University; there he remained until July 1999 when he was named Dean and Professor of Law at Willamette University College of Law.

In the quarter century since his student days ended, Symeonides has had a remarkably varied and productive career. By nature, he is above all a teacher and a scholar. But he is...