In memoriam: David C. Baldus

• Pages: 1865-1866

1865

I

N

M

EMORIAM

:

D

AVID

C.

B

ALDUS

David C. Baldus, the Joseph B. Tye Professor of Law at the University of

Iowa, died peacefully at home on Monday, June 13, 2011, after a lengthy

battle with cancer. We are grateful for the many years he was our colleague

and we mourn his loss.

Professor Baldus was an outstanding scholar, a beloved teacher, and a

powerful voice for justice. He pioneered the use of statistical methods in

legal research, and he was a world-renowned expert in the administration of

the death penalty in the United States. He continued this important work

until just days before his death, leaving instructions for its completion when

his health deteriorated suddenly. David Baldus died as he lived, with grace,

quiet dignity, and great courage.

Professor Baldus joined the law faculty at the University of Iowa College

of Law in 1969, after earning an LL.M. degree from Yale Law School that

year. He had previously earned a B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in

1957, a M.A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1962, and a J.D.

degree from Yale Law School in 1964.

Early in his academic career, well ahead of his peers, Professor Baldus

became convinced that proof in court of many factual assertions, especially

those relating to race discrimination, required a mastery of empirical

methods. Although not formally trained as a statistician, Professor Baldus