Remembering a Renowned Teacher, Inspirational Human Being, and Cherished Friend.

• Author: Corbett, William T.
• Position: Suffolk University Law School Professor Jeffrey Wittenberg

On April 12, 2018, with the passing of Professor Jeffrey Wittenberg, Suffolk University Law School lost one of the finest and most beloved and revered professors to have graced its classrooms since its founding in 1906. Professor Wittenberg began his teaching career at Suffolk in 1986. He taught Contracts, Commercial Law, Products Liability, International Sales Law, Gaming Law, and Sports Law. His courses in Contracts and Commercial Law were particularly legendary. The thousands of students Jeff taught during his thirty two years at Suffolk Law understood and appreciated how committed he was to their success as law students. They loved and respected him, as did his colleagues. Students repeatedly selected Jeff to receive the annual Outstanding Professor award. At a memorial service held on October 1, 2018, the law school took the unprecedented step of permanently placing a beautiful commemorative plaque and picture of Professor Wittenberg at the entrance to his office suite in recognition of the esteem in which he is held and as a perpetual reminder of all that he brought to the law school, its students, and legal education over the course of his career.

Jeff's initial career aspirations were not centered on law. In the mid 1960's, Jeff and his newly married wife, Diane, to whom he was married for more than fifty years, left Ohio and headed west for California so that he might realize his dream of screenwriting. Jeff was 21 and Diane 19 and, although neither had yet completed college, their youthful optimism and energy as well as their commitment to and belief in one another propelled them forward on their exciting journey.

Jeff completed his undergraduate work at San Francisco State College in 1968. In 1972, he graduated 3rd in his class from the University Of California Hastings College Of Law, having been a member of the Order of the Coif and having served on the Hastings Law Journal. Upon graduation from Hastings, Jeff, Diane, and their now three children headed east so that Jeff could begin his yearlong clerkship with the Minnesota Supreme Court which was then followed by an associateship with the Chicago law firm, Mayer, Brown & Platt. It was in Chicago that Jeff discovered his true professional passion, law school teaching. For three years Jeff taught Contracts and Sales and Negotiable Instruments at John Marshall Law School. During those years Jeff collaborated with two coauthors on the textbook, Contract Law: Contemporary Cases...