Dawn Bonker
Editor’s Note: On behalf of Chapman University School of Law, Dean Tom Campbell issued this note of sympathy and remembrance on the passing of Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who died Friday, March 18.
On behalf of the Chapman University School of Law, I extend my deepest sympathies upon the loss to our nation, the Christopher family, and the law firm of O’Melveny and Myers, of former United States Secretary of State Warren Christopher. In his devotion to public service, he was first to volunteer: whether at the municipal level in Los Angeles, the challenges facing the State of California, or upon matters of national and international importance. Throughout, he upheld the rule of law, and brought honor to the profession that we teach and pursue.
Several members of our faculty were personally acquainted with Secretary Christopher, and have asked especially that our school note his passing with personal sadness and regret. To those sentiments, I add my own, having had the honor of coming to know Secretary Christopher when I was a member of the faculty of his alma mater. He was a tremendous friend of legal education, especially the inculcation of a sense of responsibility for others that all attorneys should have.
Above all, Secretary Christopher represented the best in the model of the private citizen called upon for public service, who, having performed the service, is content to retire again to the private world. He epitomized the service nature of the profession of attorney, both to individual clients, and to leaders in the public sector who sought his counsel and benefited from it. His self sacrifice extended as well to his willingness to step away from the private practice of law on several significant occasions in his life in order to accept the burdens of public office.
Chapman University School of Law mourns the passing of a great attorney, Californian, American, and citizen of the world.
Tom Campbell
Dean, Chapman University College of Law
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