Posts tagged David Getches
CU-BOULDER MOURNS LOSS OF DAVID GETCHES, FORMER CU LAW DEAN
Jul 5th
Longtime University of Colorado Law School Dean David Getches, who had stepped down on June 30 in order to return to the school’s faculty, died today. He was 68.
Getches joined the faculty of Colorado Law in 1979 as a nationally renowned expert in natural resources and Indian law issues. He wrote several books on water law, natural resources law and Indian rights issues and his work has appeared in numerous publications.
“On behalf of the entire University of Colorado community, I wish to express my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of David Getches,” said Chancellor Phil DiStefano. “David provided exceptional leadership as dean of the Law School for close to a decade and had an outstanding career as a scholar and teacher. He will be greatly missed as a friend, colleague and member of the CU community, as well as by members of the legal profession throughout the United States.”
Getches served as dean of Colorado Law from 2003 to 2011. Under his leadership the university financed and constructed the $46 million Wolf Law Building and expanded the academic offerings at the law school, which include an endowed Experiential Learning Program, three Master of Laws degrees, three legal clinics, three certificates and eight dual-degrees.
“David Getches came along at exactly the right time for the American West, which has undergone such sweeping changes over the past half century,” said Charles Wilkinson, Moses Lasky Professor of Law and longtime friend. “As a wise advocate and leading public intellectual, David brought vision, common sense and passion to pressing issues of water, land and Indian rights. Now Indian tribes, universities, government offices, conservationists and the rivers themselves will grieve aloud. We will not see his kind again.”
Phil Weiser, who took over as dean of Colorado Law on July 1, said, “David leaves a remarkable legacy of integrity and commitment to excellence. All of us in the Colorado Law community will miss him greatly and I will miss him dearly as a mentor and a friend. His memory and spirit will remain a blessing to us all.”
From 1983 to 1987, Getches was executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources under Gov. Richard D. Lamm. Getches earned his undergraduate degree from Occidental College in California and his law degree from the University of Southern California School of Law. He began his legal career in 1967 with the law firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton and Scripps in San Diego. In 1968, he was co-directing attorney for California Indian Legal Services and in 1970, he moved to Colorado to become the founding executive director for the Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund, a national, nonprofit Indian-interest law firm.
A memorial service for Getches is being planned and will be announced at a later date.
Contributions may be sent to the David H. Getches Scholarship Fund. Additional information is available at http://www.cufund.org/GetchesScholarship.
WHITE HOUSE ADVISER ON TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION PHIL WEISER NAMED CU LAW DEAN
May 31st
The University of Colorado Boulder today announced the appointment of Philip J.Weiser, senior adviser for technology and innovation to the National Economic Council at the White House, as dean of the University of Colorado Law School. CU-Boulder Provost Russell L. Moore said Weiser will begin his duties as dean on July 1, 2011.
“I am delighted today to name as the next dean of CU’s esteemed law school a legal scholar, a public servant and a great thinker and innovator: Phil Weiser,” said CU-Boulder Provost Russell L. Moore. “Phil has amassed a critical body of legal scholarship and has distinguished himself as a researcher, a teacher, and aleader. His work in technology law has made him a seminal figure in that discipline, his leadership in building the Silicon Flatirons Center represents a very significant accomplishment, and I look forward to the energy, imagination and vision he will bring in leading Colorado Law.”
Weiser joined the CU-Boulder faculty as a professor of law and telecommunications in 1999. Prior to joining the White House, Weiser served as the deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Weiser took that post in July 2009, taking a leave of absence from the University of Colorado Law School where he served as a professor of law, associate dean for research, and the executive director and founder of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship.
“I am honored by this appointment,” said Weiser. “Over the years I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with and learn from the Colorado Law family — its faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters. I am both humbled and excited by the opportunity to lead this community in the years ahead.”
Before joining the CU-Boulder law faculty, Weiser served as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general at the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division from 1996 to 1998, law clerk to Justices Byron R. White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court from September 1995 to August 1996, and law clerk to Judge David Ebel at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver from September 1994 toAugust 1995. He received his law degree from New York University School of Law and his bachelor’s from Swarthmore College.
Weiser replaces David Getches, who is returning to teaching after eight years as head of the law school. Under Dean Getches’ leadership, financing and construction of the $46 million Wolf Law Building was completed and the academic offerings at the law school have been greatly expanded. New programs include an endowed Experiential Learning Program, three Master of Laws degrees, three legal clinics, three certificates and eight dual-degrees.
“I want to thank David Getches for his strong leadership over the last eight years,” said Moore. “Today, CU’s law school is academically sound, a national leader in a variety of legal disciplines, and positioned as one of the nation’s great law schools. It is a great resource for the people of Colorado, and David is one of the key reasons why.”
