Fond Farewell: Law school celebrates careers of retiring professors

Professor Elinor Schroeder

Professor William Westerbeke

FOND FAREWELL

LAW SCHOOL CELEBRATES CAREERS OF RETIRING PROFESSORS

Professor Elinor Schroeder capped off her 40-year teaching career at KU Law this spring. An employment law expert, Schroeder was named the Paul E. Wilson Professor of Law in 1999 and received the law school's Immel Award for Teaching Excellence. In 1984, the KU Commission on the Status of Women named her the outstanding woman teacher at KU and inducted her into the University of Kansas Women's Hall of Fame.

“Few teachers have been as influential in my life as Professor Schroeder,” said Jon Blumenthal, L’92. “I am so thankful to have been one of her students. I would not be the labor and employment lawyer that I am had she not taught at KU.”

Professor Bill Westerbeke taught his final class in Green Hall in December. Known for his accessibility to students, Westerbeke won a number of teaching and mentoring awards during his career, including the law school’s Moreau Award for Student Counseling in 1987 and the university's Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2006.

His KU Law legacy lives on in the many careers he helped launch, the countless golf games he improved, and the dry wit and sharp humor that made his students and colleagues smile for the past 43 years.

“One of my favorite law school professors,” said Lisa Beran, L’86.