In Memory of Emeritus Law Professor Ronald B Lansing
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Editor’s Note: View the memorial service by downloading the zoom recording.
Lawyer, professor, author, dedicated public servant, and family man Ron Lansing passed away on May 28, 2021. He was 89 years old.
Professor Lansing has been teaching at Lewis & Clark Law School since 1967 and was one of the first five full-time members of the faculty. Professor Lansing was pivotal in helping the law school gain accreditation from the American Association of Law Schools and the American Bar Association.
“Ron’s dedication to the law school, to fellow faculty and to his students is legendary,” said Dean Jennifer Johnson. “He helped the school become the nationally renowned institution it is today.”
Professor Lansing has chaired the Torts Section of the Association of American Law Schools, a faculty member of the American Academy of Judicial Education, and Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Special Committee on Law School Faculty Liaison. As a member of the Portland City Club’s Research Board, he sat on several controversial studies.
Along with teaching torts and evidence to thousands of Oregon’s lawyers, Professor Lansing published numerous books, including Skylarks & Lecterns: A Law School Charter; Juggernaut: The Whitman Massacre Trial 1850; Nimrod: Courts, Claims and Killing on the Oregon Frontier; and Crystalling the Legacy. Aside from his academic achievements and contributions to the legal field, Professor Lansing also leaves a humorous legacy –75 hand-drawn caricatures of Lewis & Clark faculty and staff members that line the halls of Lewis & Clark Law School’s Legal Research Center.
We will miss Professor Lansing deeply, but will continue to celebrate and keep his spirit alive. Professor Lansing is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jewel Lansing (Portland), with whom he shared a deep commitment to public service; son Mark Lansing (Grants Pass); daughter Alyse Lansing Gass and husband Joe (Scappoose); daughter Annette Lansing (Beaverton); five grandchildren: Tyler (Scappoose), Jade (Portugal), Emily (Portland), Matt (Indiana), and Shan (Portland); and his sister Judy Lansing Hewitt (Bend).
Tributes can be found here. To leave memories of Ron Lansing, use this link.
A memorial service and celebration of life was held on Saturday, August 28, 2021, at 2:00 pm at the Lewis & Clark Law School Legal Research Center.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests that donations can be made in memory of Ron Lansing to the Lewis & Clark Law School, 10101 S. Terwilliger Blvd, Portland, OR 97219 or online at go.lclark.edu/give/law/now; or at the ACLU of Oregon ACLU of Oregon, PO Box 40585, Portland, OR 97240-0585.
