There is sad news out of Australia, via the Honolulu Star Advertiser: long-time University of Hawaii law professor Jon Van Dyke passed away on Tuesday while traveling in Australia. Jon was there to give the key note address at a conference on ocean law in Melbourne.
From the Star Advertiser:
[University of Hawaii Law School Dean Avi] Soifer described Van Dyke as a low-key, but brilliant professor, researcher and educator who excelled in a multiple areas of law, including Native Hawaiian rights, human rights, constitutional law and international law related to islands and the sea.
"Jon always stood up for what he felt was pono — right and just," [United States Senator Daniel] Akaka said. "He was an inspiration for our community and his students. Because of Jon's work, the principle of protecting our cultural and historic resources has been preserved, and the tradition of sharing the resources of our beautiful beaches and other natural resources with all continues to be honored."
Jon was educated at Yale and Harvard Law School and served as a law clerk to Justice Roger Traynor. He joined the Hawaii faculty in 1976 and taught Constitutional Law, International Law, International Ocean Law, and International Human Rights. More information on Jon's scholarship comes from his web page at the University of Hawaii:
[Jon] has written six books -- North Vietnam's Strategy for Survival (1972), Jury Selection Procedures: Our Uncertain Commitment to Representative Panels (1977), Sharing the Resources of the South China Sea (co-author 1997), Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai`i? (2008) (which was picked as one of the six most memorable books of 2008 by the Honolulu Advertiser), International Law and Litigation in the U.S. (co-author, 3rd ed. 2009), and Checklists for Searches and Seizures in Public Schools (co-author updated annually) -- and has edited another five books -- Consensus and Confrontation: The United States and the Law of the Sea Convention (1985), International Navigation: Rocks and Shoals Ahead? (1988), Freedom for the Seas in the 21st Century (1993) (which was awarded the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for 1994 by the International Studies Association), Updating International Nuclear Law (2007), and Maritime Boundary Disputes, Settlement Processes, and the Law of the Sea (2009). He has also written numerous articles, focusing in particular on issues related international ocean law, international human rights, international environmental law, and the rights of Native Hawaiians.
I had the pleasure to get to know Jon just a little when I visited at the Univerist of Hawaii about six years ago; he was a funny and warm man, with an incredible dedication to human rights and Native Hawaiian rights in particular. He was completing his important Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawaii when I was there. Tributes from friends and former students are here.
Thanks to Mark Levin for letting me know about this news.
Yes, we are all stunned, as this was so sudden.
Jon did all we are supposed to do. He was a stellar teacher, a prolific scholar across numerous fields, a colleague who shared geneously of his time, and relentless in the pursuit of justice outside of the academy.
In just some of their advocacy work, Jon and his wife Sherry Broder sued successfully on behalf of victims of Marcos era torture in the Phillipines, on behalf of many Native Hawaiian claims, and on behalf of Rusty the Orangoutang to alleviate Rusty's awful conditions in our local zoo. (Marcos victims have finally gotten some of their judgment claims paid out. Rusty got a spacious ocean-view habitat and a female companion.)
And all that took clear second place to his dedication to Sherry, with whom he regularly collaborated in work, and his three children. Ask him how they were doing, and he would just glow.
As another colleague pointed out yesterday, he was cordial and respectful even to fierce opponents. The strongest profanity any of us heard from him was "yikes!"
His passing is a loss for our school, state community, and profession, but of course most of all for his family to whom deepest condolences go.
Posted by: Mark Levin | December 01, 2011 at 09:49 PM