Professor Charles H. Koch, Jr. (1944-2012)
Charles H. Koch, Jr., the Dudley Warner Woodbridge Professor of Law and an esteemed member of the William & Mary Law School community, died February 18.
"I am saddened by the death of Charles Koch," said William & Mary Law School Dean Davison M. Douglas. "Charles taught at the Law School for more than thirty years and was a beloved colleague. He and wife Denise were particularly welcoming of newcomers to the Law School. Charles had an unassuming style and never sought the limelight. And yet he was one of the most influential figures in the administrative law field of the past generation. He had a wonderful knack for cutting to the heart of a matter, and a great appreciation for the nuances of difficult issues. We will miss his wisdom, good humor, and basic decency."
Click here to read the thoughts shared by Professor Koch's colleagues and former students.
Professor Koch's areas of expertise included administrative law, comparative constitutional systems, electricity, the European Union, and federal courts. While he primarily focused on U.S. administrative law, he began learning and teaching about the European Union because he saw its growing importance both to the U.S. in the global legal environment and ultimately to domestic law.
He received his B.A. from the University of Maryland, his J.D. from George Washington University and his LL.M. from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining the William & Mary faculty in 1979, he worked as a staff attorney in the Office of the General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission and taught at DePaul University College of Law. He served as Assistant Chief Reporter of the ABA's Administrative Law of the European Union Project and was Past President of the Committee on Sections and Annual Meetings of the Administrative Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools. He was a member of the ABA's United Nations Affairs Coordinating Committee. He also served for seven years as Editor-in-Chief of the Administrative Law Review and twice acted as a consultant to the Administrative Conference of the United States.
Professor Koch was a prolific writer, publishing books for both teaching and practice, and numerous articles in law reviews and practitioner-oriented journals. His books included Administrative Law and Practice (2d ed.), Administrative Law of the European Union, Volume 1 (with George Bermann), Federal Practice and Procedure Volumes 32 and 33 (with Charles Alan Wright), Administrative Law: Cases and Materials (5th ed., with William Jordan & Richard Murphy), West's Federal Administrative Practice, Volume 7, The Federal Administrative Judiciary (with Paul Verkuil, Daniel Gifford, Richard Pierce and Jeffrey Lubbers) and Fundamentals of Administrative Practice (with Donald Rothschild).
He is survived by his wife, Denise, and his son, Andrew.
At his family's request, the Charles H. Koch Memorial Fund for International Studies has been established at the Law School. Gifts to the fund may be sent to William & Mary Law School, P.O. Box 3527, Williamsburg, VA 23187-3527.