October 25, 2002 UM School of Law Celebrates the Life of Prof. Robert Waters (1926-2002) mn

October 25, 2002

UM School of Law Celebrates the Life of Prof. Robert Waters (1926-2002)

Law School Institute He Founded to be Renamed in His Honor

Another group planning to honor Professor Waters is the Black Lawyers Association Inc., who will recognize him and the Hon. Carrie P. Meek for Career Achievement on October 26 at their Silver Anniversary Gala at the Sheraton Bal Harbour Beach Resort.

“Professor Waters was a role model, guru and shining example for all black students at the law school,” said George Knox, who as President of the Black Student Law Association (BALSA) at UM Law, helped recruit Prof. Waters to the law faculty in 1972. A member of the class of 1973, Knox, the principal of the Miami-based Knox law firm, has been a guest lecturer in the James Weldon Johnson Summer Institute.

Former National Bar Association President and UM Law alumnus H.T. Smith, who also graduated in 1973, said of Professor Waters, “He was compassionate … a collegial member of a great law faculty.”

Professor Waters’ teaching areas included civil and political rights, economic regulation of sports, and Florida Constitutional Law.

Beyond the University, Professor Waters was active in the work of the NAACP, neighborhood legal services, and other organizations concerned with helping minorities and the poor. He also served on the Board of Editors of the International Law Association Journal.

After graduating from law school in 1964 from the University of Missouri, Prof. Waters practiced law for eight years in his native Kansas City. He began his teaching career in 1970 at the University of Kansas School of Law, and joined UM Law in 1972, where he taught until 1987. After an absence of two years, he rejoined the Miami faculty in 1989.

Condolences may be sent to Professor Waters’ widow, Christine Gilbert Waters, c/o Office of the Dean of Students, University of Miami School of Law, P.O. Box 248087, Coral Gables, FL 33124-8087 or contact Law Professor Minette Massey at 305.284.2155. She has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations in his memory be made to the James Weldon Johnson Summer Institute at the UM School of Law.

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