Friday, September 28, 2012
4:30 p.m.
Godfrey & Kahn Hall (Room 2260)
University of Wisconsin Law School
Following the tribute, there will be a reception in the
Wisconsin Law Alumni Association Student Commons.
On March 10, 2012, the UW Law School lost a beloved law professor. You are invited to join us on September 28, as we remember John’s contributions to the School and the Wisconsin Bar during his tenure at the UW Law School.
If you wish to attend the Memorial Tribute, please RSVP ONLINE.
John Kidwell
John was born in Denver, Colorado in 1945. He grew up in Custer, South Dakota. After high school, he attended the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for two years, contemplating a degree in physics. But, he changed his plans when ". . . I encountered The Calculus, and The Calculus won." He transferred to the University of Iowa and majored in English, receiving his B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1967 (With distinction, Honors Program, Phi Beta Kappa). He attended Harvard Law School and received his J.D. in 1970 (cum laude). He took a job as an associate with the Denver, Colorado law firm of Dawson, Nagel, Sherman & Howard.
John joined the University of Wisconsin Law Faculty in 1972 as an assistant professor, and except for a year as a Fellow in Law and Humanities at Harvard University in 1976-77, remained here continuously throughout his entire career. He served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2002-2005. Professor Kidwell retired from the full-time faculty in June 2005.
Professor Kidwell taught courses dealing with the law of contracts, remedies, copyrights, and trademarks. In 1992, he received the Emil H. Steiger award for teaching excellence, and in 1997 was chosen Teacher of the Year by the Wisconsin Law Alumni Association. He was a co-author of Contracts: Law in Action, a casebook on contract law published by Lexis/Nexis. He was also a co-author of Property: Cases and Materials, published by Aspen Publishers.
Professor Kidwell published articles on the law of torts, contracts, and intellectual property. He was actively involved in committee and administrative work at the departmental, campus and university levels, and served on a number of committees of the State Bar of Wisconsin. He served as a special advisor to the University of Wisconsin in creating a distribution system for educational software, and chaired a university committee to revise the rules and procedures for dealing with academic misconduct. He served as a member, and ultimately Chair, of the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners. He was a member of the Testing Policy Committee of the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
He was married to Jean Kidwell, and had a son, Ben. He enjoyed reading, listening to music, idle conversation, and the game of poker.
Special Memories or For More Information
If you have a special memory of John, a message, or picture that you would like to share with John’s colleagues and family, we invite you to write a brief note and send it to:
Lynn Thompson
UW Law School
975 Bascom Mall, Room 2348
Madison, WI 53706
Or e-mail it to LFThomp1@wisc.edu
Phone: 608 262-4915
The John Kidwell Student Support Fund
A fund to be used for student support has been established at the University Foundation in John Kidwell’s name. Donations can be made online or by sending a check, payable to University of Wisconsin Foundation-Kidwell Fund to:
University of Wisconsin Foundation
U.S. Bank Lockbox
PO Box 78807
Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807
I wish to make an ONLINE DONATION to John Kidwell Student Support Fund.
Photo by Professor Arthur McEvoy
