Honoring Retiring Faculty at Dickinson Law’s Virtual Donor Recognition Event
November 19, 2020
Remarks delivered by Emeritus Dean and Professor of Law Gary S. Gildin
The greatest gifts of being a member of the faculty are before me here: talented, current students we are privileged to work with and learn from; former students whose success we root for; and most special are the former students who recognize the role we played in their careers and choose to give back to support the next generation of students and the ability of the Law School to offer a first-rate education.
Two weeks of classes remain and mark not only the end of the semester, but also the conclusion of the chapter in the careers of three icons of the Dickinson Law faculty:
Peter Glenn, who served as Dean from 1994-2002; returning to the faculty for the 2005-2006 academic year following service as Executive Deputy Counsel and Acting General Counsel with the Governor’s Office of General Counsel; and returning again to the faculty in 2015 as Professor of Experiential Learning following a career chapter as General Counsel and Shareholder at Stevens and Lee.
Gail Partin, who after holding a position at the Penn State College of Medicine’s Harrell Health Sciences Library, joined the Law School as a professional law librarian in 1985; while working earned her J.D. from the Law School; gained full tenure as Law Librarian; and rose to become Associate Dean for Library and Information Services.
Thomas Place, who after organizing and co-founding Mountain Legal Rights, the first legal service program in eastern Kentucky and a stint in private practice focusing on environmental matters and criminal law, joined the full-time faculty in 1974, a position he held continuously, at the time he retires at the end of December, for just shy of 47 years.
In my role as, by years of service, the most senior member of the full-time faculty-elect, I have been given the privilege of recognizing Peter, Gail, and Tom at this event.
As everyone in this room can fully appreciate, it is a singular achievement worthy of honor for a member of the faculty to have dedicated their professional life to teaching future lawyers.
Yet the legacies of Deans Glenn and Partin and Professor Place go beyond their influence on the lives of their students, and in turn the lives of the clients their students have served, and in some instances, saved.
As each of you in this virtual room have done through your generosity, Peter, Gail, and Tom have made an indelible mark on the institution itself.
In the finite time allocated to me, I would like to remind all of us of their signature and enduring contribution to the entity that is Dickinson Law.
Peter Glenn
Simply stated, Peter Glenn saved the Law School. Three years after becoming Dean of the independent Dickinson School of Law, Peter Glenn had the wisdom to see the unique moment in time for, and the benefits of, merging with the Pennsylvania State University.
Equally importantly, Peter Glenn had the foresight to anticipate the not yet surfaced perils facing an independent law school that was justifiably proud of its long and stellar history of success.
I can state without hesitation that absent a merger Dickinson Law would have faced a binary choice in the aftermath of the 2008 recession: survival as a fourth-rate law school in a crumbling building or, perhaps more likely, extinction because of the lack of resources to subsidize a sufficient number of students in a radically different and more competitive marketplace than that in which the law school had previously been able to thrive.
In short, Dickinson Law continues its march towards the 200th anniversary of its founding because of Peter Glenn.
Gail Partin
Beyond the modest achievement of developing the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein uttered a more universal truth: “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”
While law school faculty teach a method of thinking--the relevant questions to ask when confronted with a client’s problem—the lawyer’s ability to find answers to those questions lie in the library.
The arc of Gail Partin’s job titles reflects the revolutionary changes in what a law library must contain in 2020 to fulfil Dickinson Law’s mission to prepare our students for Practice Greatness.
Beginning her career in what in 1985 was appropriately known as Reference Librarian, Gail ended her career as Associate Dean for Library and Information Services.
Gail’s final title reflects not only her ascension to the highest rank, but also the vast explosion of global sources of information, and the necessity that our law library provide not only access to but training on how to search electronic databases.
In a phrase, it is Gail Partin who brought the information revolution to Dickinson Law, and she did so not at the cost of maintaining traditional hard copy embodiments of law.
As the merger with Penn State went through its three iterations, Gail built or reconstructed the collections of three or four new law libraries.
In sum, Gail Partin is responsible for the aspect of Dickinson Law that is the one thing our students absolutely have to know.
Tom Place
In spring of 2013, the faculty of Dickinson Law was presented with the imperative of and opportunity to reinvent the Law School upon the University’s announcement that it would be seeking ABA approval to cell divide into two separately accredited law schools in the Penn State constellation.
The first thing faculty tackled was to identify Core Values, and it did so in the space of 30 minutes with unanimous consent. We can draw a direct line from Tom Place’s career to one of the four Core Values—Service. Just as he had founded Mountain Legal Rights in Kentucky, Tom founded the in-house clinical program at Dickinson Law. He served as a Board Member and President of the Board of Directors of Legal Services, Inc. as well as the Community Justice Project, and Board Member of Mid-Penn Legal Services.
Tom provided pro bono representation in over 35 prison cases, from individual clients to institution-wide class actions, on medical issues, excessive force, religious freedom, conditions of confinement, exposure to asbestos, conditions in solitary confinement, confinement of HIV inmates, access to programs and counsel, disciplinary procedures, and failure to protect.
Beyond formal litigation, Tom afforded dignity to the lives of inmates by responding to their letters through the Prison Clinic and then individually.
Tom authored a definitive treatise on the practice and procedure under Pennsylvania Post-Conviction Relief Act, now in its 13th edition.
He engaged in pro bono representation in First Amendment litigation, immigration and asylum matters, actions under Rehabilitation Act, and action on behalf of migrant workers. Tom did this work during evenings and weekends without seeking recognition. In fact, I had to pressure Tom to obtain the 17-page summary of his pro bono work.
In his quiet and unassuming way, just as he is now building his new house, Tom carefully constructed the ethos of service at Dickinson Law that has been elevated to one of our Core Values.
I ask you now to join me in thanking Peter Glenn, Gail Partin, and Tom Place for their contributions and wishing them a rewarding next chapter by raising a glass.