Professor Emeritus Lowell Schechter taught by example that law involves more than statutes and precedents. It involves people. Professor Schechter, who retired from Chase College of Law in 2011, died December 26, 2019. He was 74.
During the time Professor Schechter was on the faculty, as a professor and associate dean, he taught courses in family law, juvenile law, constitutional law, international law and conflict of laws, and helped to create both the Chase Public Interest Group, which assists students financially in unpaid public-interest internships, and the Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit law firm with which the Chase Children’s Law Center Clinic is associated. Chase recognized the importance of his public-interest work by awarding him the inaugural Chase Public Service Award for faculty members, in 2011.
“Like many others in the Chase community, I loved Lowell inordinately. He inspired me with his kindness and his service. My students, clients and I have been the beneficiaries of his generosity,” Professor Amy Halbrook, associate dean for experiential learning and director of the Children’s Law Center Clinic,” said of Professor Schechter. “The Chase Children’s Law Center Clinic would literally not exist without Lowell. Helping children and families was a life-long commitment for him. He was helping me with a project to keep refugee families together even into December.”
Professor Schechter served on the board of the Children’s Law Center, based in Covington, Kentucky, and worked with the Northern Kentucky University Department of Social Work to create a program to help homeless children in Northern Kentucky. He began teaching at Chase in 1981, as a visiting professor, and so impressed students and aculty members that he was offered the tenure-track position he held until his retirement. He was also associate dean for student affairs from 1985 to 19992 and 1995 to 2001.
Along with his reputation as a professor and advocate for public-interest work, Professor Schechter was known for honor and integrity. “What I admired most in him was that not only was he so smart, but he valued kindness above all,” Professor Jennifer Kreder said. “He always sought to help others, selflessly. I will cherish our family board games days, dim sum breakfasts and holidays together.”
A memorial tribute for Professor Schechter was held January 11, 2020 at Chase.
