Indiana Law Review


A Colleague's Tribute to Thomas B. Allington
Professor of Law and Associate Dean

for Technology

Lawrence A. Jegen, m*

I have known Tom Allington for over thirty-seven years, beginning when he
joined the faculty at Indiana University School of Law—Indianapolis in
September 1970. We spent many of those early years together in a three-room
office suite with Tom in one room, me in another, and our assistant in the room
between us. Because Tom and I each produced significant amounts of teaching
materials, it was often a race between Tom and me on Monday mornings to have
our assistant type Tom' s or my teaching materials first so that the materials could
promptly be distributed to our students for that week's classes. If you have ever

had a similar production problem, you know how easy it can be for one, two, or
three tempers to flare on such Monday mornings. However, despite all of the
potential temper-flaring situations which law professors encounter from time to

time, never did my or Tom's temper flare about these matters or about any other.
In fact, after the many years of our academic (and somewhat competitive)
partnership, I believe that no one has ever had a finer academic roommate than
I did. Further, the hard work that Tom put into his teaching during these early
years molded Tom into a superb teacher of law who is loved by the students
whom he taught and guided for over thirty-seven years.

Fortunately, Tom's accomplishments and contributions to the Law School
did not stop with being such a fine roommate and teacher; Tom also became a
superb administrator at the Law School. 1 His treatment of, help of, and respect
for his students, colleagues, and assistants and his selfless dedication to doing

well with respect to any job which was assigned to him by other Law School
administrators or by committee chairpersons, has won him praise from all of his
colleagues. At one time or the other, Tom chaired every Law School committee,
frequently for more than one year each time. He particularly received praise
when he chaired the Promotions and Tenure Committee and when he chaired the
Curriculum Committee, which are the most important and demanding committees

of the Law School. There are not many individuals who can sit in a room with
ten to twenty very proud, aggressive, outspoken, and very articulate law

professors, present to them some fairly radical changes to a system with which
they had been happy and accustomed to for many years, and motivate them to
update and change that system. Tom had the unique skill to recognize and
incorporate the best of his colleagues' ideas and suggestions into the framework

which Tom had worked so hard to develop and bring to the table.
Despite Tom's significant successes in teaching and normal law school

administration, Tom's first administrative love has to be his responsibilities for

* Thomas F. Sheehan Professor of Tax Law and Policy, Indiana University School of
Law—Indianapolis; B.A., Beloit College; M.B.A., J.D., University ofMichigan; LL.M., New York
University.

1 . Professor and Associate Dean Allington served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

from 1990 to 1997 and Associate Dean for Technology from 1999 to 2007.



INDIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 41:5

keeping the Law School technologically up to date. There is no doubt when the
construction of the current law school building was complete and we all began
to perform our services therein, the new building was equipped with outstanding
electronic equipment which was available to all students, administrators,
teachers, and assistants. Much of this success was due to Tom's research,
planning, selection, and attention to the installation of and the continuing care of

such fine electronic equipment. Tom is leaving the Law School a much finer
place than it was when he came to it. Tom has placed his very personal academic
and administrative mark on our law building, Law School, students, and faculty.
That mark will remain there for many years to benefit thousands of future law
students, professors, administrators, and assistants. One cannot ask for a more
successful academic and administrative career than the one which Tom is
completing, and I am happy that I have known Tom as colleague and friend for
all of those years.