Indiana Law Review


Lawrence P. Wilkins



Indiana Law Review
Volume 43 2010 Number 2

TRIBUTES

A Letter from Gerald L. Bepko* and His Wife,
Jean, in Celebration of Sharon and
Lawrence P. Wilkins Who Have Been

Friends for Twenty-Nine Years

Dear Sharon and Larrie,

It seems like yesterday that we met, but it was more than twenty-nine years
ago. That was when we recruited you, Larrie, from your appointment at the
University of Akron. At that time Tom Read was Law Dean, I was Associate
Dean for Academic Affairs and both of us, along with the faculty, were excited
about your appointment.

Your academic work at Akron was excellent and you earned an appointment
there with tenure in the regular course. Moreover, we didn't have as many lateral
hires in those days and your experience seemed just right for IU at Indianapolis.

Not only were we attracted to your academic portfolio in 1979-80 including
articles in places like the University ofCincinnati, Cleveland State, Family Law
Quarterly and Land and Water Law Review, but you seemed to achieve
excellence in your engagement with Ohio's professional community and in the
larger communities in the population centers served by the University ofAkron.

Ofparticular interest was your work in the interconnections between law, health,
and medicine. Among other things, you had organized and served as a panelist
at a program for the Northeastern Ohio Universities College ofMedicine on the

"Moral/Ethical Issues in Modern Health Care: The Balance of Risks in
Research." These strengths fit well with our Law School's long standing links
with the Indiana University (IU) School ofMedicine and our growing ambitions

in Health Law.

On top ofall this there were some common experiences that you and I shared
by way of an LL.M. program and previous teaching experience in a multi-
division law school. Finally we were all struck by your very serious, thoughtful
approach to your fields of study.

* Former Interim President of Indiana University, 2003; Indiana University-Purdue

University—Indianapolis (IUPUI) Chancellor Emeritus, Indiana University Trustees, Professor and
Professor of Law; former Dean ofthe Indiana University School ofLaw—Indianapolis, 1981-86.

Gerald L. Bepko and his wife, Jean, sent this letter on November 15, 2008, to Sharon and

Lawrence P. Wilkins on the occasion of his retirement from the Indiana University School of

Law—Indianapolis. It has been expanded to include a few additional thoughts and is being resent
as part of the tribute to Professor Wilkins.

** Jean Bepko served as Special Assistant in the Office of the Chancellor of IUPUI and in

the Office of the President of Indiana University.



270 INDIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43 :269

Thereafter, Larrie, we worked together at the School for about six years.
During five of those years I was the dean which, because of schedule demands,
made it more difficult to have the kinds of relationships that colleagues with
similar backgrounds would normally develop. Still, I remember fondly the times
we had together including your debut as a player of some considerable skill on
the faculty touch football team; although, as I recall, by the time you joined the

faculty the game had passed me by or, to put it more charitably, I was on injured
reserve.

After 1986 when Ijoined the IUPUI administration ("University"), I saw less
of you on campus, but kept abreast of the School through Jeff and then Norm.
They commented often on the leadership role you naturally assumed and how
important you were to the success ofthe academic program. As a leader among
faculty you took your share ofthe executive assignments such as Associate Dean
and, reflecting your interest in new technologies, as webmaster and Director of
Legal Management Systems.

From a vantage point in the University administration I observed your
external work develop in Indiana just the way it had in Ohio. You did your fair
share ofhigh quality continuing legal education work for the Indiana bar and you
continued your work on the interface between law and health. Your interest in
technology has also been visible from afar, especially your long involvement

with the National Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction where you've
served since 1997 on the Board of Editors. Also of interest was your leadership
in the Symposium issue of the Indiana Law Review in 1997 on "Law and
Technology in the New Millennium: Closing the Gap."

One special event in your life came to my attention in the first or second year
that I was chancellor. It came to me in the form of a request for a sabbatical
leave which you spent as a Visiting Professor at Monash University in Australia.
This overseas venture enriched and added an international dimension to your

already formidable teaching repertoire. It also continued in fine fashion the links

our faculty have had with Monash University.
Another very special dimension of your work was visible to all in the

University administration. You have served in extremely able fashion on the
University's Institutional Review Board for Research Involving Human Subjects.
This was a very important function ofthe University when you became a member
ofthe Review Board in 1988, and it became even more important over the years
as the human subject issues became more complex. Your work became
increasingly important as the number of complex cases from the School of
Medicine increased, the volume ofresearch activity expanded dramatically, and

there was an enormous growth in resources devoted to research. This continues
to be one of the most important areas in which we must achieve excellence, and
your long service of more than twenty years, and the leadership you provided,
have been very important to our success.

Along the way I've also heard from your former students what a deep and
positive impression you've made in the profession. Being out in the larger
community I sometimes heard more about the School than when I was dean,
because people saw me as independent of the School. You should be proud of
the way people think of you in this state.



2010] A CELEBRATORY LETTER 27

1

My respect for you and the fond recollections of our time together as law
faculty were part of the reason I was so pleased to join the "reading group" of
elder, mostly retired, faculty that includes you, Jim Torke, Jeff Grove, and Paul

Cox. It has been uplifting and enjoyable to be a part of this group with you and

I was especially taken by the book by Robert Nagel that you suggested for the
session we had just before I first wrote this letter in November 2008.

While I didn't see you at the Law School very much over the years, Larrie,
Jean and I did see both of you at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Larrie,

you and I have sat together many times, even in the last month or two, at the
Sunday services. Of course all at St. Luke's have seen and heard you, Sharon,
in the New Song Ensemble.

For me one ofthe most memorable musical moments at St. Luke's—a church
known for the excellence of its music—was when New Song performed a
wonderful adaptation of the traditional hymn titled "Morning has Broken," a
hymn introduced into popular culture by Cat Stevens in 1971. The New Song
adaptation is much better than the Stevens' version although both are moving.

Sharon, you've also come into our lives by way of your wonderful work as
a second grade teacher at the Fox Hill School. Jean was a teacher's assistant in
reading in your classroom at the Fox Hill School for a number ofyears and holds
those teaching experiences to be among her most cherished along with her
twenty-six years of teaching in the St. Luke's Sunday School. From her
experience in your School and in your class room, Sharon, Jean, and I have come
to admire you very much. If Larrie 's following among alumni ofthe Law School
is to be eclipsed in any way it would be by the following ofyour former students
and their grateful parents and grandparents.

I'll bet you've had the same experience as Jean and I when out at dinner or
in some other public space in Indianapolis. Someone we don't immediately
recognize will approach our table with the intent of saying hello. At least as
often as it involves some aspect ofour work in the University, and perhaps more
often, it is a parent, grandparent, or especially a former student of Jean's who
will say something like, "Mrs. Bepko, I was in your Sunday School class at St.
Luke's."

Both Jean and I hope that we'll see more ofyou now that you're moving to
the next stage of life. Ofcourse we both hope that this next stage is particularly
joyful and that you and your family are as happy as it is possible to be.

Sincerely,

Jerry Bepko in collaboration with his partner of
forty-one years, Jean Bepko