Josef Rohlik, 1940-2024
Longtime law professor and international scholar, Josef Rohlik passed away on December 6, 2024. Born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1940, Professor Rohlik moved to Prague to study at the Law Faculty of Charles University in the late 1950s and early 1960s, where he began teaching soon after graduation.
鈥淚 am an international person,鈥� Rohlik once said. 鈥淚 cannot view law without a world view.鈥�
An internationally recognized scholar, he earned a diploma in 1965 from The Hague Academy of International Law. Since its formation, only several hundred people have earned a diploma from The Hague Academy. Shortly thereafter, while studying at Columbia University in New York, Professor Rohlik found himself a political refugee and asylum seeker following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. He became a US citizen in 1976. He was a commercial tribunal administrator with the American Arbitration Association in New York City before joining 性奴调教 law faculty in 1971 where he stayed until his retirement. He was a member of both the Center for International and Comparative Law and the William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law.
Faculty liaison to the Brussels Seminar, Professor Rohlik has organized and participated in a variety of international programs for the School of Law. He was a panelist at the Summit on Constitutional Adjudication both in Florence in 1995 and in New York in 1997, which involved U.S. Supreme Court justices and constitutional court justices from Russia, Germany and Italy.
A stalwart among the faculty, he and his wife Neasa (n茅e Gibbons) who was born in Dublin, were beloved by his colleagues.
鈥淲hen I arrived in 1987, it was clear that Joe Rohlik was the center of gravity in the law school,鈥� said Professor Alan Weinberger, J.D., a longtime colleague on the law faculty. "He was a staunch advocate for many of us in his capacity as long-time chair of the University rank-and-tenure committee. The elaborate dessert party hosted by Neasa and Joe was a social highlight of the year. I will always cherish Joe Rohlik as a fierce proponent of academic freedom and the autonomy of the law school.鈥�
Apart from international law, Professor Rohlik has considerable experience in teaching conflict of laws, commercial law and arbitration. Since the early 1970s, he has been an active arbitrator.
鈥淭o some extent, being an arbitrator is like being a detective,鈥� Rohlik said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e trying to sift through the facts from both sides to find the truth. Arbitration allows you to learn about industries and areas that you wouldn鈥檛 otherwise learn.鈥�
鈥淚 took Commercial Transactions with Josef my third year in law school,鈥� said Christine Rollins, J.D., professor at the School of Law and president of the Faculty Senate. 鈥淚n class, we would examine the perils of shipping. Various containers used to have so much trouble getting on ships, falling off ships in transit, and getting off ships at the docks. And then there were those that were just on sinking ships due to storms or wayward captains. In March 2021, I couldn't help but think about him and all these issues when that giant container ship, Ever Given, got itself sideways in the international Suez Canal. He would have been so excited to share in the 鈥榮ix days of peril鈥� and its aftermath. I can hear his deep voice and laugh now.鈥�