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September 2, 2004

W. Edward Sell

A memorial service will be held for W. Edward Sell, Distinguished Service Professor of Law emeritus and law dean emeritus, on Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. in Heinz Chapel, followed by a reception in the School of Law lobby.

Sell, the longest-serving faculty member in the law school’s history, died Aug. 15, 2004, at his home in Mt. Lebanon. He was 81.

“It’s a terrible shock and a great loss to the law school,” said law Dean David J. Herring. “Ed was in good health, and in the best spirits I’d ever seen him in, ready to teach three courses this fall and a full load again in the spring. It’s amazing how much the students miss his presence already, especially our top students on the Law Review, where he was an adviser. And they miss him not just because of his teaching, but because of the kind of person he was, so committed to students.”

Born on New Year’s Day, 1923, in Hanover, Pa., Sell’s undergraduate years were interrupted in 1943 with his service in the United States Army Air Corps. He received a B.A. magna cum laude, with honors in economics, from Washington and Jefferson College in 1944. He earned his J.D. at Yale Law School in 1947. He also held honorary degrees from W&J (1973) and Dickinson School of Law (1968).

Joining the Pitt law faculty in 1947 as an instructor, Sell rose through the academic and administrative ranks as assistant professor (1949-1951), associate professor (1953-1954), professor (1954-1977), associate law dean (1957-1962), dean (1966-1977), Distinguished Service Professor of Law (1977-1994) and dean emeritus (1994).

He also served as an attorney for U.S. Steel Corp. (1951-1953), as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan School of Law in summer 1957 and as senior counsel to Meyer, Unkovic & Scott, 1977-1997.

Sell’s primary area of teaching and scholarship was in corporate law, and he became known as the father of Pennsylvania’s modern business corporation statute. That designation wasn’t hyperbole, Herring said. “Ed was the primary author of the Pennsylvania corporate code.”

He also authored several books and scholarly articles on corporate law, including a three-volume work, “Pennsylvania Business Corporations,” published in 1969, that is still considered a standard within the Pennsylvania legal community.

Sell taught courses such as Corporate Finance, Sales, Accounting for Lawyers, and Agency and Partnership. His teaching was recognized with the law school’s 1986 Excellence in Teaching Award and the University-wide 1990 President’s (now Chancellor’s) Distinguished Teaching Award.

According to Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, Sell is credited as the driving force behind the law building, which was dedicated in 1976 during his tenure as dean. “He was a strong advocate who overcame the reservations held by the [Pitt] administration at that time, as well as of those in Harrisburg, convincing them of the need for a new building for the school,” said Nordenberg, one of Sell’s successors as law dean before becoming Pitt chancellor. “Ed also was an innovator, reaching out to alumni groups for financial support at a time before deans typically got into that. The new building became the launching pad for the modern Pitt law school and permitted the expansion of programs and improvement in quality that we see the effects of today.”

Nordenberg said that over a quarter-century relationship the two became close friends. “During my first year (1977) at Pitt as visiting assistant professor of law, Ed took an interest in me and we developed a very close friendship. When I became dean [in 1986] he was a great supporter and a source of advice, sometimes sought by me privately and sometimes at his initiation. He knew the challenges that being dean presented. He also had a great sense of humor and loved to tell a good joke. He would say, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘You know, Mark, I joined this faculty a year before you were born …,'” as though anyone would question his knowledge and experience, Nordenberg said.

The chancellor added that Sell’s dedication to the law school took several forms.” He showed a great commitment to students. And he showed how faculty members at a professional school should meaningfully engage in the profession.”

As an example, Nordenberg said that Sell and he co-directed a trial advocacy forum for practicing attorneys where local lawyers were brought in to critique students’ performance in moot court and other presentations.

Sell also wrote the history of the School of Law, titled “The Law Down: A Century Remembered,” which was underwritten by a grant from the Obernauer Foundation and published in 1995, the school’s centennial year. Sell held several positions of leadership in the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), including chair of its editorial board, corporations committee chair and member of the House of Delegates. In 1995, he received a citation for special achievement from the PBA.

Sell was a member of numerous organizations, including Phi Beta Kappa, the American Law Institute (life member), the American Bar Foundation (life member), the American Bar Association, the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Society.

An ordained elder at Southminster Presbyterian Church, Sell taught adult Bible classes. He also was active in community affairs, serving on a number of boards of directors, including boards of St. Clair Memorial Hospital, St. Clair Health Corp., St Clair Foundation and Little Lake Theatre Co.

But Sell’s deepest feelings and dedication were reserved for Pitt’s law school, Herring said. “Ed came into my office practically every morning to offer his insights or just share a joke. One line I heard him say a number of times: ‘Old deans don’t die. They just lose their faculties.’ He was a mentor to me and someone who always had the best interests of the law school at heart.”

Sell was predeceased by his wife of 52 years, Cordelia, and by his sister, Henrietta Williams. He is survived by his son Jeffrey E. Sell and daughter-in-law Christine, of Baltimore; two granddaughters, Peggy and Bridget; and grandson, Jeffrey, and his sister Eleanor Sheeley of York County.

Memorial contributions may be made to Southminister Presbyterian Church, Mt. Lebanon; Pitt’s School of Law; Washington and Jefferson College, or St. Clair Hospital Foundation.

-Peter Hart

Filed under: Feature,Volume 37 Issue 1

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