CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Professor Emeritus Earl C. Dudley Jr., a former litigator and beloved educator at the University of Virginia School of Law, passed away on Saturday at the age of 83. His career included a clerkship at the U.S. Supreme Court and a 22-year stint in litigation that included serving as general counsel for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.

Dudley’s 26-year tenure at UVA Law, which began in 1989, is remembered in part for his ability to weave practical legal experiences into his teaching. Dean Leslie Kendrick remembered him as the “ideal of a Virginia lawyer and professor: brilliant, thoughtful, modest, and humane,” according to a post by UVA Law.

He overcame considerable adversity in his early years, surviving a World War II bombing in the Philippines—an experience he recounted in his memoir. His journey to his role at UVA Law endures in the school’s legacy, as highlighted in the UVA Law post.