In Memoriam: Professor and Director Emeritus John F. Witherspoon
The law school has lost one of its most generous and instrumental professors. Professor and Director Emeritus of the Intellectual Property Program John F. Witherspoon passed away on Friday, September 25, 2026.
Professor Witherspoon started at Scalia Law in 1992 as an adjunct professor and Director of the Intellectual Property law track — the law school’s oldest specialty program. In that role, he taught and provided career advice to hundreds of patent students. Professor Witherspoon was passionate about promoting healthy academic discussions, rigorous scholarship, and well-informed public policy debates about the importance of intellectual property. Scalia Law was the perfect intellectual home for him and his students agreed. “Professor Witherspoon was not only an exceptional lawyer, but a devoted teacher and mentor who cared deeply about his students and the profession,” says Naveen Modi, Class of 2001 and Global Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property group at Paul Hastings. “I was fortunate to be among his students and to benefit from his wisdom, generosity, and deep commitment to the profession. His lasting contributions and influence will ensure that he is remembered as a true hallmark of the intellectual property community.”
Upon his retirement in 2003, Professor Witherspoon was accorded the title “Professor and Director Emeritus, Intellectual Property Program.” Yet Professor Witherspoon remained a vital member of the Scalia Law community long after he formally retired. He continued to work with the career services team to provide much-valued counsel to and advocate for students in the marketplace. He generously gave transformative gifts to support intellectual property law research and to establish The John F. Witherspoon Scholars Program. The scholarship supports students with financial need and those interested in intellectual property, including patent law. “A school is only as good as its students,” Professor Witherspoon once said. “I have found the students to be hard working, pleasant and enjoyable to work with, and wish to invest in their continued success.”
More recently, Professor Witherspoon contributed funds to renovate one of the two signature classrooms, which is now aptly named The Witherspoon Lecture Hall. Professor Witherspoon hoped his gifts — which exceed well over one million dollars — would inspire others to invest in Scalia law. Indeed he succeeded, as several former students also contributed to the classroom renovations.
“Professor Witherspoon contributed so much to the Law School during his life,” says Daniel Kelly, Allison and Dorothy Rouse Dean. “As a teacher, mentor, and benefactor, he helped to educate, form, and support so many law students who have made a lasting impact. We will be forever grateful to him and his family.”
Professor Witherspoon earned his B.S., M.Ed. and M.S. from the University of Illinois and his JD from Georgetown University. His career in private practice, government, and academia spanned more than fifty years. His work included a presidential appointment to be an Examiner-in-Chief and to serve on the then Board of Appeals in the Patent Office.