Professor Cornelius J. Peck: A Man of Many Talents

Outstanding teacher, authoritative writer, master winemaker, successful labor arbitrator, durable bicyclist, avid gardener, occasional portrait painter, and more. Meet University of Washington School of Law Professor Emeritus Cornelius J. Peck. Born in Calumet, Michigan, he attended public schools in Iron Mountain, Michigan, and found his way east to Harvard, where he received a B.S. degree in 1944 and an LL.B. in 1949. He was a Harvard National Scholar while he worked on his B.S. and law degrees.

He held two jobs with the U.S. Department of Justice and one with the National Labor Relations Board before joining the University of Washington School of Law faculty as an assistant professor in 1954. He advanced rapidly to associate professor in 1956 and to full professor in 1958. In support of his candidacy for teaching at the University of Washington, Paul Freund, one of his Harvard professors, wrote, "Peck is a person of mature judgment, good presence, and devoted attachment to the intellectual challenge of the law. In his personal qualities no less than his intellectual equipment, he would, I am confident, earn the respect of students and teachers alike." Freund's prediction was exactly right.

Professor Peck has earned that respect in spades.