In Memoriam: Thomas Gerald Treece

Former Pepperdine Caruso Law Professor and Moot Court coach, T. Gerald Treece, has passed away in The Woodlands, Texas. Professor Treece played a crucial role during the founding years of the School of Law when it was located in Orange County. To celebrate the law school's move to Malibu in 1976, Professor Treece organized a law student relay race from Anaheim to Malibu. The first runner in the relay was current Pepperdine Vice Chancellor and Professor of Law Emeritus, Janet Kerr.

Pepperdine Senior Vice Chancellor and Caruso School of Law Dean Emeritus Ronald Phillips remembers of Professor Treece, "Professor T. Gerald (Jerry) Treece was an important part of the Anaheim years of Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. A graduate of the University of Kansas Law School and a native Texan, he was the Moot Court coach who turned Pepperdine Law students into a national power. When the Law School moved to Malibu, Jerry returned to his native Texas and joined the faculty at South Texas School of Law, where he turned that school's Moot Court Program to one of, if not the most, successful in the nation."

Former Pepperdine Caruso Law Professor, Associate Dean, and Interim Dean Charles I. Nelson recalls, "Jerry Treece was the quintessential Texan. He came in every morning singing The Eyes of Texas. He was a very good teacher who loved to be with his students. After he returned to Texas, he was a commentator for a number of news outlets in Houston. The moot courtroom at South Texas College of Law was named for him when it was dedicated."

He will be missed by many at Pepperdine Caruso Law.

Professor Treece is remembered as a law school and moot court legend in The Houston Chronicle here, and in the National Jurist here

Memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared here