In Memoriam: Jamie Grodsky

Professor Jamie Grodsky

We learned this weekend of the tragic death of Jamie Grodsky, a rising star in environmental law who taught at George Washington University.  She died after a brief illness.

Jamie joined the GW faculty in 2006, after serving as an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Jamie was a meticulous scholar and deeply dedicated teacher. She recently served as a co-investigator on a multi-university NIH grant dealing with the impacts of new biological technologies on environmental law, regulation, and the assessment of environmental risks. She recently co-edited a book on genomics and environmental regulation, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press.

Prior to entering academia, Jamie had a rich and varied career.  She served as a Counsel to the Committee on Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995, Counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate from 1995 to 1997, and was the Senior Advisor to the General Counsel of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from 1999 to 2001.  Before law school, Professor Grodsky worked for four and a half years as an Analyst at the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment (OTA),  served as the Educational Director at the Oceanic Society in San Francisco, and worked as a researcher at Woods Hole.

Jamie received her B.A. degree, with distinction, from Stanford University, her M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor of the Stanford Law Review and received the Adolf and Olaus Murie Award in Environmental Law and the Hilmer Oehlmann Prize for Legal Writing. Jamie then clerked for Judge Proctor R. Hug, then Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Our thoughts are with her family and friends in this dark hour.

Post script.  Jamie’s obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle is here.

Reader Comments

4 Replies to “In Memoriam: Jamie Grodsky”

  1. Thank you, Dan, for this gracious tribute to our colleague Jamie. Having learned about her illness just two weeks ago, and of her passing just minutes ago, it has not all sunk in yet. May we all remember her and have hope for her family in our thoughts.

    JB

  2. I was shocked to read this post. Professor Grodsky taught my Environmental Law course last semester. She seemed very sick towards the end of the semester and finally had to have an adjunct finish the last lectures of the semester. But, I would never expect this.

    Professor Grodsky brought an infectious energy to her lectures. She was truly inspiring and one of the kindest people I have ever met. My thoughts go out to her family and friends.

  3. I’m shocked and saddened by this news. Jamie was a kind and generous colleague. While I was still doing public interest work in Minnesota, she got me involved in academia, first as a guest speaker in her environmental law class, and later becoming a supportive mentor. Terrible news, she will be missed.
    Noah

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About Dan

Dan Farber has written and taught on environmental and constitutional law as well as about contracts, jurisprudence and legislation. Currently at Berkeley Law, he has al…

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About Dan

Dan Farber has written and taught on environmental and constitutional law as well as about contracts, jurisprudence and legislation. Currently at Berkeley Law, he has al…

READ more

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