Professor Yale Kamisar: "Awesome"

When the editors of the Michigan Law Review asked me if I would submit a "tribute" to Professor Yale Kamisar commemorating his retirement from the University of Michigan Law School faculty, I was happy to accept the invitation. Yale is one of my heroes in the academy - he is the consummate "Law Professor" in all the best senses of the title. I have always believed that Yale Kamisar has had an inestimably great impact on his students and that he is seen to be an extraordinary teacher, scholar, and commentator. I decided to test my assumptions by surveying some of my former law clerks and one close friend, all of whom graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. The words used by his former students to describe Professor Kamisar were, not surprisingly, very similar: passionate (cited five times); provocative; exuberant; forceful; unforgettable; unyielding; intellectually rigorous; endearing; institution; hilarious; intense; kitten; and, my favorite, awesome.