Paul Steven Miller

The New York Times reports that law professor and disability rights advocate Paul Steven Miller passed away at home last Tuesday.  The obituary there does a better job than I can at describing his many accomplishments, both within and outside the academy.

Professor Miller started teaching at the University of Washington at the same time I started teaching, as I recall, and we met at a new law teacher’s seminar put on by AALS, I think.  We exchanged e-mails periodically talking about teaching Torts — he was an innovative teacher, developing extensive wikis for his classes, among other things — and about life as a law professor.  While he was certainly best-known for his work in the arena of disability law, he was an enthusiastic Torts prof and utterly dedicated to his teaching.  I was pleased when he took a position with the Obama administration, and even happier when he returned to teaching.  Getting a drink with Paul was something I looked forward to every year at AALS. 

Paul was 49 years old and is survived by his wife and two young daughters.

–BC