VLS Mourns the Loss of Professor Arnold B. Cohen
Professor of Law Arnold B. Cohen, an early pioneer in electronic casebooks and dedicated teacher and family man, passed away on Tuesday, August 23, 2011.
“Arnie was a gifted teacher who left his mark on countless students over a 40 year career at Villanova,” said Dean John Gotanda. “We will greatly miss him.”
A graduate of Brown University, Professor Cohen earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and joined the faculty of Villanova Law School in 1971. He taught courses in bankruptcy, secured transactions, e-business and many other areas, and in addition to being one of the early pioneers in electronic casebooks, he was a champion of teaching courses that introduced students to the problems they would face in practice.
Many of Professor Cohen’s former students have described him as a mentor, role model and dear friend. “He was absolutely terrific at teaching real world problems in depth,” shared one alumnus. “Even more important, as a person he was humble, very funny, warm and approachable.”
“Professor Cohen helped me grow up in this profession,” said another former law student. “I know I ended up a better lawyer and a better person for having known and been influenced by him.”
When Professor Cohen retired from teaching last May, Professor Jack Dobbyn was given the privilege of speaking about his outstanding teaching career at a retirement dinner held in his honor. “Arnie's dedication to the art of teaching for the maximum benefit of his students was legendary, but his deepest soul and spirit lay in his boundless dedication to his family - just the right priority,” said Professor Dobbyn.
The thoughts and prayers of the Villanova Law community remain with Professor Cohen’s wife Rona; his three children, Dr. Jessie Dudley, Julie Cohen Norris, and Alison Rosenzweig; and his eight grandchildren.
Services for Professor Cohen were held on August 25 at Goldstein's Funeral Home in Philadelphia.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to support cancer research at the University of Pennsylvania may be made in memory of Professor Cohen online at www.penncancer.org, or by mail to: The Abramson Cancer Center/David Porter, M.D., 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Please make checks payable to "Trustees of University of Pennsylvania" with "In Memory of Arnold Cohen" in the memo line.
The Law School's Office of Alumni Relations will be honored to forward notes of condolence to the Cohen Family. You are welcome to send your notes by email to: alumni@law.villanova.edu or by mail to: The Cohen Family, c/o Office of Alumni Relations, Villanova Law School, 299 North Spring Mill Road, Villanova, PA 19085.
