Alison Brooke Overby, the Judge Rene H. Himel Professor of Law at Tulane University, passed away suddenly on Aug. 5, 2009, in Fort Walton Beach, FL. Born in 1960 and raised in Lake Forest, IL, Brooke graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, received her B.A. in Classics from Northwestern University in 1982, and was awarded her Juris Doctor with Highest Distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1987.
While at the University of Iowa, she had received the John F. Murray Prize, had been elected to the Order of the Coif, and had been appointed Senior Articles Editor of the Iowa Law Review.
Following law school, Brooke served from 1988 to 1990 as a clerk for Judge Richard J. Cardamone of the U.S. Court of Appeals with theSecond Circuit and as an Associate with the law firm of Mayer, Brown and Platt in Chicago.
She was a member of both theIllinois and the New York Bars.
In 1990, Brooke joined the faculty of TulaneUniversity College of Law, teaching classes in contracts and commercial law.
She earned academic tenure in 1996 and promotion to professor in 2002.
Later that year, she accepted a visiting professorship at Notre Dame Law School and, in 2004, earned a prestigious Fulbright lectureship at Beijing’s China University of PoliticalScience and Law. Widely published in her field and active in university governance, she was much respected and loved by her colleagues and students.
An enthusiastic traveler, Brooke had visited more than one hundred countries, particularly enjoying the time she spent in China, Tibet andTunisia.
Later this year, she had been planning a trip to Antarctica and Easter Island.
Brooke is survived by her sister, Megan; and brothers, Ross and Scott; and by six nieces and nephews.
Friends and relatives are invited to a visitation atWenban Funeral Home, 320 E. Vine Ave., Lake Forest, IL, from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, Aug. 14, to be followed by a Graveside Service at Lake Forest Cemetery at 1 p.m. A Memorial Service is being planned for Sept.
10 at Tulane University (contact Tulane University College of Law for additional information). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Info., Wenban Funeral Home,847-234-0022 or www.wenbanfh.com
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This is a paid death notice.
