It was late in the day when my office phone rang.  I picked it up and Justice Greg Hobbs was on the line.  After telling me about his latest outdoor adventure, he said he had a question for me:  Was there any chance he could teach at Denver Law after he retired from the Court?  As a dean, it is rare to get questions with such obvious answers.  Of course!

On his retirement from the Court, Justice Hobbs had an incredible array of job prospects and projects he could choose from.  But he knew exactly what he wanted for his next chapter.  He wanted to teach the next generation of natural resource lawyers, and to do it at Denver Law.

You likely knew Justice Hobbs as a distinguished jurist.  As a giant in water law and natural resources law.  As a talented photographer, poet, and author.  As a key participant in a vast number of civic endeavors.  But what you might not have known about him was that he was, to his core, a teacher. 

He has long had the heart of a teacher.  As a younger man, he taught sixth grade at St. Paul’s Catholic School in New York, before serving in the Peace Corps.  Every one of his clerks I spoke to said that he was one of the best teachers and mentors they had ever met. 

So teaching was his obvious next step after leaving the bench.  The only question was where.  Not surprisingly, more than a few schools pursued him.  Given his reputation, his expertise, and his extensive scholarly work, he would have a wide array of choices.

But it was Denver Law that drew him.  He had long been a champion of–and regular presenter at–our Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program.  He believed that a program like this, at a school like ours, was the perfect way to train the next generation of great natural resources lawyers and integrate them into our legal community.

So, he joined our community.  He taught our students and created a whole new generation of fans of natural resources law (and of Professor Hobbs).  He co-directed our ENRL Program alongside his friends, the late Fred Cheever, and Annecoos Wiersema, and grew its reputation immeasurably, helping to put it into the top 15 nationally. 

Having Justice Hobbs at DU was a dream come true for him and for us.  Our students and community benefited from his choice in a deep and lasting way.  We are all honored that he chose us as the final chapter in his amazing career.