Dellinger, Walter E., III

English

Southern Methodist University

SMU Law ReviewVolume 49 | Issue 3 Article 51996A. Kenneth PyeWalter E. Dellinger IIIFollow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulrThis Tribute is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review byan authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu.Recommended CitationWalter E. Dellinger III, A. Kenneth Pye, 49 SMU L. Rev. 475 (1996)https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol49/iss3/5A. KENNETH PYEtWalter E. Dellinger IIIhat I remember best about Ken was his laugh; it came easilyand often, frequently following one of his own irreverent re-marks. As perhaps only Judy and Henry are aware, the worldcould know only some of what this great man was all about.In a vocation surrounded by pomp and circumstance, there was aboutKen not a trace of pretense or pomposity. As Dean, he knew no limits tohis job description; I remember seeing him early on a Saturday morningcleaning up the Moot Court room in anticipation of Law Day. And Iremember seeing him late in the evening, calling around the country tolawyers he knew personally trying to place in jobs the most hard-to-placeof his graduating students.To many outsiders he must have seemed like a bull in an academicchina shop, grudgingly admired for his hard-headed management skills.But to those on the law faculty who knew him as a colleague, Ken was abrilliant intellect, widely reading in the classics, in history and in biogra-phy. As he became a university leader he reveled in immersing himself inthe great intellectual pursuits of the many and varied departments underhis purview.On the surface, Ken was always jauntily irreverent, never pious, aCatholic leader of Methodist schools whose wit at times seemed to teeteron the brink of an anti-clericalism. And yet, those who know him wellknew that his deep religious conviction was a fundamental guide for hislife and work. He read Aquinas and Cardinal Newman; he studied thelives of Saint Thomas A Becket and Sir Thomas More; and on their exam-ples he modeled his life.As Ken was to religion, he was to law. Although he often laughedabout silly laws and foolish lawmakers, and told wonderful stories aboutthe foibles of the bar, at the end of the day he was deeply devoted to theconcept of the rule of law, to the profound idea of norms binding even ongovernment itself.To work with Ken day after day was to be constantly dazzled by hisdecisiveness, his gift for solving problems, his keen sense of strategy andtiming, his vision of where a law school, and then a university, should go.But there were still more important things to learn from Ken-things likeI This tribute was originally delivered by the author at a memorial service honoringA. Kenneth Pye held at Duke University in July 1994.476 SMU LAW REVIEW [Vol. 49integrity, candor, and fairness. His devotion to family was inspiring. InKen, decency went all the way down.In the end, what mattered most about Ken was a simple matter: hisdeep and abiding integrity. He went through life and work determined todo the right thing, every time, wholly regardless of whether it made peo-ple like him or dislike him-which, in the end, was why so many peopleloved him.I have never known a better man.A TRIBUTE TO A. KENNETH PYEtE. J. McDonaldwant to pay tribute today to a giant presence in an uncomplicatedman. It is difficult to speak complicated words about this simple man.And, above all, Ken Pye was a simple man. He was simple in hisvalues and his dedication to them; simple in his appetites and his appreci-ation of them; and simple in his devotion to family, friends, and the insti-tutions he graced. He was a dear friend of mine who affected a lot ofpeople, and it won't be easy to adjust to his absence.Thirty-seven years ago this month I was privileged to meet Ken Pyewhen he took me under his wing, first as a graduate student and then as acolleague on the Georgetown Law School faculty. Thirty-seven yearslater, as a close witness and sometimes participant in his progress throughmounting careers, I remain as awed by his unique qualities as I was thatfirst summer. His core was untouched and, I believe, untouchable. Hewas, and remained, a simple man.If it is true, as the dictionary instructs us, that to be "simple" is to be"free from duplicity or guile; honest, open, ingenuous; free from pride orostentation," then Ken was at heart the simplest of men, and that is thebeauty of his measure.Yes, he was brilliant, blunt, decisive, courageous, and a bastion of in-tegrity-all these things said about him are true. But they are secondary.What undergirded these visible signs was an essential quality of virtue.We are told that Diogenes vainly wandered the streets of ancient Athenswith his lantern lit, searching for a virtuous and honest man, teaching allwho would listen that the virtuous life was the simple life. Ken Pye epito-mized that life. What you saw of him in word or actions was exactly whatwas there. Neither artifice nor guile found harbor in him. It was fre-quently said of Ken that he was sometimes wrong but never in doubt. Hewould accept that appraisal. He followed the truth where he saw it,changed his mind and his decisions when he saw reason to, and invitedthe world to witness the process.Surely threats to that simplicity mounted as he moved through escalat-ing levels of responsibility and accomplishment as faculty member andadministrator, culminating in his greatest challenge and accomplishmentas President of Southern Methodist University. Most people are alteredby such surges in responsibility and influence, but this man stayed thet This tribute was originally delivered by the author at a memorial service honoringA. Kenneth Pye held at Duke University in July 1994.478 SMU LAW REVIEW [Vol. 49same throughout. Ken Pye was always the agent of change rather thanthe object of change.Yes, there was a noticeable softening in his rigorous, nonstop lifestylewhen he met and married his beloved wife, Judy, and more yet again withthe birth of his son, Henry. These key events influenced Ken greatly butthey didn't change him. Nothing could. He remained the same simpleperson of simple virtues throughout his life. Diogenes would have snuf-fed out his lantern had the two ever met.

A. Kenneth Pye

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A. Kenneth Pye

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