Stein, Robert A.

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University of Minnesota Law School

University of Minnesota Law SchoolScholarship RepositoryMinnesota Law Review1984Tribute to Robert F. GrabbRobert A. SteinFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlrPart of the Law CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Minnesota Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Minnesota LawReview collection by an authorized administrator of the Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact lenzx009@umn.edu.Recommended CitationStein, Robert A., "Tribute to Robert F. Grabb" (1984). Minnesota Law Review. 2234.https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/2234TRIBUTE TO ROBERT F. GRABB"Mr. and Mrs. Killdeer wish to announce the'arrival ofthree baby Killdeers."That was the message, scrawled in familiar handwriting, ona memo that came across my desk one recent morning. DeanRobert F. Grabb had been earnestly watching a pair ofKilldeers hatch their young just outside of his window and, af-ter several weeks of waiting, announced the happy result to theLaw School community.We will miss that voice of cheer next year in the sometimesoverly serious Law School community. Bob Grabb will retire atthe end of this academic year after completing nineteen yearsas Associate Dean at the Law School. It is highly appropriatethat the Minnesota Law Review dedicate this issue to BobGrabb.Bob Grabb had already completed one career before hecame to the Law School-a very successful one which seems tohave developed as a result of a series of accidents. After gradu-ation from Brown University in 1941, Bob was drafted into theArmy as a private. Some young men were avoiding service, butnot those whose fathers were chairmen of the draft board inPainted Post, New York-not Bob Grabb. After Pearl Harbor,Bob went through Officers Candidate School and became aLieutenant in the Intelligence Division. As Bob is fond of say-ing, he spent the war defending such places as Santa Monica,Miami Beach, Macon, Augusta, and Battle Creek.He entered Harvard Law School following the SecondWorld War, graduated, and was two years into a corporate prac-tice when Uncle Sam remembered what Bob had forgotten-Bob was a reserve officer. He was called back for the Koreanconflict and was promptly dispatched to Italy for the duration.From 1950 to 1953 he served with the Allied Military Govern-ment in Trieste, while Italy and Yugoslavia made that city thesubject of international controversy.In 1953 Bob returned to Washington, D.C., and served inthe Pentagon until retiring from the military in 1965. While ris-ing to the rank of Colonel, he held three major positions in theJudge Advocate General's staff. He was Chief of the Interna-MINNESOTA LAW REVIEWtional Law Branch; Chief of the Procurement Law Division, re-sponsible for approval of government contracts; and Chief ofthe Career Management Division, responsible for placement ofall Army lawyers.In 1965 Dean Bill Lockhart persuaded Bob Grabb to jointhe Law School faculty upon retirement from military service.During his tenure years at the University of Minnesota LawSchool, Bob Grabb has counseled more than half of the livinggraduates of the School. He has an unusual talent for workingwith people. Even when unable to respond affirmatively to astudent concern, he invariably has earned the student's respectand affection. Bob Grabb knows which complaints to take seri-ously and which he can best respond to by being a sympatheticlistener.Bob Grabb has been a major part of the Development Pro-gram of the Law School since its inception. Under his leader-ship, the annual fund of the Law School, the "Partners inExcellence Campaign," has become one of the most successfuldevelopment programs among the nation's law schools. Thisprivate support has been vital to the quality development of theLaw School.But it is his cheerful presence that has been Bob's mostvaluable contribution to the School. When the day-to-day pres-sures inherent in any law school have begun to rise, we havebeen blessed to have in our midst a wise and witty friend to re-mind faculty and students alike of the importance of mutualcaring and respect.We will miss Bob Grabb's presence next year. And futureclasses of law students will never know what wise counsel theyhave missed as a result of Bob's retirement. But we are happythat Bob and his wife, Jean Grabb, will remain in the Twin Cit-ies area, and he will maintain an office in the Law School.Bob, we thank you most of all for the love and friendshipyou have brought to the Law School. We wish you and Jeanmany, many years of happy and satisfying retirement.Robert A. Stein[Vol. 68:897

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Tribute to Robert F. Grabb

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