I received  today the very sad news that Benjamin Liu, a Professor at John Marshall Law School, who was especially strong in biotech issues, passed away yesterday, Dec. 1, 2014.

Benjamin was a young scholar at JMLS who showed much promise. He participated in several programs where I spoke or that I helped organize.  He was always a welcome and strong addition.  He maintained broad interests in IP, Chinese law and rule of law.  And yes, I have blogged about him here.

There is a relatively small community of American academics and lawyers who closely follow Chinese IP law, and he will be deeply missed by us all.

JMLS sent around the following announcement about Benjamin:  “Ben was a remarkable scholar, a much beloved teacher, and a kind and thoughtful colleague.  The school is struggling to come to terms with this deep loss.  Ben will be missed by his John Marshall family, as well as by his wife Chelsea, and two young sons Avery and Derek, upon whom he doted.”

JMLS also notes that It will advise when it has more information about a memorial and for a donation fund for his children.  In the meantime, it is collecting stories and memories of Ben for a scrapbook for his family.  JMLS also advises that if you would like to contribute a few sentences or more, please email them to 7collins@jmls.edu.

For a young scholar with such promise, the Hebrew  words of condolence seem most appropriate – ז״ל — May his memory be a blessing.

Here’s Benjamin’s faculty bio:

http://www.jmls.edu/directory/profile.php?lastfirstname=Liu_Benjamin

Here’s a tribute by another blogger:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/international_law/2014/12/benjamin-liu.html