Jon Van Dyke was a warrior for justice whose vibrant spirit was felt worldwide

The stunning news came less than three weeks ago that Professor Jon Van Dyke — an intrepid and vigorous world traveler — had died in his sleep while attending a conference in Australia.

The loss is devastating for Jon’s family and his students and colleagues at the University of Hawaii, but it also leaves a gaping hole for Hawaii and for people everywhere.

Throughout Jon’s life, he gave wise counsel, as well as warm friendship, to so many people that his generosity of time and spirit seemed boundless.

To those of us blessed to work with Jon, what stood out most was his brilliant teaching and his deep knowledge of an astonishingly broad range of subjects. He possessed an extraordinary ability to ask probing, unusual questions and to listen respectfully to the answers, no matter how strange they might be. This citizen of the world seemed unconfined by geography, yet directly shaped law and life in his beloved Hawaii.

Jon was an educator’s educator as well as a scholar’s scholar. He published six books, co-authored many more, and wrote scores of articles; he was in great demand worldwide for his expertise in international human rights, the law of the sea, constitutional law, environmental law, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Particularly striking, however, was that he always had time to share his knowledge with any group or any student who asked. He delighted to speak to high school students, as well as to heads of state — ranging from how best to litigate against tyrants to what the Red Sox should do about their latest dismaying plunge.

Jon came to Hawaii to be part of the new law school, and soon added to his numerous awards for teaching and scholarship, including the prestigious UH Regents Medal for Excellence in Research in 2009.

He also was intricately involved in community issues, such as protection of Native Hawaiian rights, which he helped establish in the 1978 Constitutional Convention, litigated for in both state and federal courtrooms, and advanced in his prize-winning book, "Who Owns the Crown Lands?" By consensus, the law school named Jon to be its first Carlsmith Ball Faculty Scholar.

After Jon’s death, one community activist aptly described this gentle, somewhat shy man as a stalwart warrior for Hawaiians. But Jon also was a stalwart warrior wherever he saw wrong, and he successfully litigated cases with his wife, noted attorney Sherry Broder, over many years. They used law on behalf of victims of the Marcos regime in the Philippines, for example, as well as in First Amendment cases and even for better conditions for Rusti, the orangutan, at Honolulu Zoo. Jon was a leading expert about the law as it affected isolated islands, yet his life embodied making connections to the land and to local communities everywhere.

Jon was also noteworthy for having fun. He thrived particularly on family time with his children, Jesse, Eric and Michele, but he also constantly offered casual hospitality to visiting dignitaries. Jon was the only law school faculty member who would show up at virtually every student party, where he and Sherry loved to dance with verve and joy.

Over the 35 years that Jon anchored the law school faculty, he taught constitutional law and many other subjects to thousands. Yet his openness to new ideas, his careful, scholarly digging, his exceptional intellect, and his care for all kinds of people taught deep lessons well beyond the subject matter.

The condolences and memories pouring in — from the U.S., Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, the Marshall Islands, Korea and Mexico, for example — coalesce around a central point: Professor Jon Van Dyke knew so much about so many things, yet took the time to be curious, to ask unusual questions and to listen carefully to the answers. He knew how to lead others to new understanding of the worlds they inhabited, and of the possibilities for personal, professional and global change.

Aviam Soifer is dean of the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.