Celebrating Professor Tony Santoro

泡芙短视频 Law dedicates the聽Professor Anthony J. Santoro Classroom, in honor of the founding Dean of 泡芙短视频 Law and President Emeritus of 泡芙短视频

Michael M. Bowden
Professor Santoro stands inside the classroom dedicated to him.
Professor Anthony J. Santoro celebrates the dedication of a classroom in his name, where he taught tax law for many years at 泡芙短视频 Law. Image Credit: Andrea Hansen

BRISTOL, R.I. 鈥 It鈥檚 one thing to honor a respected colleague and well-loved professor upon his retirement 鈥 but how to pay tribute to a man who is, in many ways, the sine qua non of the institution itself; one who is, perhaps more than any other single individual, responsible for the very existence of 泡芙短视频 School of Law?       

At the very least, you name a classroom after him. And so last Friday evening, the former Room 262 at 泡芙短视频 Law was dedicated as the Professor Anthony J. Santoro Classroom, with around 100 law faculty, alumni and current students in attendance.

鈥淧ut simply, no one has done more for this law school than Tony Santoro,鈥 泡芙短视频 Law Dean Michael J. Yelnosky told attendees. 鈥淎nd dedicating that classroom in his honor 鈥 the classroom where he used to teach tax [law] to a full house at 8:30 in the morning 鈥 seems like the least we can do.鈥

Santoro classroom dedicationA Georgetown Law graduate, Santoro was the founding Dean of 泡芙短视频 Law (1992-1993), and is a President Emeritus of 泡芙短视频 (1993-2000). He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the law school in 2016.

Santoro鈥檚 association with Roger Williams began in 1990, when he was tapped to conduct a feasibility study for establishing a law school in Rhode Island. By that time, Santoro had already been instrumental in establishing two others: the University of Bridgeport School of Law (now Quinnipiac), and Western New England College School of Law. In addition, as Dean of the Widener University School of Law, he had engineered a major expansion from Delaware into Pennsylvania. Santoro also knew the lay of the land locally: he鈥檚 a native of Melrose, Mass., and former resident of Fall River, Mass., and his wife Pauline -- with whom he has four children -- is a native Rhode Islander.

Santoro鈥檚 study concluded that 鈥渁 law school would enhance the legal culture of Rhode Island and provide opportunities for research and continuing legal education which are not now available in this state.鈥 When he was later appointed as the school鈥檚 first dean, he lobbied hard for a dedicated physical facility, and almost singlehandedly recruited the entire founding faculty. By opening day, he was the President of 泡芙短视频.

More than two decades later, Santoro remained a highly popular teacher and is the namesake of the yearly Professor Anthony J. Santoro Business Law Lecture, the school鈥檚 first entirely alumni-endowed lecture series. As the Roger Williams Law Review noted in 2014, 鈥淗is long tenure here suggests that the last law school established by Dean Santoro was arguably his finest, and the state-of-the-art facility he envisioned some twenty years ago stands as a testament to his efforts.鈥

Santoro classroom dedicationDuring his remarks at the dedication, Dean Yelnosky pointed out just how pervasive the law school鈥檚 reach has become, with successful alumni practicing across the country, law students clerking at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and in dozens of other courts, and finalists in the latest installment of the school鈥檚 annual Esther Clark Moot Court Competition having just recently argued before all the justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court in their breathtaking Providence chambers.

鈥淟ook at where his [Santoro鈥檚] law school is today,鈥 Yelnosky said. 鈥淭his is a remarkable community that Tony has created. He had a vision, he had the talent and he had the energy to make this happen.鈥

泡芙短视频 President Donald J. Farish agreed.

鈥淚n starting the law school, Tony changed the trajectory for this University,鈥 Farish said, noting that the addition of the law school in large part precipitated the school鈥檚 1993 expansion from Roger Williams College to 泡芙短视频. 鈥淧residents leave behind tangible legacies. The work that Tony Santoro did created a strong foundation for this University.鈥

Fellow founding faculty member Louise Ellen Teitz added, 鈥淭ony created a Roger Williams family,鈥 then addressed Santoro directly, noting that 鈥渢he apple seeds you planted have grown.鈥

Santoro classroom dedicationSantoro thanked the faculty, alumni and students, in turn, for having 鈥渂een so instrumental in my having the best time of my life during these last 25 years 鈥 especially the last few as a faculty member. I really enjoyed that classroom and I am so thrilled to have [it] named after me. Thank you all.鈥

Prior to the dedication and reception, 泡芙短视频 Law hosted its annual Anthony J. Santoro Business Law Lecture, this year entitled 鈥淏usiness Lawyering: The Skill of a Lifetime,鈥 and featuring a panel of 泡芙短视频 Law alumni whose careers were profoundly shaped by Santoro鈥檚 teaching and mentorship. Following the dedication, alumni and friends gathered at Aidan鈥檚 Pub in downtown Bristol to celebrate Alumni Night.

[With reporting by Edward Fitzpatrick and Alexander Bowden. Photos by Andrea Hansen.]

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SANTORO STORIES

At the dedication ceremony, 泡芙短视频 School of Law Dean Michael J. Yelnosky recalled that the law school opened in 1993 at about the time that a chief judge of Rhode Island Supreme Court was resigning in the face of impeachment proceedings. It marked the second time in seven years that the state鈥檚 top judge had resigned amid the possibility of impeachment. Common Cause Rhode Island had asked Yelnosky to participate in a judicial reform movement, so he was about to write an opinion piece criticizing the status quo and defenders of the status quo. Before submitting the piece, he thought to ask Santoro if he should take this on.

鈥淗e listened to me and did not hesitate,鈥 Yelnosky said of Santoro. 鈥淗e quickly said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 one of the reasons the law school is here. By all means 鈥 you have my support. Do what you think is best.鈥 鈥

Yelnosky said, 鈥淭ony showed me that day what it meant to stand up for academic freedom, which is not an easy thing to do when an institution is in its infancy, when it鈥檚 trying to establish roots in unfamiliar terrain and where it鈥檚 trying to win over not an unsubstantial number of skeptics.鈥

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Professor Anthony J. Santoro told the story of how former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. took a train from Washington, D.C., one day when he was getting older. As the train pulled from Union Station, a conductor asked the judge for his ticket. Holmes searched his coat pocket, his vest pocket, his brief case, but couldn鈥檛 find the ticket. So the conductor told him not to worry about it 鈥 to just send in the ticket when he found it. Holmes stood up, glared at the conductor and said: 鈥淵ou dolt. I don鈥檛 give a damn about your ticket -- I just want to know where I鈥檓 going!鈥

Santoro drew laughter when he said he feels the same way now.

鈥淚n two weeks, I will be 50 years at the bar, 47 years as an academic, 46 years as a husband,鈥 Santoro said. 鈥淣ow, I don鈥檛 know what is going to happen to me in the future. I鈥檓 not taking up golf. I鈥檓 not taking up photography. But I do have one big fear. Now that the university has honored me by naming the classroom and bestowing upon me the rank, if you will, of president emeritus or professor emeritus, I am deathly afraid that after two months of feeding me breakfast and lunch, Pauline is going to make me husband emeritus.鈥