Our firm is deeply saddened by the passing of our friend, mentor, and advocate, Professor David S. Ruder. Professor Ruder was the son of our late founder, George L. Ruder. Many of our attorneys have sought after and relied upon the advice of Professor Ruder. In 2017, we had the honor of hosting Professor Ruder as he was in town to accept the “Champions of Business” award from Junior Achievement of Northcentral Wisconsin on his father’s behalf. He regaled our employees with recollections of his father, his own history, and his memories of our firm throughout the years. “I followed my dad’s advice my entire life — be yourself, be independent, work hard, be friendly and compassionate, and put one foot in front of the other.”
After Professor Ruder’s graduation from law school in 1957, he briefly practiced with a well-known Milwaukee firm before choosing to enter teaching at Northwestern University Law School. Consistent with George Ruder’s commitment to personal independence, Professor Ruder chose to pursue his own path for his legal career. Characteristically, both father and son remained true to their principles.
Our firm cherished our connection to Professor Ruder and we are honored to have been able to count on him as one of our advisors.
Northwestern Law School wrote a beautiful piece memorializing Professor Ruder’s life, the link can be found here: https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/02/david-ruder-former-dean-of-northwestern-law-dies-at-90/
Professor David Ruder Gives a History Lesson