Login | April 25, 2024
Walking towards retirement
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: May 1, 2015
For 31 years, Wilson R. Huhn drove from his home in Pepper Pike to his job as a professor at The University of Akron School of Law.
So when a student suggested he do something special to mark his upcoming retirement, the 65-year-old Huhn decided to celebrate his last week of work in an unusual way.
“I just thought maybe I should walk my commute to work once,” he said. “It symbolized for me the end of this part of my life.”
On April 18, Huhn began a 25-mile walk on the Towpath Trail through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. He started at the northern end of the park at Rockside Road and Canal Road in Independence.
The next morning, he left the Stanford House and walked to Merriman Road and Weathervane Lane in Akron. On April 20, he left the O’Neil House on West Exchange Street in Akron and walked to the law school – where about 50 supporters were lined up to greet him with high fives as he crossed a finish line that was put in place for the event.
“It was awfully nice,” he said, “I got to spend entire days with my youngest daughter, Merilys, who walked with me. We talked the entire time. We talked about all the family vacations we’d taken and told jokes. We stopped at Krispy Kreme. One student walked with us for part of the way. It was wonderful, but I’m glad I didn’t have to walk to work for 31 years!”
The walk was used to raise money for the law school’s Student Emergency Fund. Law student Charlotte Sheppard initiated the fundraiser as a class project. Sheppard and students in her public administration class, under the direction of Professor Claudia Coleman, designed a marketing campaign called Students Embracing a Legacy.
The students created a crowd funding event to raise money for two scholarships created to support students in need from the law school and the Public Administration and Urban Studies program.
The campaign raised $3,545, said Lee Marc Molnar, a graduate assistant at The University of Akron’s School of Dance, Theatre and Arts Administration and spokesperson for Students Embracing a Legacy.
“The walk was a great success, even with the rain,” Molnar said. “It brought awareness to the legacy of Professor Huhn both in terms of his teaching and his belief of the importance of practicing public good.
“Professor Huhn’s personality and genuine joy he exudes about teaching students and connecting with individuals is refreshing and encouraging.”
Huhn taught courses in constitutional law, advanced constitutional law, jurisprudence and commercial paper. He was named Outstanding Professor of the Year by numerous graduating classes. His book, “The Five Types of Legal Argument” is required reading at law schools nationwide.
“I have tried to show my students you can be persuasive, you can be effective, without being a jerk,” he said, adding, “Let your own personality shine!”
In his free time, he volunteers on community boards and coaches recreation programs for youths with special needs.
Huhn has a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and received his juris doctor cum laude at Cornell University, where he was a member of the Cornell Law Review.
Before coming to Akron Law in 1984, he worked as law clerk for the late 8th District Court of Appeals Judge Leo A. Jackson and was an associate at Squire, Sanders and Dempsey.
In 2011 and 2012, Huhn submitted appellate briefs to the 6th Circuit, the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of affirmative action and the Affordable Care Act.
“I was very privileged to teach constitutional law all these years,” he said. “It’s a great course to teach because it changes all the time. You never get bored. It’s the basic framework of our society. It’s the law that governs all the other laws, and it’s put me in contact with all sorts of empathetic people who want to stand up for people’s rights.”
Huhn grew up in Chautauqua, N.Y. Both his older brothers were lawyers, but he wanted to be a teacher instead.
Before becoming a trial lawyer, he taught high school social studies in El Paso, Texas. His wife, Nancy Wollam-Huhn, who is now an ob-gyn, taught math. The couple has four children.
“She has delivered about 3,000 babies, and I’ve had about 3,000 students,” said Huhn.
Huhn’s future goal is to move into online teaching.
“Full time for a few years, and then part-time, forever,” he said. “I just think there’s tremendous promise in online teaching. It’s going to make education less expensive. It’s a great way for people to learn.”
On an emotional level, it will be most difficult for Huhn to leave the students.
“I am still healthy. I still love what I do,” he said. “I have loved playing one small part of people’s lives. I love the intellectual give and take. I love the thrill of being on the spot. But 31 years is probably enough.”