In Memory of Jack Van Doren
By Sonia Crockett ('80), FSU Law alumna and Jack Van Doren's widow
Professor Jack Van Doren died on March 24, 2026, at his home in Tallahassee, a a little less than two weeks shy of his 92nd birthday. Professor Van Doren retired from FSU College of Law at the end of 2007, after 38 years of teaching. Not all of those 38 years were spent at FSU in Tallahassee, as Professor Van Doren very much enjoyed teaching abroad, employing a variety of means to make that possible: nine Fulbright Grants (Syria, Nigeria, Kenya, Romania (twice), Moldova, Cambodia (twice), and India (at the age of 84); American Bar Association Legal Education Specialist (Kosovo); Civic Education Project (Armenia and Czech Republic); Asia Foundation (Taiwan); FSU Summer Law Program (England, Barbados, and Viet Nam); and direct hire in Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia, France, China, The Gambia, The Philippines, and Colombia (at the age of 87).
Professor Van Doren arrived at FSU in 1969, not long after the founding of the law school. He had been practicing law in California for about eight years, first with a law firm in Pomona and then as a sole practitioner in Claremont. His interest in legal theory and a desire to try something different led him to seek a position in academia. The law faculty was small and socializing was common, which enriched his early life in Tallahassee. In 1972, Professor Van Doren and his wife at the time, Diana, purchased 30 acres of land in Wakulla County, south of Tallahassee, and became part of the back-to-the-land movement with the construction of a geodesic dome, built by Jack with the help of several of his law school colleagues. Pumping water by hand, lighting with kerosene lamps, cooking on a wood-burning stove, and bringing blocks of ice from town for the ice box were all part of the experience. The birth of their son, Jade, in 1976 was a high point in the life of Professor Van Doren. Jade, who now lives in San Francisco, is a successful entrepreneur and runs Referent Ventures, an angel fund and advising firm. Jack was extremely proud of Jade.
Professor Van Doren’s use of the Socratic method did not endear him to all of his students, but one class in the 1970s showed their appreciation by having t-shirts made that read, “I’m glad I had VD.” During the 45-minute drive from Wakulla County to the law school, Jack often went over his class materials with Jade in the truck, so Jade was ready at the age of about 12 to teach one of his Dad’s property law classes (just part of an hour, not the whole semester). Jack’s real-life experience as a lawyer provided “war stories” that students enjoyed, so much so that classes sometimes began with chants of “story, story, story!” In 1980-1981, Professor Van Doren returned to the practice of law, this time in Wakulla and Leon Counties, taking a variety of cases, including property disputes and criminal cases.
Legal scholarship remained a priority in Professor Van Doren’s life, from the publication of his first article in 1971 in the Ohio State Law Journal, Air Pollution – Expanding Citizens Remedies, to his last article, published in 2023 in FSU’s online law review, Colombian and United States Constitutionalism: “Originalism” v. “Living Constitution,” “Interpretive Methods”: Politics Elaborately Disguised?. Many of his writings came from his foreign teaching experiences, for example Critical Legal Studies and South Africa and Romania: Ripe for Privatization and Democracy? Legal Education as a Microcosm. His interest in jurisprudence was explored in several articles, including A Restatement of Jurisprudence: Why Not? and Is Jurisprudence Politics by Other Means? The Case of Judge Learned Hand.
Professor Van Doren met Sonia Crockett (class of 1980) in 1978 and they married in 1990. Sonia sometimes joined Jack on his foreign assignments, living in such far-flung places as Banjul, Gambia, Prishtina, Kosovo, and Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. They travelled extensively in whatever country they were living in when Jack was not teaching. Jack was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2024 but remained active for over a year after that. He unwaveringly followed the adage posted on the wall of the Akron, Ohio YMCA where he worked as a teenager: Wear out, don’t rust out.
Tribute written by Professor Jack Van Doren's widow Sonia Crockett ('80), FSU Law alumna.