By Kitchen H.R. No. 1209
77R16801 MW-D
R E S O L U T I O N
1-1 WHEREAS, Distinguished scholar and lawyer, great benefactor
1-2 to the Austin community, and esteemed gentleman Charles Alan Wright
1-3 passed away on July 7, 2000, at the age of 72; and
1-4 WHEREAS, A precocious student, Mr. Wright received his
1-5 education from Haverford High School, Wesleyan University, and Yale
1-6 Law School before embarking on an exceptional career in law and
1-7 scholarship that began in 1949 with a year-long clerkship with
1-8 Judge Charles E. Clark of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
1-9 Circuit; and
1-10 WHEREAS, This internationally renowned expert on
1-11 constitutional law and the federal courts argued 13 cases before
1-12 the United States Supreme Court, winning 11 of them, as well as
1-13 numerous cases in courts of appeals and state supreme courts;
1-14 moreover, he was consultant to counsel in the Watergate Tapes case
1-15 involving President Richard M. Nixon; and
1-16 WHEREAS, Professor Wright's career in education was spent
1-17 primarily at The University of Texas School of Law, where he had
1-18 been a faculty member since 1955, holding the Charles T. McCormick
1-19 Professorship, the William B. Bates Chair for the Administration of
1-20 Justice, the Hayden W. Head Regents Chair in Excellence, the Vinson
1-21 & Elkins Law Chair, and the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal
1-22 Courts; and
1-23 WHEREAS, He actively participated in UT affairs, serving as
1-24 chairman of the Faculty Senate, on four university president search
2-1 committees and on three committees seeking a dean of the law
2-2 school; Mr. Wright also harbored a great interest in collegiate
2-3 athletics and was an active supporter of the UT Longhorns and
2-4 called the "winningest coach in Texas" with his intramural football
2-5 team, the Legal Eagles; and
2-6 WHEREAS, Mr. Wright was a visiting professor at the
2-7 University of Pennsylvania Law School, Harvard, Yale, and the
2-8 University of Cambridge, England; he worked as a visiting fellow at
2-9 Wolfson College, Cambridge, and as a visiting scholar at Victoria
2-10 University of Wellington, New Zealand; and
2-11 WHEREAS, A prolific writer, he was senior author of a
2-12 55-volume treatise on federal practice and procedure; in addition,
2-13 his Cases on Federal Courts and Wright on Federal Courts are
2-14 standard texts used by practitioners, judges, and academics; he
2-15 also reviewed legal crime novels for The Practical Lawyer; and
2-16 WHEREAS, Mr. Wright generously gave his time and expertise to
2-17 various professional organizations; he served as president of the
2-18 American Law Institute (ALI), strengthening its international
2-19 aspects during his term; he also worked tirelessly as a member of
2-20 the ALI Council and as its second and then first vice president and
2-21 in numerous other capacities; and
2-22 WHEREAS, Three chief justices of the United States Supreme
2-23 Court appointed Mr. Wright to the Standing Committee on Rules of
2-24 Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United
2-25 States; Chief Justice Warren Burger appointed him to the Permanent
2-26 Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise, and he served on
2-27 the Subcommittee on Federal Jurisdiction of the Judicial Conference
3-1 of the United States; also, President Ronald Reagan named him to
3-2 the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States
3-3 Constitution; and
3-4 WHEREAS, Mr. Wright was a great supporter of the arts in
3-5 Austin; he was a member of the board of trustees of the Austin
3-6 Symphony Orchestra, the Austin Lyric Opera, and the Austin Choral
3-7 Union; a founder of Austin classical radio station KMFA, Mr. Wright
3-8 belonged to the Philosophical Society of Texas and was a fellow of
3-9 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1999, he was
3-10 elected to be a corresponding fellow to the British Academy; and
3-11 WHEREAS, Throughout his outstanding career and life of
3-12 service, Mr. Wright garnered numerous awards, including the Student
3-13 Bar Association Teaching Excellence Award, The Fellows Research
3-14 Award from The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, the Doctor
3-15 of Humane Letters honoris causa from the Episcopal Theological
3-16 Seminary of the Southwest, the Leon Green Award from the Texas Law
3-17 Review, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Wesleyan University,
3-18 the Robert B. McKay Professor Award from the American Bar
3-19 Association, the Learned Hand Medal from the Federal Bar Council,
3-20 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from The University of Texas
3-21 School of Law; and
3-22 WHEREAS, In his private time, Mr. Wright enjoyed traveling,
3-23 especially by train or ship, and his hobbies included reading,
3-24 railroads, and fishing; a teacher who believed in old school
3-25 manners, he always came to class in a three-piece suit, relied on
3-26 his prodigious memory and lectured without notes, and was a
3-27 marvelous letter writer; and
4-1 WHEREAS, This great scholar and lawyer benefited a multitude
4-2 of people in myriad ways, and his academic excellence, integrity,
4-3 and overwhelming influence in the law profession will endure for
4-4 years to come; now, therefore, be it
4-5 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 77th Texas
4-6 Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Charles Alan Wright
4-7 and extend deepest sympathy to the members of his family: to his
4-8 wife of 45 years, Eleanor Custis Wright; to his son, Charles Edward
4-9 Wright, and his wife, Antonina H. McDonald; to his daughter, Norie
4-10 Clarke, and her husband, Alan K. Davis; to his daughter, Margot
4-11 Clarke; to his daughter, Henrietta Wright, and her husband, Edward
4-12 B. Stead; to his daughter, Cecily Fitzsimons; to his sister, Jean
4-13 Wright Morse, and her husband, Howard A. Morse; and to his
4-14 grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and other relatives and many
4-15 friends; and, be it further
4-16 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
4-17 prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
4-18 Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Charles
4-19 Alan Wright.