“LSU Law never had a better friend,” said Richard J. “Jerry” Dodson, about former LSU Professor A.N. Yiannopoulous. Dodson and his wife, Gloria, recently established the A.N. Yiannopoulous Endowed Professorship at the LSU Law Center in honor of the former Law Center faculty member. Chancellor Jack M. Weiss, Yiannopoulous, and his family, friends and colleagues, gathered at the Law Center on May 29, 2009 to commemorate the gift.

“We are grateful to Jerry and Gloria for honoring Professor Yiannopoulous with this gift,” said Weiss. “The professor is a part of the rich history of the Law Center, and his work on the Louisiana Civil Code has contributed to both legal education and practice. The Dodson’s gift will make a lasting impact on the lives of our faculty and students, while also recognizing the professor’s contributions to our program and the broader legal community.”

The Chancellor presented Jerry Dodson with a plaque commemorating the new professorship, and Professor Yiannopoulous received a small replica of the bronze plaque that is now in the permanent collection at LSU Law.  Dodson is a 1966 graduate of the LSU Law Center.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to be recognized and to have this occasion to be together,” said Yiannopoulous upon receiving the award from Dodson and the Chancellor.  “The civil law of Louisiana is a torch that we should keep alive. LSU Law was my first professorship, and in a very significant way, was important to my life.”

In 1958, Colonel John H. Tucker, the President of the Louisiana Law Institute, and LSU Law Dean Paul M. Hebert collaborated to bring Yiannopoulous from Greece to the LSU Law School. He joined LSU as a research assistant in civil law property, and was quickly brought in to the revision of the state’s civil code by the Louisiana Law Institute.  He was asked to join the Law Center on a permanent basis, eventually teaching courses in property and maritime law. His scholarship added to the growing national reputation of the LSU Law Center, according to his long time friend, Professor Bill Crawford, Director of the Louisiana Law Institute.

After leaving LSU, Yiannopoulous joined the faculty of Tulane Law School.  Though now semi-retired, he continues to teach and run a summer program on comparative law in Greece. He resides in Baton Rouge.

Dodson is in private law practice with Dodson Hooks & Fredericks, PLC in Baton Rouge. He teaches International Admiralty and Maritime Personal Injury law at the Southern University Law School and is part of the Tulane Summer School Program in Greece. He lectures frequently on topics of international shipping interests and foreign seaman claims and has published extensively in these areas.

He and his wife, Gloria Middleton Dodson, have a 20-year old son, Richard.  They reside in Baton Rouge.

This article was originally published on LSU Law in 2009