Remembering UC Law SF Professor Roger Park

Roger Park taught at UC Law SF from 1994 to 2025.

UC Law SF Chancellor & Dean David Faigman issued the following statement on the recent passing of Professor Roger Park, who taught at UC Law SF from 1994 to 2025.

Dear Colleagues,

I write with the very sad news of the passing of our esteemed and longtime colleague Roger Park.

Roger was a beloved teacher and deeply respected scholar. I had the honor of co-teaching with Roger—Scientific Methods for Lawyers—over many years. I can say that I learned as much from him as the students—and they learned a lot! He had a gift of being able to break down complex information into its component parts so that the students could digest it piecemeal, but come to understand it in its entirety.

Roger was a leading expert and author in evidence law and longtime faculty member at UC Law SF. Roger joined our community as a visiting professor in 1994, and as a faculty member in 1995, after 20 years at the University of Minnesota Law School. Roger was a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law.

Roger was named the school’s James Edgar Hervey Distinguished Professor of Law in 1998. He authored or coauthored several books on evidence and trial work, including the textbook Evidence: Cases and Materials, as well as dozens of journal articles and book chapters. An expert on trial and procedural matters, his writing covered topics ranging from computer-aided research to hearsay evidence, objections, jury instructions, jurisdiction, and professional conduct.

In 2013, UC Law SF honored Roger with the Rutter Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2018, Roger won the John Henry Wigmore Award for Lifetime Achievement, awarded by the AALS Section on Evidence Law. He taught Evidence at UC Law SF as recently as Fall 2025.

Professor Richard Marcus wrote the following remembrance:

Roger Park was a gentle giant of Evidence law. He was also beloved by his students, who probably would have been surprised to learn that he started out his lawyering career as a civil rights lawyer in Boston. And his soft-spoken manner concealed the fact that he was the smartest person in every room, though many of his colleagues eventually figured that out. As the Chair of the Faculty Appointments Committee who helped lure Roger to join our faculty from the University of Minnesota, I am acutely aware of the loss caused by his passing.

Professor Mai Linh Spencer wrote, as well:

Roger Park was a wonderfully generous colleague and mentor. One summer he went through all my Evidence slides (hundreds of them!) and made notes where he thought I could add or improve on a concept or exercise. He was thorough, supportive, and kind. And he cared deeply for his students. Getting to know and work with Roger was a true gift.