Alford Tribute

David Back
J.D. ’16, Harvard Law School

They say that a good lawyer knows the law, and that a great lawyer knows the judge.  I excelled at HLS primarily because I put great effort into getting to know almost every one of my professors inside and outside the classroom.  These relationships have changed my life and they mean a lot to me.  Part of why I continue to excel is because I put great effort into maintaining contact with my teachers and mentors from each stage of life.  This is my greatest single piece of advice to any current student at HLS (or indeed any student anywhere from Hebrew school to high school to Harvard Law School): get to know your teachers and then stay in touch with them.  The decade-long relationship that I have enjoyed with my mentor and good friend, Professor Bill Alford, is one of the most important examples for me, because it is one of the most rewarding relationships in my life.  I am tremendously honored to write about how Professor Alford helped change my life at HLS and beyond.

I took Professor Alford’s course the spring of my 1L year: Comparative Law: Why Law? Lessons from China.  He made an enormous effort to meet every student; taking a small group of us out to lunch each week.  When my turn came for lunch, I confronted the professor with a practical issue on my mind.  “Listen, Professor Alford, it is too late for me; but I want to give you some advice to help your future students.  I am applying for summer jobs right now; and this course title on my transcript is not helping at all.  You could just call it something serious-sounding, like Comparative Law: Chinese Law“.  Instead of addressing my actual concern, Professor Alford displayed a frustrated yet contemplative look on his face and explained that the original title of his course had been Comparative Law: Why Law? Lessons from China? But when the course catalog came out, the final question mark was missing.  As he explained, the course title without the final question mark improperly implied that there were in fact lessons from China; but that he wanted that to be a topic of conversation throughout the course – not a foregone conclusion.  Apparently, there had been such a plague of riddler-professors that either the law school or the university felt compelled to crack down on the wanton use of question marks in course titles.  I am ashamed to admit that at that moment I started considering Cambridge, MA home; and no place I have lived in the decade since then has matched that feeling of belonging somewhere.

Toward the end of the semester, I met with Professor Alford to get his feedback on my nascent idea to start the first car rental company in India.  At the time, cars could only be rented in India with a chauffeur included; and what Indians called “self-drive” car rental (meaning you drive yourself) was only available in the gray market with cash only and no insurance.  My business model combined elements from Hertz, Zipcar, and many others.  One potential objection that Professor Alford raised was that car ownership is a huge status symbol in India, same as in China; and that people would much rather own a car than rent or share.  I replied “Oh come on Professor!  Zipcar and Hertz are American companies.  And there is no country in the World with more of a car culture than the USA!  Have you ever tried to take a date on the bus?  Because let me tell you, Professor, it does not work!”  Professor Alford, the consummate scholar, considered this for a moment and responded “Well David, you realize you need to isolate your variables, don’t you?  Because it may not have been the bus.”  I was rendered speechless.  This quip has a place at the center of the Venn diagram of wittiest, most cerebral, and most devastating insults I have ever heard.  I feel that it is on par with the best from Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, my older brother, and all of the all-time greats!

The most important preparation I did for each final exam at HLS was to figure out which professors appreciated being challenged and disagreed with and which did not, as well as to figure out which professors appreciated humor and which did not.  Writing an exam for an open-minded and funny professor like Alford was a pleasure!  Early in the summer following my 1L year, I got a very nice email from Professor Alford congratulating me for earning a Dean’s Scholar Prize in his course.  I replied that I was deeply honored with the prize; and I reminded him that I had written in my exam “There are more people who actually believe in Communism on the faculty of Harvard Law School than there are in the Chinese Politburo.”  Professor Alford responded that comment was hardly the most controversial opinion I had expressed; and that I was right anyway.

Writing my sincere, honest opinion of Profess Alford will make me sound like a brainwashed soldier from The Manchurian Candidate: “Prof Alford is one the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I have ever met in my life.”  But this is how I feel; and how everyone who really knows Prof Alford feels as well.

I was an RA in the dorms my 2L and 3L years, and one of the first things I learned from one of my residents the week before my 2L year began warmed my heart.  I was in the dorms for new student move-in; and I spoke with one of my hall residents, an LLM from Pakistan.  I commented that I hadn’t seen her at a lot of orientation events; and I wanted to check-in to make sure everything was ok.  She told me that everything was just fine – but far more complicated than I perceived on the surface.  It was Ramadan; and many of the Muslim students didn’t feel entirely comfortable at the many orientation events that centered on food while they were fasting.  But, she assured me, it was OK.  Professor Alford was leading an after-sundown dinner for new Muslim HLS students every single night during orientation that year, so that nobody felt excluded.  Year after year, I try to keep that example in my mind as a simple yet magnificent gesture of empathy.  And year after year, I try to keep in mind the many other examples of deep connection on a personal level that transcended all possible cultural boundaries that I saw Professor Alford perform.  When I brought this story up to him recently, Professor Alford said how proud he was of those dinners – and how much fun they were!  He said that at one of the dinners one year, students from 15 different countries attend, showing the diversity not only of HLS but of Islam as well.

All 3 years I spent at HLS, I saw Professor Alford make special outreach to dozens of individual students who felt marginalized at one time or another, and to hundreds of students who may have felt marginalized as a group.  During my 2L and 3L years, I attended many orientation events for LLMs and international students.  I don’t believe that I ever failed to spot Prof Alford there as well.  Here I want to give my second, more HLS-specific piece of advice to current students: All 3 years at Harvard Law, I made a huge effort to be friends with each LLM class.  All of that time was well spent!  I now have an amazing network of interesting lawyer friends from Panama to Singapore (and far beyond – East, West, North, and South).  I find lack of mingling between the JD and LLM classes to be one of the greatest wasted opportunities at HLS.

I could write forever about how many times over the past 10 years Professor Alford has given me advice about deeply difficult questions of how to cope with serious career setbacks and how to deal with serious family loss.  I could write forever with examples of HLS students whose lives he changed.  I could write forever about his charitable work with the Special Olympics and the Harvard Disability Project.  I literally have tears in my eyes while I write this, remember all of the ways he improved my life and the lives of many students around me, and think about his retirement as Vice-Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School.

I am just happy that Prof Alford is continuing to teach at HLS.  And I am thrilled that Vice-Dean Alford is being replaced by Vice-Dean Mark Wu.  Professor Wu joined the faculty of HLS my 3L year.  Professor Alford arranged a meeting between us and explained to me that he expected Professor Wu to take his place at HLS eventually, and that he expected Prof Wu to much sooner surpass him in wisdom.  I cannot imagine a better successor to Vice-Dean Alford; and I do not think Vice-Dean Alford can imagine a better successor either.

When the news came that Dean Martha Minnow was retiring, several of my classmates emailed me urging me to lead a campaign to make Professor Alford the next Dean of HLS.  I emailed him with their encouragement and mine.  But Professor Alford demurred, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.  I tried to threaten him, saying that if he didn’t accept the endorsement of my ‘Draft Bill Alford” campaign, I was going to throw the entire weight of my HLS alumni political machine behind “Draft Charlie Nesson.” Professor Alford called my bluff, sending an official letter to the search committee stating explicitly that no matter how many alumni petitioned them, he was not at all interested in the job – something along the lines of “If nominated I will not run.  If elected I will not serve.”  Unfortunately, while I do think my political machine could have pushed Bill Alford over the edge; we fell just short on Charlie Nesson.  I want everybody reading this to understand that I think John F Manning is doing a PHENOMENAL job as Dean; and I also want them to know that he was my 3rd choice.

I will close with 5 more pieces of advice for HLS students that I know will make Professor Alford proud. Firstly, try to be Harvard University students and not just HLS students: take classes at other Harvard schools, make friends at other Harvard schools, study in the libraries of different Harvard schools, be a teaching fellow for a undergrad class, or find the thousands of other ways to get involved in the broader university.  Get to know the multi-disciplinary hubs around Harvard’s campus (the absolute best deal on coffee & tea in all of Cambridge is the Gato Rojo in the basement of GSAS hub Dudley House and the best deal on beer & wine in all of Cambridge is the Queenshead Pub in the basement of Memorial Hall).  Secondly, when you are feeling really down during final exams, take a walk into Harvard Yard to see tourists from around the World braving the New England weather to look at the most famous center of learning in the World in the last 100+ years.   Just remember that you actually get to learn there!  Thirdly, when you graduate, get involved with your local alumni communities.  Fourthly, come back for your 5 and 10 year reunions (and beyond).  Finally, don’t let either Harvard or yourselves ever rest on your laurels!  It actually isn’t ok (and it never was) that there are more people who actually believe in Communism on the faculty of Harvard Law School than there are in the Chinese Politburo.  I am sure that each of you has opinions about other things that are not ok that you should speak up about too!

Zhang Yiran 
LL.M.’16 and S.J.D. candidate, Harvard Law School

Professor Alford has always been an inspiring mentor, a devoted teacher, and a spectacular vice dean. His various contributions to the HLS community sometimes overshadow another major one – humor. My intense LL.M. year started with a good laugh of Professor Alford’s personal story of class note sharing in law school with an unexpected twist at the end. His encountering with Ming Yao at the Special Olympics International closing ceremony has been an all-time classic. The fake Mickey Mouse neckties he circulated in Why Law? Lessons from China course brought distant legal issues into the classroom in a funny, touchable form. Beyond spreading laughs, his anecdotes have been adding diverse human faces to cold, abstract, and sometimes highly contested fields like international relations and international law. They constantly remind me of the individual human beings that abstract legal concepts tend to hide.

Ikechukwu Bernard Okafor
LL.M ’17 and S.J.D. Candidate, Harvard Law School

 The Welcome Speech: Why It Was Easy to Approach Professor Alford 

In 2016, I listened attentively to Professor Alford’s welcome speech to the LL.M Class. I could not have been more proud of my fortune as a member of the incoming class and the rare privilege of being admitted to the Harvard Law School. It was a welcome speech properly so called – clear, coherent, warm, and robust in its introduction to the ongoing project to build a global force for good. With a carefully articulated delivery, Professor Alford highlighted the expansive coverage of the Graduate and International Legal Studies Program across the world, the continuing links between the Law School community and global alumni,  and the encouraging testimonies of their positive impact on  their communities. It was a clear call to rise to the honor of utilizing the enormous resources provided by the Law School to improve global society. It was clear that Professor Alford was not merely leading the program as the Vice Dean from his office, but was active in the field for these global advancements. It was also a message packaged in humor and a realistic approach to what is required to make an impactful contribution to society. It was delivered in a relaxed and enthusiastic atmosphere that left us reassured that we would have all the support we needed to harness our potentials. Above all, it was clearly communicated that Professor Alford was a very approachable, friendly, committed, and supportive leader who would do what was necessary to support his students. He encouraged us to visit him, interact with him, and seek his support where necessary, as we navigated through the LL.M program. 

My Close Encounters with Professor Alford: When Leaders Understand Cultural Dynamics 

A jurist, grappling with the requirements for skillful mastery of the art and science of adversarial advocacy once asked; if an attorney whose native language is not English, though fluent in English language, conducts a trial in an English court, in what language does the person think? This is not a question about proper expression of ideas, but of an internal battle between the nuances of meanings, perceptions, and ramifications of native ideas and their translations in English as the language of the court. An important piece of the idea may be lost in transmission between initial thoughts and their expression, as different languages do not have exact meanings for the same ideas. A similar, and perhaps, more complex terrain exists for international students from diverse cultures studying in the United States. Not only could their language of thought be different, but the cultural contexts in which they process meanings may be radically different. This gap between outward expression and internal dialogue is embedded in the initial culture shock and possible impostor syndrome many foreign students  experience. These are usually expressed as a range of emotions from extreme excitement to finally set foot at Harvard Law School and doubt and confusion for what could possibly go wrong. As one of the international students to have navigated through these cultural and emotional pathways, including personal crossroads at the point of admission, it was extremely refreshing and reassuring to have found an enormous wealth of experience, effective feedbacks, and strong support from Professor Alford’s leadership and the Graduate Program team. Professor Alford helped me set my foot on the right path when I was in the trenches of these uncertainties. 

Quality leadership may be distilled down to a checklist of skillsets, reproduceable patterns of behavior, or whatever else the “leadership guru” thinks mere mortals interested in this subject must know. But is there not something about individual personalities that make all the difference, that cannot be reproduceable?  I have found peace and gratitude in ruminating over my life at Harvard Law School, the journey that brought me here, and the people that made it happen. Professor Alford and his unique leadership stands prominently as the critical support I needed to make informed decisions when they mattered most. He served as the voice of providence that nudged me through the trenches of my internal dialogues to the path of clarity. Having thought through these experiences, I have concluded that what makes Professor Alford’s leadership unique and impactful is the “Alford Factor” in him. While this is an unhelpful explanation of its own meaning, it emphasizes the difficulty in characterizing the sterling qualities of professor Alford that seamlessly combine to create his outstanding level of friendliness, approachability, and his unassuming nature, with his towering accomplishments, wealth of knowledge, and professorial pedigree in the top echelon of international scholars. 

As an international student from a country with a radically different cultural legacy from the United States, my initial encounters with Professor Alford were confusing to me. My experience was from the perspective of the “high-power distance” index that defers to authorities with a frequent deification of persons with towering accomplishments. So, how could Professor Alford be so accomplished, yet so approachable, almost to a fault, at least from the perspective of my own world view? Skills for transitioning from high-power distance index culture to low-power distance index culture are not automatic, but it is even more difficult when interacting with a person like Professor Alford who has indeed earned the praise he deserves through his impressive achievements. Other students from different countries I have interacted with over these years have also alluded to these qualities of Professor Alford in drawing distinctions and admirations for his personality and leadership style. But the real awakening moment for me was during an address delivered by Professor Ruth Okediji. While acknowledging Professor Alford, she noted that he is a mentor with a track record of effortlessly making enduring impacts in his mentees’ lives while maintaining his authenticity in a manner that never ceases to amaze. She noted that while Professor Alford had always insisted she address him by his first name, her continuing awe has insisted on addressing him with much deference, and noted that her mother would be proud of her for always doing so. 

Perhaps, the most outstanding quality of Professor Alford in his successful leadership as the Vice Dean of the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies Program is his extraordinary ability to listen and actively show understanding of the spectrum of challenges facing international students. It appears to me that Professor Alford understands these cultural diversities in the backgrounds of students and goes the extra mile in making his students comfortable during interactions with him. For example, a quick sidewalk chat with him, if you to catch him coming from class or elsewhere, was almost always as fruitful as discussions during an office hour appointment. He was always quick to show empathy, listen attentively, and advise on directions that would most likely yield the best results. Needless to note here that he would remember much of your last discussion and ask for updates on the issues discussed at any other time you met with him. He also makes interactions with him easier by making references to past students, usually from the student’s country or background who may have had similar challenges and how they successfully dealt with it. He was always ready to put in words or enlist help from his networks where appropriate to help a student in need. 

The International and Comparative Law Workshop 

I had the privilege of being a student of the International and Comparative Law Workshop led by Professor Alford during my LL.M year. My participation in class and the guidance provided by Professor Alford provided me the impetus to clear my initial doubts and proceed to the S.J.D. program. I believe it also had the same impact for other classmates who got into the S.J.D. program. Professor Alford used the class to somewhat demystify the art and science of academic writing for the students. He particularly encouraged us to provide bold and articulate responses, pushbacks, and advancement of alternative ideas to papers presented at the workshop. The presenters also acknowledged the benefits of the response papers in sharpening their ideas and critiquing their thoughts. On the final day of class most students said they were more confident and better prepared to engage in comparative studies and other academic writing than they would have been at the end of the academic year without the workshop. Personally, I found three things to be my most rewarding takeaways from the class. First, the clear and pragmatic feedback I received in my first submitted response paper set me up for better style and structure in my writing. Second, the carefully selected presenters provided me with the opportunity to easily identify with the journey of academic writing. Finally, the papers presented covered most of the archetypes of legal research and writing, thereby making it easier for me to understand the scope, diversity, and methodologies in current legal academic scholarship. 

My Good Wishes to Professor Alford 

I count it a great privilege to have been admitted into the LL.M and S.J.D. programs of the Law School during the 18 years Professor Alford has lead the Graduate and International Legal Studies Program as the Vice Dean. I also count it a privilege to have had the opportunities to interact with him and receive the guidance he provided. I always looked forward to his attendance at the S.J.D. colloquium and have benefited immensely from his contributions to the colloquium presentations. His ideas have contributed in shaping the ways I think about academic scholarship. I hope he will continue with consistent attendance of the colloquium and continue to make his perspectives available to the S.J.D. presentations. I wish him the best life ahead, in sound health, and more fulfilment in all his ongoing endeavors. 

 

Sara Zucker
Director, International Legal Studies, Harvard Law School

Bill, you are awesome! You have an impressive intellect yet never flaunt it. You are always ready not just to teach but to learn from all sorts of people. Not only do you engage respectfully with everyone, but you listen carefully and consider others’ views and perspectives with an open mind. And you consider not only ideas but systems and practical matters. I have learned so much from you but, more than that, I have valued the collaborative approach, respect, empathy, and humor that you brought to our working relationship. It has been a joy to solve problems with you – thank you for making it so fun!

Zhang Jinfei 
J.D. ’05, Harvard Law School

At a time when nations and individuals are divided by race, geopolitics, self-righteousness and inflated egos, it becomes more challenging, but the same time even more vital, to stay sober about the meaning of a person’s life. The highest of all glories of a person’s life, as nicely stated by an old Chinese teaching, is to establish virtue; then to establish achievements; and then to establish words. Professor William Alford is such a person—one with words, achievements and virtue.

Professor Alford is known for his scholarship on Chinese law and legal history. About twenty years ago, when I met Prof. Alford the first time in his office in Pound Hall, I was looking for guidance on my dissertation on Chinese legal history and comparative law. To steal a book is an elegant offense; to be inspired by another’s words is the beginning of learning. Prof. Alford’s scholarship has inspired many law students and ignited their interest in international law and affairs.

The true meaning of international law is to understand different legal systems and the culture and philosophy underneath those systems, to find practical solutions for economic and trade disputes across different jurisdictions, and to form common ground and provide normative guidelines as well as methods and mechanisms to address core questions that we all face, such as war, peace and human rights. Prof. Alford has been working tirelessly toward such goals over the past 50 years. He founded the first academic program in American law in China and the first national exchange program to bring Chinese students to the U.S. for legal education. Throughout his tenure at Harvard Law School, he has created an effective channel through which governments, multilateral organizations, foundations, civic groups, law firms and businesses from the U.S., China and many other countries can effectively communicate, and his work embodies an awareness of and engagement with the world.

More importantly, Professor Alford does not just care about the world, he cares about the “least” among us. This compassion and empathy are the central theme of his teaching on human rights and disability law. According to the World Health Organization, about ten to eleven percent of the world’s population has a disability. Disabled people in most parts of the world live in crushing poverty and isolation. They are often the victims of crime and abuse, but their rights and needs are frequently overlooked or even ignored by local laws. To help bring them out of the shadows, Prof. Alford founded the Harvard Law School Project on Disability. The Project provides pro bono services on issues of disability in China, Bangladesh and many other countries. The meaning of the Project goes beyond research or teaching; it is a message to the disabled people around the world: we care.

The law can be used to oppress as well as to advance justice. With countless others, I am honored to have learned that fundamental lesson from a mentor who embodies that dictum. 

Natalie Lichtenstein
Law school classmate; Former founding General Counsel, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Professor William Alford (my friend Bill) has been an inspiration to me since we met as participants in a Columbia Law program in Taiwan in the summer of 1975, led by another inspiration, Professor Randle Edwards. We entered Harvard Law School together that fall, Bill as a student with second year standing who studied with me in some of my 1L classes. I’ve had every reason to look up to him since.

Bill’s thoughtful dedication to the law—be it Chinese legal history, international norms, or disability rights—has been evident from the beginning, and is well-documented on my bookshelves. Whatever the topic, he offers a multidimensional perspective, usually with a slight contrarian twist that engages the reader and broadens one’s understanding.

Yet Bill’s greatest and probably most valued contributions have come, I believe, in his syllabi, classrooms (real and virtual), office hours, after-office hours, mentoring and anything else that helps students learn and blossom. No matter the issue, I have usually found the impact on students and learning to be front and center in his discourse, decisions and time allocation. His dedication to students—perhaps in lieu of even greater academic glory—has shone like a beacon for others like me.

I see in Bill’s leadership of Harvard’s East Asian Legal Studies program the influence of his openness to the wide world of ideas and the wide range of people who hold them. My own participation in classes, seminars and conferences and perusal of EALS offerings over the decades has demonstrated to me the benefits of Bill’s practice of keeping an open mind and an open door, the better to bring in different viewpoints, personalities, legal cultures, etc.

Luckily for all of us, this set of tributes simply marks Bill’s passage to a new stage of his career. We can all benefit from his intellectual inspiration, advocacy for students and openness in years to come.