Professor Ramzi Nasser, a University of Dayton law professor since 2004, died September 10, 2006 at the age of 31 after a brave struggle with cancer. Nasser was passionate about teaching and the welfare of his students.  A scholar of criminal law and the philosophy of law, he was devoted to justice and morality in our legal system and committed to the interests of the poor and disadvantaged.  He was an uncommonly gifted person.

“Professor Nasser loved being a law professor,” said Lisa Kloppenberg, University of Dayton School of Law dean. “He was extremely dedicated to the poor, particularly those needing representation in the criminal justice system.  He helped build a criminal law clinical course at the law school.”

Before coming to the University of Dayton School of Law, Nasser was a trial and appeals attorney for the Federal Defenders of San Diego, where he represented low-income people in federal court from arraignment to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Nasser was also a federal court law clerk for two years for Chief Judge James Giles of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Nasser is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego where he received his bachelor’s degree, with highest distinction, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he received his Juris Doctorate degree, cum laude.

The Professor Ramzi Nasser Scholarship Fund is established at the University of Dayton to assist deserving students who are enrolled in and pursuing courses on a full-time basis at the University of Dayton School of Law.

The scholarship, funded by colleagues, friends and family of Professor Nasser, is intended to perpetuate the memory and many life-affirming qualities of Ramzi Nasser, and to support students who share his commitment to justice and morality and serving the underrepresented and poor in the criminal justice system.