MU Law School professor Greg Scott dies

The MU School of Law lost a “force of nature” Monday, according to the dean of the law school, R. Lawrence Dessem.

Greg Scott, 54, professor of legal research and writing, collapsed as he walked into Cornell Hall Monday afternoon to teach a class, Dessem said. Despite efforts to resuscitate him before the ambulance arrived, he died. 

Scott graduated summa cum laude in 1985 with a bachelor's degree from Columbia College and a law degree from MU in 1988. 

He was an adjunct law professor at MU in 1996 until he joined the full-time faculty in 1999. Before he began his teaching career, he was a litigator with both the state attorney general's office and a Kansas City law firm.

He also was a recipient of the Graduate Professional Council’s Gold Chalk Award for Excellence in Teaching at MU.

Dessem beamed Tuesday as he described him as a “beloved and extremely accessible man who always had a smile on his face.”

“Most important, he made law school humane for students. Many of the students he taught are practicing law now because of him."

Scott was also involved as a scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop 707 in Columbia.

Laura Sandstedt, troop committee chair, said he was an "extremely charismatic man" who, despite not being a father, was able to treat the kids as if they were his own.

After knowing him for two years, Sandstedt said he “had a way about him which encouraged the boys to go above and beyond, even if they didn’t believe they could.”

The School of Law will hold a remembrance service at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Room 7 of Hulston Hall.