Many of his colleagues remember Jeremy Blumenthal as an extraordinary scholar with a tremendously warm personality.

Blumenthal was also remembered for accidentally setting off the fire alarm at the Syracuse University College of Law.

“Jeremy made popcorn every day at 3 o’clock and I remember one day he burned it and caused the fire alarm to go off,” said Christian Day, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of law. “About once a semester the fire alarm would go off because someone burned something in the microwave, but poor Jeremy would get blamed every time even when it wasn’t his fault,” Day said with a laugh.

Blumenthal died Thursday after a long battle with cancer. Blumenthal began teaching as an assistant professor for the College of Law in August 2005. In March 2011, Blumenthal was recognized by “The National Jurist” as one of the 23 most entertaining, influential and riveting professors in legal academia, according to a Syracuse University News release.

Nina Kohn, a David M. Levy professor of law and associate dean for research of the SU College of Law, said she would describe Blumenthal as a “first rate professor who was kind, gentle and very funny.”

Kohn and Blumenthal co-authored academic work together. In addition, Blumenthal published 30 other articles, reviews and chapters throughout his career.

“He wasn’t someone who focused on taking credit for something,” Kohn said. “He focused more on doing good work.”

Peter Bell, SU College of Law professor, said he remembers Blumenthal always having his door open for students.

“He was very accessible, more than any other professor I knew,” Bell said. “Somehow he was accessible and also extremely efficient, which was impressive to say the least.”

Day said he remembers Blumenthal as a dedicated New England Patriots fan with a warm smile, and added that Blumenthal was “smart, but not in an intimidating way.”

“Jeremy was always bringing interesting aspects of social psychology into his expertise of law,” Day said. “He was very scholarly, but approachable, caring and inviting as well.”

“He was a fixture at the College of Law and it’s going to be very hard to replace him,” Day said.

Clarification: In the Dec. 23 article, “Faculty remember law professor for work, kind personality,” the pieces Nina Kohn and Jeremy Blumenthal co-authored the were misstated. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on December 23, 2014 at 2:58 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann