William Rodolph Cornish (9 August 1937 – 8 January 2022) was an Australian legal scholar and academic who was based in the United Kingdom. He was Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

from 1995 to 2004.

Early life and education

Born in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

on 9 August 1937, Cornish graduated with a law degree at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

in 1960 and then came to England to carry out postgraduate study; he completed a

Bachelor of Civil Law Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cam ...

degree at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, graduating in 1962. David Vaver and Lionel Bently (eds.), ''Intellectual Property in the New Millennium: Essays in Honour of William R. Cornish'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. xii, 289.

Career

In 1962, Cornish was appointed Lecturer in Law at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

(LSE) and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn the following year. He moved from the LSE to Queen Mary College, London, in 1969 to be

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

of Law, but returned to the LSE in 1970 when he was appointed Professor of English Law. In 1990, he became Professor of Law at the

and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1995 was appointed Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law and served in that chair until retiring in 2004. He was also President of Magdalene College from 1998 to 2001 and Director of the Centre for European Legal Studies in the University's Faculty of Law from 1991 to 1994."Cornish, Prof. William Rodolph"
''Who's Who'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 9 September 2019.

Honours and awards

Cornish is the subject of a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, ''Intellectual Property in the New Millennium: Essays in Honour of William R. Cornish'', edited by David Vaver and Lionel Bently and published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

in 2004. The

conferred on Cornish a

higher doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...

(the LLD) in 1997, and he received an honorary LLD from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 2005. He was appointed an honorary

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1997 and a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

the following year. In 1984, Cornish was elected a Fellow of the British Academy and appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

Personal life and death

Cornish died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, England on 8 January 2022, at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish, William 1937 births 2022 deaths People from South Australia Australian legal scholars University of Adelaide alumni Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Academics of the London School of Economics Academics of Queen Mary University of London Professors of Law (Cambridge, 1973) Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Australian emigrants to England Honorary King's Counsel