Hon. Thorwald H. Anderson, Jr. ’64 

The Honorable Thorwald H. Anderson, Jr. ’64 passed away this past April at age 86. According to his obituary, “Upon graduating from Lubbock High School in 1954, Anderson attended the University of Mississippi where he received a BA in political science in 1958. He then served over three years of active duty as a junior officer in the Navy. Following his discharge in 1961, he moved to Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota and received his juris doctor degree, with honors, in 1964. After law school he was a Trust Officer for Marquette National Bank before joining Everett, Thiel, and Root as an associate attorney. He was a member of the Minnesota House from 1963 through 1969 and served on the Judiciary Committee during his tenure in the House. In 1969, he left private practice and politics to become an Assistant United States Attorney. During his 26-year career with the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Minnesota, he was the chief attorney in the criminal division and twice served as both U.S. Attorney and First Assistant U.S. Attorney. In 1996, he was appointed as a judge in the Fourth Judicial District where he served on the bench until retiring in 2007.” 

Professor Emeritus Daniel J. Gifford

Professor EmeritusDaniel J. Gifford died on April 8 at his home in Wimauma, Florida. Professor Gifford joined the University of Minnesota Law School faculty in 1978. He was the 1982-83 Julius E. Davis Professor of Law and served as the Robins Kaplan Professor of Law until his retirement in 2016. He was recognized as an expert on antitrust law and administrative law. He published extensively in these areas, authoring more than 60 scholarly articles, a number of legal case books, and contributing sections to edited books. He published his last book in 2014:The Atlantic Divide in Antitrust: An Examination of US and EU Competition Policy, was praised as “an intellectual tour de force” that “should be on the reading list of all antitrust lawyers.” 

Ronald M. Mankoff ’54 

Ronald M. Mankoff ’54, who was a donor and namesake of the Ronald M. Mankoff Tax Clinic, passed away on June 27. Born on the Cheyenne River Reservation near Gettysburg, South Dakota, on October 13, 1931, Ron and his family resettled in Minneapolis during the Great Depression. Mankoff enrolled in the University of Minnesota where he joined the ROTC and was president of his Zeta Beta Tau fraternity chapter. In 1954, he graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School, after serving on the Minnesota Law Review. 

Mankoff practiced tax law for 20 years with Wentworth T. Durant and then with successor firms that carried the Mankoff name. He tried and argued more than 50 tax cases and appeals, among them the often-cited Commissioner vs. Tufts decision in the U.S. Supreme Court. 

William R. Pearce ’52 

William Rinehart Pearce ’52 passed away on July 19, at the age of 95. Bill and his wife Barbara Pearce supported the Mondale Hall building campaign and also have a named scholarship at the Law School, the William R. & Barbara A. Pearce Family Scholarship. Pearce worked for the Cargill’s legal department until he left to become deputy special trade representative for trade negotiations for the Nixon administration in 1971. He was instrumental in shaping the Trade Reform Act of 1974. He then returned to Cargill, and served on the board, becoming vice chair in 1991, and president of the Cargill Foundation in 1993.