Faculty, students, colleagues, and fellow alumni continue to pay tribute to the late Professor Art Cockfield, Law’93, who passed away on January 9. They have honoured the renowned tax law scholar and cherished teacher through a celebration of life service and two prestigious awards: the top award available for a Queen’s Law graduate and the Law Students’ Society (LSS) teaching award. 

Welcoming family and friends to the service held on April 2 in Grant Hall, Dean Mark Walters, Law’89, said, “When Art returned to Queen’s in 2001, he was immediately recognized as an international star on the international stage. He could have gone to teach law in any school in Canada and I think in the U.S. and beyond. He was in great demand, but he decided to make Queen’s and Kingston his home.” 

Professor Gail Henderson, who served as an Associate Dean alongside Cockfield, spoke of her former senior leadership teammate as a faculty leader and colleague. “Art was generous with his time, he listened, he was empathetic, he was inclusive,” she said. “He seemed to know what everyone else was working on, and he was constantly talking about how great and exciting it was. And you believed him because he meant it.”

Professor Kim Brooks, now of Dalhousie, a tax law scholar and a former colleague who arrived at Queen’s at the same time as Cockfield, said, “Art was a distinguished scholar.” She spoke of his foresight (“he was curious about technology and taxation well before anyone else cared about that topic”), his international recognition (citing his positions as Senior Research Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and as Fulbright Visiting Chair in Policy Studies at the University of Texas at Austin); his reach (“every major tax organization wanted his advice”); and his wide range of expertise (“few of us are celebrated not only in our own fields, but also in other disciplinary fields,” which included being short-listed for Canada’s top economics prize). 

Federal Court of Appeal Justice David Stratas, Law’84, LLD’12, spoke of Cockfield’s influence on the government and the judiciary. To the students, he said, “If, like Art, you want to make a difference, be a big player in intergenerational transfer, want a life of deep consequence, then don’t wait for others to tap you on the shoulder. Rather, be just like Art: be proactive, fearless, and endlessly giving; in every institution you enter, listen and learn, criticize and improve, and teach and inspire.”

One of those students was Chloe Stone, Law’23, who said, “Professor Cockfield’s profound impact on students was no doubt rooted in his deep care for humanity. His sharp intellect married with his warm and welcoming demeanour, communicated to students that success in tax law entails more than a rote understanding of the law. It requires working together with colleagues to develop creative ideas to answer a fundamental question: how we can develop a tax system that facilitates the flourishing of all Canadians?”

Also speaking at the Celebration of Life were Cockfield’s Law’93 classmates Brahm Siegel and Frank Walwyn and long-time friend Darin Brown, along with lawyer Joe Groia and Queen’s Professors David Lyon (Sociology and Law), Bruce Pardy (Law), and Christine Sypnowich (Philosophy). Professor Nick Bala was the Master of Ceremonies. 

Later this spring, Cockfield was named the recipient of the 2022 H.R.S. Ryan Law Alumni Award of Distinction as selected by the Dean’s Council awards committee from a strong list of nominees put forward by fellow grads. The committee recognizes his significant contributions to the Faculty, university, and legal profession. A video tribute was presented at the virtual Celebrate Queen’s Law reception on June 12.

Next, Cockfield was chosen as this year’s winner of the Stanley M. Corbett Award for Teaching Excellence. “Tax Law is seen by both lawyers and law students as a dense and difficult subject, but Professor Cockfield did a wonderful job making the content accessible,” wrote a student nominator. “He went even further with a truly innovative teaching method: his tax novella. In between humorous chapters about a tax associate and their terrifying principal, Professor Cockfield placed some cleverly designed questions, accompanied by thorough and cohesive answers. The tax novella was great fun in class, and it proved to be one of our best study aids.

“A Faculty award in his name would be highly appropriate – to honour him, to do his family proud, and to remind everyone at Queen’s Law that Art Cockfield was the kind of teacher that everyone should aspire to be.”

Cockfield’s family and friends have established an award, the Professor Arthur Cockfield Memorial Award in Law, to provide support for law students with demonstrated financial need and academic achievement. Contributions can be made online.  

Read more about Art Cockfield’s life and work. 

By Lisa Graham