Victor J. Stone, 89, emeritus Professor of Law and defender of civil liberties and academic freedom, of Urbana, died on November 26, 2010, of natural causes. Victor Stone was born in Chicago in 1921, and grew up in Maywood, Illinois. He graduated from Oberlin College with a major in Economics. Victor deeply embraced Oberlin's values, and supported the college throughout his life. He served on its Board of Trustees from 1982 to 1997. In 1983, Oberlin awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Law degree to recognize his lifetime achievement. Following college, Victor enlisted in the US Navy in 1942 and served in the South Pacific during WWII. Victor graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1948. While studying at St. Andrews University in Scotland in 1948, Victor met his future wife, Susan Cane Stone. They married in 1951. Their first child, Mary, was born in 1954, followed by Jennifer in 1956 and Andrew in 1958. In 1949, Victor returned to Chicago, where he practiced civil litigation with the Sonnenschim law firm for four years. Victor joined the faculty of the University of Illinois' College of Law in 1955. During a long and distinguished career, he taught courses on Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Torts, Federal Courts, and seminars on the European Community and the U.S. Supreme Court Docket. In 1962, he received a Ford Foundation grant allowing him to spend a sabbatical year studying the European Community's Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Victor was well-respected as a teacher, receiving the 1980-81 Outstanding Instructor award from the College of Law. His teaching career was interrupted by a three-year term as U of I Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1975-78. Victor played a leading role in the governance of the U of I. He served on many U of I Committees, including as Chairman of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure; Vice-Chairman of the Senate Council; Chairman of the Consultative Committee to Assist in the Selection of a President; and Chair of the ad hoc Committee on Academic Integrity in Research and Publication. He also served as a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Jury Instructions Committee for 17 years and was co-editor of three editions of Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions. He was Vice-Chair of the State Appellate Defender Commission. He argued a civil rights case before the United States Supreme Court (Mark v. Chesny) in 1984. Victor became emeritus in 1991, but continued teaching his annual Supreme Court Docket seminar for another decade. Victor had a long involvement with the American Association of University Professors, culminating in his serving as its General Counsel (1978-1980), President (1982-1984), and serving on the AAUP Foundation's Board of Trustees from 1983 - 1990. A passionate advocate for civil liberties and civil rights, Victor was a lifelong champion of the First Amendment. He attributed this to a "passion for justice and for the underdog." A key expression of his commitment to civil liberties was his work with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Victor co-founded the Champaign County chapter of the ACLU and served on the Board of its Illinois Division (1987-96). Central to this cause was his defense of unpopular speech, epitomized by a 1977 controversy in which a neo-Nazi group wanted to march through Skokie, Illinois, and the ACLU defended their free speech rights to do so despite strong opposition. Some positions he took were heartily disliked... I know of no one who has been more consistent in his support of civil rights and civil liberties than Vic Stone. ... Most of us believe strongly in the vital importance of these basic constitutional rights, but Vic has always been in the forefront of putting muscle on the bones. (John Cribbet, former Dean of the Law School and U of I Chancellor, 2002, The News Gazette) In 2002, Victor was honored with the ACLU's highest honor, the Roger Baldwin Award to recognize "a lifetime commitment to civil liberties." The Champaign County chapter of ACLU has named its highest award the "Victor J. Stone Award for lifetime service in the cause of civil liberties." Victor was also a longtime member of the National, Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations. He chaired the Illinois State Bar Association's Human Rights Section Council (1971-72), and was a Charter Fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation. In 2003, his lifetime achievements were recognized with the Elmer Gertz Award from the Illinois State Bar Association. Victor co-founded both the Champaign County Urban League and the Champaign County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program. He was active in the Illinois State Appellate Defender Commission, the American Arbitration Association, the State University Annuitants Association and the East Central Illinois chapter of Planned Parenthood. All along, he's been involved in the life of the community in a way that few law professors, or any professors, are, really. When you know something intellectually and abstractly, but you take time out of your life to put into action what you believe - for Victor to do that makes him a rarity. (Shirley Stillinger, 2002, The News Gazette) For decades, Victor enjoyed discussing books and ideas with faculty colleagues in their Philosophy Club. Victor particularly enjoyed travel, visiting 6 continents during his life. He and his wife Susan maintained friendships with a broad circle in the U of I community and beyond. Above all, Victor loved the English language, which he treated with reverence and precision. Victor is on record as having coined the "generic e," a non-gendered pronoun, submitted to the Chicago Bar Association and reported in the New York Times. Victor is survived by his wife, Susan, of Urbana, IL; and by his children: Mary Stone, her husband Joel Hawkins and their daughter Abigail, of Old Lyme, Connecticut; Jennifer Stone, her husband Robert Waldinger and their sons Daniel and David, of Newton, Massachusetts; and Andrew Stone, his wife Ritu Nayyar-Stone and their children Maya and Anjay, of Bethesda, Maryland. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union at www.aclu.il.org.